Vintage Halloween Collectibles Research (1900-1979)

The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 2: NEW! Volume 2 of The Halloween Retrospect is anticipated for release December 2023! Content for the return of THR book series for vintage Halloween collectors is complete, and the author is finishing up the final steps toward offering the new book together with poster and timeline card inserts. Availability will be announced on the THR website in the near future.  In the new edition, the library’s archivist is excited to announce a feature article working with an incredible archive of material located at  Framingham History Center . In that very town of Massachusetts, home to Dennison's historic operations, the archive houses a treasure trove of company material (that were gifted back to the organization from Avery). The resulting article (with THR’s typical detail) discusses the mysteries surrounding Dennison’s long line of autumn-themed publications (with some amazing revelations provided by documents of the archive). And all of this ties...

Sane Halloween Observer Note: (2-1-2024)  various dates are  lined-through here  (since the old 2015 entry)  to reflect  primary sources  rather than secondary are now referenced. In the  THR archive library , various sets are depicted in candy ads (1946-1954) in Sears catalogs. And while this may not definitively narrow years of availability, it does indicate that variations in regional distribution may have been a stronger factor. More primary sources are needed concerning the cards appearances to consumer. In the meantime  these cards are discussed further in  The Halloween Retrospect: Rosen Moon Pop  for the new book  The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 2  that presents new details from on-hand catalogs. A quick visual survey of known sets of Rosen's Hallowe'en Trix or Treats  lollipop-holder cards (with variations of style shown here dating from the 1930's to the 1950's ). The first seven-card set (at righ...