Vintage Halloween Collectibles Research (1900-1979)

Vintage Halloween Collectible Guide: THR's New Visual Survey of Lanterns The Halloween Retrospect  ( see THR's bookstore on etsy here ) is pleased to announce that as of the end of September 2024 nearly 200 books by THR have sold since the first research digests arrived for sale in June 2023. Perhaps that is relatively a small number, but the archive librarian feels this ain't too shabby give the niche subject matter, and that THR (publications) is a small do-it-yourself enterprise available only via the etsy bookstore .  And, at that, most of those books were wordy research digests based on data from THR's archive library (!!!) but now, just over a year later, THR begins a splashy new series of visual survey books that are more like art-books in their presentation of vintage Halloween collectibles. That said, the content remains focused on using that archive library of catalogs, newspapers, etc., to show the market availability of the items' as seen from the vinta...

The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 3: An expected release of June 2024 is slated for Volume 3, The Halloween Retrospect reference series ( link here to THR blog ) and it sits in waiting with new content in an edition mostly about haunted houses, mostly! It is hoped that vintage Halloween collectors will appreciate a deeper review at ephemera collectible (of the haunted house) by such companies as Beistle, Dennison, Hallmark (featured in book with poster), Gibson (on the cover), Norcross, Whitney, and more. Book availability will be announced on the  THR website  in the near future.  This third time around, the library’s archivist at THR has opportunity to create a double-feature article on the transformation of haunted house imagery in early 20th-century times - and such a survey is not complete without considering the amazing mid-century paper engineering (in Part 2) from the past creative team of Hallmark Cards, Inc. for which help from Hallmark Archive  is include...

Hallmark Vintage Halloween Collectibles Part 3: 1970's As with  Hallmark Halloween Part 1: 1950’s  and  Hallmark Halloween Part 2: 1960’s  the final entry considering the history of vintage Halloween collectibles by Hallmark (Ambassador, etc.) comes to a close with  Hallmark Halloween Part 3: 1970’s   All entries are part of a study by the archive librarian to get a better grasp on assembly, honeycomb, and pop-ups pieces created by Hallmark Cards, Inc. (1950-1980). This is all in regards to a research article (on a different topic of The THR, V3 to appear in THR’s bookstore ). As with  “Decrypting Dennison: Serial Number Guide Featuring Autumn Publications” (THR, V2) , this entry into "later years" is pursued to exhaustively verify changes over the decades. Shown here (and above) are details from a pop-up book  A Visit to a Haunted House (1972) by Hallmark.

Hallmark Vintage Halloween Collectibles Part 2: 1960's As in previous entry Hallmark Halloween Part 1: 1950’s , The Halloween Retrospect vintage collectibles guidebook series is researching dates for autumn Hallmark centerpieces (around and a tad later than mid-century) to inform a book article on a relative subject. The book's article is in development stage for collectors’ guide The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 3, and this entry (including that which falls before and after) will be a bit of a sneak-peek into the next volume ( to be available from THR’s bookstore ). So, here we go, to discover better dates for Hallmark ephemera (assembly, honeycomb, and pop-up) circa 1950-1980. And as with “Decrypting Dennison: Serial Number Guide Featuring Autumn Publications” (THR, V2) , much is revealed by taking a broader view at Hallmark’s products across the decade of the 1960's. Shown here is a detail from a large table-top pop-up  Haunted House centerpiece by Ambassador (Hallmark).

Hallmark Vintage Halloween Collectibles Part 1: 1950's Volume 3 of guidebook research series  The Halloween Retrospect  ( available on THR's Bookstore via Etsy ) is underway from the library desk of the archive - this time with a focus on vintage Hallmark Halloween collectibles. As a preview of book content (which will be on related subjects though notably different in content) this entry, and those upcoming, will attempt to develop a better timeline for Hallmark vintage holiday products starting 1950 to the cutoff date of 1980. This will be specific to party-centric ephemera including assembly, honeycomb, and centerpiece items. Readers will likely notice, as with “Decrypting Dennison: Serial Number Guide Featuring Autumn Publications” (THR, V2) , that it lends to better results when one looks beyond our Halloween obsession.  Shown here is the store box for shop owners that contained  a unit (or 12 sets) of the Haunted House party items.

Sane Halloween Observer Has this scarecrow figure, like Hawthorne's Feathertop , been animated from the spell of some distant witch, to drop by your home for an innocent house call? How would you like to see this arriving at your gate on Halloween night for trick or treat?  Early century Hallmark doesn't get much attention in the vintage Halloween category, but here's one invitation card that oozes elements of sweet and sinister rivaling some of the best in weirdness from Beistle, Gibson, or Dennison. First we've got branch-like arms, gnarled and twisted (with one hand reaching for the gate) on a body topped with the classic pumpkin-head. In the other hand is a black cat Halloween lantern (like an incense burner) that leers as pink smoke drifts upward into a purple sky. (And it's those weird color choices that help make this so alarmingly distinct in the usual vintage Halloween oeuvre of orange and black).    This invitation has an early Hallmark ins...