THR's 2nd Anniversary Review (July 2025)

THR Halloween Collector Guides
2nd Anniversary Review

As of July 2025 (two years since THR's first book release) there are now five guidebooks available on the subject of vintage Halloween collectibles! There are four volumes of The Halloween Retrospect digests as well as one art survey Halloween Artifacts and there is more material under development for the near future! Regardless of whether it is a digest or survey, all are created for Halloween collector's book shelves to offer different types of references material on the vintage Halloween market via primary sources (mainly on-hand ~635 catalogs as well as material from archives and libraries across the United States),

Guidebooks for the vintage Halloween collector
with a focus on vintage research through vintage sources.

If catching up to The Halloween Retrospect archive library as an independent publisher, see the Home page (of the THR website) for an intro including two years worth of blog extras) and also see About or Publications. So, yet again, this seems a good a time for a brief review of the past year’s output as a collectibles publication: The Halloween Retrospect.

Oh, and by the way, to those who have previously purchased copies of books from THR, thank you!!! In just a couple of years THR has reached a wonderful milestone for a small-press venture. THR has passed the three-hundred mark of book sales!!! 

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NEW!
THR, Vol 4 (April 2025)
$25.00 + tax/shipping. (Etsy THR Bookstore)

The Halloween Retrospect, Volumes 4 - is the latest Halloween collectibles guide from THR to reveal new previously forgotten information about the vitnage market. This book features a two-part article concerning art educator Tessin together with a study contemporary contributors whose work connects to early 20th-century Milton Bradley - particularly their stained glass window transparencies. Shorter items include a review of products in Sunday school catalogs, John Wilcox items, and visuals by Mabel Betsy Hill. .

Decor & crossword puzzle included with guidebook THR, V4.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Note official copies contain @Bindlegrim homage and a new crossword puzzle.

Introduction (pg. 4)

Bradley’s Creatives - Part 1 A Short History of Holiday Visionary Louise D. Tessin (pg. 6)

Bradley’s Creatives - Part 2 Tessin, Her Contemporaries, and a Colorful Invention (pg. 14)

October’s Cathedral A Secret Cache Of Hallowe’en For Sunday School (pg. 25)

John Wilcox & Hallowe’en Up-to-date, Unique, & Splendid Portrayals of Spirit (pg. 28)

The Witches’ Dance More Hallowe’en Chaos by Artist Mabel Betsy Hill (pg. 31)
Index The Halloween Retrospect, Vol. 1 -Vol. 4 (pg. 33)

Halloween Artifacts,
Vol 1: Lighting (Sept 2024)
$65.00 + tax/shipping. (Etsy THR Bookstore)

Halloween Artifacts, Volume 1: Lighting - introduces a new direction for THR, offering an image-driven art survey of vintage Halloween objects of light (re: lanterns, shades, or glow-in-the-dark inks). This 8-1/2″x11″ softcover book centers around a 100-page collection of such collectibles, and includes for each: 1) a large full-color feature photo bigger than 7″x6″, together with a 2) notes that include a timeline tally of dates appearing in old novelty merchandise catalogs, and 3) a clip of the item from one of those select vintage sources.

Halloween Artifacts, Vol 1: Lighting.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword by Charles Beck (pg. 4)

Harvesting an Ember Glimmers of the Past in Lanterns, Shades, & Luminescent Inks  (pg. 5)

Introduction Revisiting a Foreword from Research Series THR, Vol. 1 (pg. 6)

Halloween Artifacts: Lighting THRs Archive Collection Synchronized with Library Data (pg. 10)

Sources & Additional Reading A Quick List of Selected Publications (pg. 13)

THR, Vol 3 (June 2024)
$25.00 + tax/shipping. (Etsy THR Bookstore)

The Halloween Retrospect, Volumes 3 - the third volume of The Halloween Retrospect features a two-part article that first studies haunted house ephemera (early-20th-century to mid-century) and secondly features cards by Gibson and centerpieces by Hallmark as evidence of new paper collectible innovations The book also has small articles on the 60’s wave of sound effects vinyl and a list of catalog terminology.

Poster & crossword puzzle included with guidebook THR, V3.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Note official copies contain Hallmark centerpieces poster and crossword puzzle.

Letterbox / Introduction, (pg. 4) Statement of Intent, Regarding Source (pg. 5)

Halloween Haunts – Part 1 The Witch’s Cottage and Spook House Additions (pg. 8)

Halloween Haunts – Part 2 Engineered Mansions and Hallmark Innovations (pg. 14)

Haunted House Timeline Hallmark Haunted Houses 1950-1980: Poster & Key (pg. 25)

Haunted Vinyl Sixties Wave of Haunted House Recordings (pg. 27)

The Catalog Audience Understanding Readership to Define Content (pg. 29)

Index The Halloween Retrospect, Vol. 1 -Vol. 3 (pg. 31)

THR, Vol 2 (Dec 2023)
$25.00 + tax/shipping. (Etsy THR Bookstore)

The Halloween Retrospect, Volumes 2 - continues the tradition of researching America’s past Halloween marketplace. The guidebook’s feature article examines Dennison publications with significant finds (about serial numbers on publications) from Framingham History Center. As well, V2 offers information on B. Shackman catalogs, E. Rosen cards, and certain German imports (see cover art).

Poster & cards included with guidebook THR, V2.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Note that official copies include a Dennison poster and Shackman postcards.

Letterbox (pg. 4)

Introduction Statement of Intent, Regarding Source (pg. 5)

Decrypting Dennison Serial Number Guide Featuring Autumn Publication (pg. 10)

Shackman’s 70 / 72 Peculiar Catalogs from the Tens & Thirties (pg. 20)

Skittle or Decor The New Identity Crisis for Vintage Figures (pg. 24)

Trix or Treats at Sears Rosen in Midcentury Midseason Fall Catalogs (pg. 28)

Index The Halloween Retrospect, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (pg. 32)

NOTE: please consider a donation or the purchase of a Membership to help support the Framingham History Center. I am sure most of us know the challenges all archives and libraries face to remain discoverable and accessible. If we, as collectors, can spend a bit of money on vintage objects, we can aid the institutions that further our knowledge. THR, though a hobbyist venture, has pledged to donate a portion of each sale from THR, V2 to Framingham History Center as a show of gratitude.

THR, Vol 1 (July 2023):
$25.00 + tax/shipping. (Etsy THR Bookstore)

The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 1 - with research pulled from the pages of nearly 500 catalogs (1900-1979) housed in one archive library, The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 1 is the first in a series of new guide books (in digest form) to offer critical perspective of the traditional narrative surrounding vintage Halloween markets, and by result offering important information to collectors in the field.

 

Poster and tally cards for Halloween guidebook, THR, V1.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Note that official copies include bookmark-tallies and a March Brothers poster.

Letterbox (pg. 4)

Introduction Positions for Context, Statement of Intent, Regarding Sources (pg. 5) 

Normal Halloween Holiday Novelties & Early Twentieth Century Youth (pg. 10).

Western Novelty Co. 1928-1990 Carnival, Concession, & Bazaar Supplies – Colorado (pg. 17)

Timeline for Witches A Journey of Two Witches: United States & Germany (pg. 20)

Ornamenten Groteske The Enigmatic History of German Diecuts (pg. 26)

Craw-Bogle Trader a proposal for off-market collecting (p. 32)