Thank you for supporting Halloween research!
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THR's research series on Etsy
Well, here we are (not too far way from a 2nd Anniversary review of stock in August and a new tissue-paper honeycomb art book in October) to find ourselves at the beginnings of winter holiday season 2025. And, given the theme of the most recent holiday, it would seem a great time to express THR's gratitude for keeping operations running, most notably the Etsy bookstore. Thank you to the archives and libraries assisting in early stages of research. Thank you to the various businesses that help produce these publications. And, of course, thank you the readers for purchasing one (or more) of THR’s vintage Halloween collectibles guidebooks which currently number six publications... shown below.
from vintage Halloween collector seeking market research.
The last two-plus years of publishing have been great fun, yet it obviously takes time for a one-JOL business venture to research, write, edit, photo, illustrate, design (@bindlegrim), stock, promote, package, and ship. Your purchases power all of these labors – and by result helps everyone discover so many new surprises about Halloween both antique and vintage ! In fact, the tally for today (December 4th, 2025) equals a six-book research library! These include two art-book-style surveys Halloween Artifacts, V1: Lighting and Halloween Artifacts, V2 Festoons as well as four article-based digests The Halloween Retrospect Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4. For a small niche publisher – THR is happy to celebrate sales of 400 books – see also @halloweenretrospecs on Instagram.
THR realizes this explosion of energy has resulted in what may be a confusing array of needful references and bonus materials. One hope is that new, various groupings (shown directly below) of past works combined will help inform such decisions. There are listings for all six books, the two art books, the four digests, as well as single books - each image below in linked to those groupings.
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 CONTENTSForeword 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, 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.
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)
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)
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 CONTENTSForeword 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)
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.
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 CONTENTSNote 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)
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).
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)
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)
PLEASE NOTE: THR does NOT employ AI-generative technology. Content is created by human biological entities to ensure results engage accurate research with mindful artistry.
Your purchase supports the fevered work of THR's research books - not the fever dream of a robot.
