Vintage Halloween Collectibles Research (1900-1979)

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 aven...

Sane Halloween Observer Case of the Mutilated Heirloom  or  Tear up the Panes! Here, Here! There are two mysteries in this entry, and perhaps you can detect the answers? Mystery One: We are probably still some hundreds of years (one hopes) before bits of vintage Halloween are treated like pottery sherds and bone fragments. There are enough (and more showing up all the time) intact versions of these mass-produced items that there is simply no need for anyone to be out in the field panning for fool's gold... and yet, here we are... The story begins that in April 2020 the following lot was purchased at the incredible bargain price of $33: Halloween lot of mixed-date items as sold for $33 to re-seller.  (Not to scale. Candlesticks removed from images). If you notice, tucked away in the back, is a lantern described in rough condition , but given that the great skeletons were described in ok condition this lantern doesn't look too rough and seems at least ...

Sane Halloween Observer Like a bit of everything these days, a collectibles onlooker might wonder if second-hand markets are touched by the effects of social (dis)information, as we find ourselves led  down the garden path  toward curious acquisitions.  (Other entries discussing the jumbled landscape of assumption, visibility, and resale include: Bloody Paper Cuts ,  Time Capsule Ghosts ,  Yesterday's Prices at Today's Auctions ,  Diecut Bubble? ,  Diecut Bubble 2 , as well as entry one which outlined issues of market engineering -  Sane Halloween Observers ). While the activity of resale itself is not in question, we are however in an era when experts and promoters tossed out the conflict-of-interest rulebook to instead shake hands with sellers (not always with examination of wares) at the crossroads. Overall result - altered, improperly dated, and mis-identified items reaching escalated prices without censure. Example ...

Sane Halloween Observer As more and more vintage Halloween (the stuff no one was said to have retained) continues to crawl out of the woodwork, there have been haunting miscalculations of authenticity of paper items during the past few years, and the 2018 season is sadly no different The problem seems to be a continuing knowledge gap about what a diecut actually is, and how to spot either fakes and/or altered pieces. And this season was again proof that  as a buyer  you need some good initial knowledge of true vintage (in any medium) as apparently both field expert and recommended seller prove that nobody is perfect. As a subject introduction, I would point you to an earlier entry that introduces the concept and process of the diecut:  Halloween Diecut Quiz . While in the entry that follows here, I will show you examples of true diecuts. I trust that once you know how to spot true paper, you should in theory be able to recognize the opposite. In our first occ...

Sane Halloween Observer As a collector of vintage Halloween, I feel it is worth the extra steps to research the minutiae of these items' history for myself. And of the types of decor, this blog has frequently reflected on German imports (specifically time discrepancies per dates in modern guidebooks) --- but how about the historical availability of American-made merchandise? Mulling over vintage catalogs now for both German and the U.S., I started to consider the creation of a timeline that would test the reference dates provided in various guides. Therefore this entry is an exercise, perhaps proving the wisdom in expanding one's available resources. And again I would stress that much of the content here (as with previously presented German catalogs) is pulled directly from archival records. Following then are two timelines for two different witches --- American and German. First up is this iconic witch (one-sided at 15"x23") by Beistle described in one ...