What Next?
Sane Halloween Observer:
If the date on the back-end of this editor is believed, this draft began in the first half of the year 2021. At that time, it didn’t seem too distant from the previous entry of May 2020 yet this publishes nearly three years later! While conspicuously quiet on the front-end of the blog, it is not due this author’s decreased attention concerning vintage Halloween collectibles. In fact, I have been busy developing a different approach on the topic, directed less on updates/entries via the internet but to instead pursue a more traditional and satisfying reunion with the tactile world.
2019-2022
Beginning in autumn 2018, I returned to university studies, coinciding with dwindling entries in 2019, for who could possibly write one additional word between the constant discourse and papers required from a degree. In those educational pursuits, (cued from my multi-mixed media background in art, design, web development and database interactivity), I delved into a continuing interests of all things content-related to complete a Master Degree in Library and Information Science, Spring 2021, often utilizing a personal collection as relevant study material. Much of that work either enhanced or solidified my perspective on the state of objects, information, and discovery tools, as well as inform which methods I would seek to publish future research.
This began a natural transition toward a secondary goal (actualized from 2020-2022 and ongoing) to utilize studies not only for competent archival management of vintage objects, but also to better organize on-hand vintage publications as a working library of supportive reference. These carefully collected print (and digital) records, as concurrent information to the era they represent, have revealed themselves as priceless primary resources. Such materials contain a ton of originally essential information than do secondary resources - the latter which, unfortunately, many persons such as myself relied upon previously as authoritative guides.
Finally, a tertiary goal has taken shape - to publish the continuation of the research that started here, but in a serialized print format (slated to begin an initial run during these early months of 2023.) In addition, there is hope to support alternative methods of non-monetary collectibles trading that I have enjoyed over recent years (as opposed to the typical buy/sell model oft intruded upon by an intermediate group of competitive resellers who are not collectors). For now, suffice to say The Sane Halloween Observer (this blog) will serve not as the final venue for research, but instead be a connection to articles found in the upcoming print series, as well as identify spaces for beginning and mid-level collectors (sans resellers) to swap collectibles. But more on such activities will be announced here in the near future…
2023, Primary Resources Report
Returning then to the previously described goal (creating a well-developed reference that connects collectibles and publications to the same era), the value of such a resource cannot be overstated. The objective follows in the footsteps of two of the field’s more valuable publications for historically-sourced primary data. The first book, “The Halloween Catalog Collection: 55 Catalogs from the Golden Age of Halloween” by Ben Truwe (though I can't seem to find a link for current availability), is a revelation and inspiration. Providing actual excerpts from vintage catalogs, this publication allows an attentive reader to create timelines, for example, that go well beyond the data of most survey books - but it is up to you to do the footwork. The second book, “Timeless Halloween Collectibles: 1920-1949” by Claire M. Lavin, offers, to my knowledge, something no other author has done in the Halloween collectibles field - to visit the physical space of an operational manufacturer (in this case The Beistle Co.). Lavin's book provides data without excessive leaps of imagination, and provides, for example, the date an item was released - but again it is up to you to continue the footwork.
It is true that secondary resources (herein also termed as survey books) of vintage Halloween (including but not limited to “Halloween in America: A Collector's Guide With Prices” by Stuart Schneider, “Halloween Collectables: A Price Guide” by Dan Campanelli, “Collectible Halloween with Values” by Pamela E. Apkarian-Russell) do hold value. One should enjoy the authors' perspectives for their early experience in the field, and scour their books most notably for valuable photo and vicarious tactile information. That said, one should also proceed with caution regarding any data-related statements, for if you are accepting the content of a secondary resource (unless accompanied by citations which is sadly rare to none) then you are unquestionably accepting the lens of the author. This holds true dating from these early examples in book form to our most recent times with electronic formats.
Vintage resources library (section) circa 2019
What then is the state of the aforementioned vintage-print library which will serve future research? For those who have read thus far, here are figures for the curious (noting these numbers continually grow). As of January 19th 2023, the present library includes the following number of materials that directly portray Halloween consumer goods dating 1900-1979. There are 210 hard-copy publications together with 235 digital reproductions. Of these 445 items, 367 are dated definitively while, as of yet, the remaining 78 have crude dates based on historical evidence (66 items) or are too obscure to determine (12 items). Of these publications (by manufacturer, distributor, and trade-specific publishers) there are 94 professional entities represented, mostly from the US but roughly a half dozen represent other countries. Note: none of these figures include an additional batch of supportive publications (survey books, vintage magazines, ads) that pertain to Halloween consumables but offer mostly incidental views to the actual market.
A 2021 display (layers deep) of objects & resources 1900-1979.
Here then is a point worth confirming - no publication in the library receives a date without pinpoint accuracy based on a verifiable publisher's history. It does not rely solely, for example, on the fluidity of edition and volume numbers. Dating these publications via stringent methodology helps them maintain value as reputable resources, and as such has diagnosed errors in other resources and assessments. As a further example of such procedures, no publication is dated based solely on the presence of certain consumables - a glitch seen often enough in survey books that at its worst constructs for the reader a static world view that shifts only stubbornly when new data is presented.
So, what does such stringent methodology achieve? To see an example of puzzling out an item's availability based on dated content rather than assumption - please see some of the previous blog entries here at The Sane Halloween Observer, such as, Timeline for Witches or The Severed Lantern. These examples provide a good lead-in for how future periodical articles will be constructed. It may be a bit dry for some - but hopefully it will be informative to all.
More to come…