Vintage Halloween Collectibles Research (1900-1979)

Sane Halloween Observer If the popularity and inventiveness of Beistle is to vintage Halloween collectibles what a major pop group is to music, then Rust Craft is the obscure alterna-band you never heard of - somewhat (yet thankfully) obscure and magically bizarre. (Apologies for the lo-fi quality of these images)...  For more Rust Craft, see also:  Ain't Grub Grand!  or  Gold Filigree Halloween .

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...

  Sane Halloween Observer Shown below is a complete set of 12 table-setting placecards for a Halloween party by Rust Craft of Boston  (who later merged with Norcross Greeting Card Company). The art exhibits the strange and surreal storybook imagery that makes their work so identifiable (particularly images like the ghost riding the black cat). These cards would come packaged in a small marked black box. Cultural note - " Lay on, Macduff " refers to a line from Macbeth.  

Sane Halloween Observer modern re-sampling Curious obscurity (below) of Hallowe'en invitation card with neither a marked manufacturer nor a firm date, (though likely 1920's-1930's when ghosts with whipped-topping-heads were popular imagery). Blank on the back. Below is the actual vintage invitation: "Hist! You are wanted at a Hallowe'en..." original vintage invitation