Vintage Halloween Collectibles Research (1900-1979)

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).

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 ...