Vintage Makers & Ideas for Halloween
Vintage Makers &
Ideas for Halloween
From the archive library of THR research, the newest vintage Halloween collectibles guide The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 4 features a brief glimpse at those working for improved U.S. education in the early-20th-century, and some of the details are very curious. For example, most modern folks will think of Milton Bradley in terms of games for entertainment, but the founder was a strong proponent of American education (see also "Milton Bradly and the Kindergarten Movement"). In light of that fact, THR turns its attention to Milton Bradley Company (mostly 1920's-1950's) and considers others who join the company's greater educational vision. One of those individuals is Louise D. Tessin who brings her love for art (and the holidays too).
While THR, V4 turns its attention to Louise D. Tessin and of work for Milton Bradley Company, she is but one contributing artist with numerous avenues of interest that over her lifetime will include personal art (with Toucans), institutional murals (for example Little Red Riding Hood), or her longer career creating materials for art educational (including American Childhood). And note that her early years as both student and teacher (attending San Francisco Institute of Art) appear in The School Arts Magazine by The Davis Press.
Customer review of THR, V4 from etsy bookstore.
Customer review of THR, V4 from etsy bookstore.
THR has not examined the connections between Milton Bradley and The Davis Press, but the latter produces a tear-sheet collection of The School Arts Magazine found as stock available from the educational catalogs of the former. What are these packets? They are practically The School Arts Magazine re-packaged as Good Ideas with each promoted by Milton Bradley as containing 16 plates (or separated pages). These include Tessin (see Plate 14 shown here) and various contributing contemporaries. And, by the way, you may be interested to learn (see more in THR, V4) that Tessin is hired by Milton Bradley offering major contributions to their own American Childhood magazine.
THR & Print Sourcs
THR has five guides about various subjects of vintage Halloween collectibles. The latest book THR, V4 shows how such a print source works with verifiable sources, utilizing assistance of other U.S. archives and libraries. For example, in the fourth edition, THR is happy to work with Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History (hometown of Milton Bradley) and online tools made available from copyright.gov and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. For more on this, visit THR blog entry Collectibles Research Tools for a quick how-to guide that helps you use some of these sources like searching for copyright and patent data.
THR uses local archives, copyright, and patent sources.
Below is a description of this newest THR digest with table of contents, as well as info on the two inserts (a crossword and a vintage-style window decoration), plus a few reviews...
Set of items with THR,V4 features book, puzzle, & decor.
The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 4 (2025)
$25.00 + tax/shipping. (Purchase this book via Etsy)
The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 4 is the newest 2025 digest book for collectors of Halloween who enjoy intense scrutiny on certain vintage collectibles. This is achieved through the presence of an on-site archive library (now about 625+ resources), as well as data assistance from various company records held in the United States. In Volume 4 a feature two-part article examines the career of well-known art educator Louise D. Tessin, while the second-part uses that review as a jumping off point to examine the back-story behind peculiar stained glass paper decorations – advertised in the art educator magazines by Milton Bradley that highlighted contributors such as Tessin. Additional items include: the next as semi-related to the main topic (of stained glass windows) with a quick review of Sunday school supplies from the 1930’s via David C. Cook, followed by revelations of educational Halloween products with a peek at John Wilcox, ending with a visual glance at an illustrator seen earlier in Volume 3, Mabel Betsy Hill. See table of contents for further descriptions.
Inserts A: Transparency (new from Bindlegrim) homage to Milton Bradley’s stained glass paper decorations from 1940’s. [For related topics read blog entry To: Halloween, From: Xmas].
Insert B: Puzzle Bulletin II featuring 18×18 Halloween-themed crossword “Sight Seer Roundup” by Robert Aaron Wiley.
Introduction (pg. 4) is a shortened introduction to the archive library with important information about its research mission.
Bradley’s Creatives – Part 1 A Short History of Holiday Visionary Louise D. Tessin (pg. 6) studies the history of an early art educator professionally hired for Milton Bradley offering a unique holiday vision in various roles from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. Includes some data concerning the artist’s personal art projects. Contains 10 illustrations as well as source references.
Bradley’s Creatives – Part 2 Tessin, Her Contemporaries, and a Colorful Invention (pg. 14) examines the professional work of Tessin with a limited comparison to other Milto Bradley contributors (Payberg, Gode, Rehtus, Kilborn, etc.) of the time period. Combines this study with a query of possible artistic vision behind Milton Bradley’s set of stained glass window transparency decor from the 1940’s.
Contains 22 illustrations, 2 timeline tables, as well as source references. [For related topics read blog entry To: Halloween, From: Xmas].
October’s Cathedral A Secret Cache Of Hallowe’en For Sunday School (pg. 25) reviews the surprising reference of Sunday school catalogs (particularly David C. Cook) as a modern resource for studying early century Halloween novelties on the vintage market. Contains 4 illustrations as well as source references.
John Wilcox & Hallowe’en Up-to-date, Unique, & Splendid Portrayals of Spirit (pg. 28) identifies certain obscure decorations as supplied through educator-focused catalog advertisements for the company. Contains 4 illustrations as well as source references.
The Witches’ Dance More Hallowe’en Chaos by Artist Mabel Betsy Hill (pg. 31) revisits the amazing vision of one illuminator seen earlier in THR publications (such as Volume 3) when reviewing early haunted house imagery in Better Homes & Gardens. Contains 7 illustrations as well as source references.
Index The Halloween Retrospect, Vol. 1 – Vol. 4 (pg. 33) from first to fourth digests.
Customer review of THR, V4 from etsy bookstore.
Customer review of THR, V4 from etsy bookstore.
Customer review of THR, V4 from etsy bookstore.
Customer review of THR, V4 from etsy bookstore.
Vintage Halloween collectibles books for March 2025.
Vintage Halloween collectibles books for March 2025.
If you are just now encountering The Halloween Retrospect archive library and its in-house publishing, please see the Home page (for introduction and a list of numerous blog entries) or check out various pages such as About or Publications. And for all, this seems a good a time for a brief review of the past year’s output as a collectibles publication: The Halloween Retrospect.
