New Guide for Vintage Halloween Tissue Paper

 New Guidebook for Vintage Halloween Paper!

This little punny conversation between a witch and an owl is here to announce a new THR reference Halloween Artifacts, Volume 2: Festoons which is the sixth publication in a two-year+ adventure of research published by the archive library of The Halloween Retrospect! This reference book continues the Halloween Artifacts series which is known for large-scale full-color photographs spanning 114 pages. This bigger 8-1/2 x 11 format offers multiple views of familiar and unfamiliar antique and vintage collectibles, together with data from past makers, vendors, and advertisers (aka 630+ primary sources) accompanying content as illustrative samples and THR’s thorough timelines. See sample previews below:

New 2025 - Guidebook Halloween Artifacts  V2 - Festoons

New - Sampler Halloween Artifacts  V2 - Festoons

New - Sample page Halloween Artifacts  V2 - Festoons

Speaking of tissue-paper, and in particular honeycomb - THR on IG (aka halloweenretrospecs) shared some recent posts showing how simple it can be, at times, to press honeycomb back into shape - giving life back to old decorations. Here is one post and see IG for more: 

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A post shared by Archive Librarian (@halloweenretrospecs)

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.

Updated 2025 - Guidebooks for the vintage Halloween collector
with a focus on vintage research through vintage sources.

Halloween Artifacts,
Vol 2: Festoons (Oct 2025)
$65.00 + tax/shipping. (Etsy THR Bookstore)

Halloween Artifacts, Volume 2: Lighting - is the latest survey from THR. This edition features vintage Halloween tissue paper designs in honeycomb, fringe, and costume pieces from the THR archive collection. This latest reference guide is an 8-1/2×11 full-color 114-page book with large images, catalog samples, and timeline data from vintage sources.s.

Halloween Artifacts, Vol 2 Festoons.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword by Chris Conte (pg. 4)

Contours, Crowns, & Flourishes: The Magic Mutability of Holiday Tissue Paper Designs (pg. 5)

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

Halloween Artifacts- Festoons THRs Archive Collection Synchronized with Library Data (pg. 10)

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

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 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)

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)