Vintage Halloween Collectibles Research (1900-1979)

Sane Halloween Observer A 1955 sales vendor catalog by Brach's with awesome mid-century graphic design, illustration, and layout techniques. Don't forget ( spoken   in your best informational 50s voiceover ) that "HALLOWEEN is one of the year's THREE BIGGEST CANDY OCCASIONS"... "It has a long selling season from Labor Day to October 31"... and... "Because Halloween candies are exciting, colorful candies, they offer exceptional opportunities for colorful EXCITING CANDY DISPLAYS." And after looking at this awesome catalog, I certainly believe every word of it! Oh for a Halloween time machine!  (Click image below to view a larger version - or view on Pinterest ).  (Click image to view larger).

Sane Halloween Observer Originally used mostly in novelty items and commonly called "flicker pictures" or "wiggle pictures"  lenticular printing is a technology in which lenticular lenses (a technology that is also used for 3D displays) are used to produce printed images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles. (source:  wikipedia ) The image below is a quickly animated gif that I created from a recent listing appearing on ebay for a 1950's child's novelty ring. A quick google search for lenticular imagery (or the wikipedia link above) will direct you to tons of interesting new and vintage uses of this technique. Here is one link to a gallery of vintage imagery on pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/ohbyjingo/action-vintage-lenticular-pictures/

Sane Halloween Observer As stated in entry one - this blog will not be overly concerned about vintage collectible pricing, however, some recent auction results may be of interest, and just may balance a few perspectives... Halloween's seasonal nature seems key (especially for the non-obsessed public-at-large) in determining the collectible demand of vintage items. While at times powerful, there is a historical mix of poor auction results that would seem to make the genre a rather bad "investment" --- (if you choose to think of the ghosts of holiday past in those terms). While much is made of some items reaping impressive returns, one would wonder if the genre may ever reach the skyrocketing prices seen by other collectibles --- (simply scan a pamphlet by any of the big auction houses and compare the results of other collectible genres).  It's a real trick or treat (depending on what side of the transaction you stand) to resell vintage holiday. Seasonal peak i...

Sane Halloween Observer Hallowe'en crepe paper (and it's ephemera relatives - napkins, paper plates, cups, etc.), is in some ways the forgotten art form of vintage Hallowe'en, and the great variety of these prints mostly absent from many modern books on collectibles. Dennison's Bogie Books  offer a resource from their own company catalog, but a full visual retrospective of multiple companies' work could fill an entire collector's book of richly bizarre patterns. It would be a welcome addition if someone out there surveyed these amazing works! One amazing snippet from this neglected history is listed as a Panoramic Crepe in the 1921 Bogie Book - H108 Hallowe'en Design  (fold 10 ft. long without repetition of design).  It can be seen appearing for a few years in the Bogie Books, and is here (image below) used as a table skirt. Amazing to imagine how these now precious paper designs were sliced up to make other displays. Directly below this "decorati...

Sane Halloween Observer Offering some night photos of this spooky triangle shade that appeared in vendor supply catalogs of the 1930's. The shade collapses flat, folding on a deliberate line through the middle of the owl. (It's a peculiar design decision that over time has usually reduced the quality of that particular pane). Original method for maintaining the expanded shape of the lantern is currently unknown by this blogger - (and information is welcome).  Note that the item (shown below in excerpt from an original 1937 catalog) is advertised as a die cut which is the industrial "cookie-cutter" process that made so many vintage holiday items, (and not just 2-D flat decor). See earlier blog entry from December 2014:  Halloween Diecut Quiz .

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 Another hidden treasure of early instructional illustrations for the classroom. A wordless story of the traditional carving of the pumpkin from Before We Read by W.J Gage & Co. Limited. (page 24) printed in Canada. No date (perhaps circa 1950's?) - artist uncredited.  (original book layout)

Sane Halloween Observer THE LIDS OFF! Awesome play on words and mid-century graphics on this vintage (date unknown) Halloween candy box for Snickers candy bars for Tricks... Treats. 24 Mars bars - Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way.

Sane Halloween Observer Following is a collage of pages scanned from a 1960's public service announcement on Halloween safety. The actual printed piece is a wallet-sized 3"x4" fold-out booklet from the Minnesota Department of Health printed in 1962 by Imagination Inc.  Mod, kitschy, and rather grim, the story is a cross between a certain politically questionable rhyme of the late 1800's with humor reminiscent of Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies .

Sane Halloween Observer Two more by Rust Craft . See also Ain't Grub Grand .   Also check out this other blog's entry on the Rust Craft Rustler in " Mid Century Card Shop" Updated 11-25-2015 - Addition from set? Marked on back Rust Craft 5H222.

Sane Halloween Observer Fortunes by the Luminous Spirit  or   How to Stretch Your Ectoplasm and get Cooler Spooks! Following the spooklight glow of the previous entry  Luminous Halloween , an interesting opportunity for a bit of compare-and-contrast occurred recently with two vintage Halloween games (one by the very same  American Novelty Corporation of Omaha, 1943-1950). Although the condition of said game was not optimal, the outsider-art smorgasbord of this game ( another example shown below ) offers a ton of lo-fi messy fun - crazy fonts (some with random shadowing),  odd charms, symbols, and creatures, all surrounding a witch acting as the game's spinner. Best of all, we've got that fun glow-in-the-dark ink overlay (shown below). The game sold for around $50. Overlay of previous image with a shot in total darkness (see first image). Another vintage Halloween game, of similar ilk, went for about 6x that amount! Arguably, this latter...

Sane Halloween Observer Another of those vintage decorations that gets happily ignored by valuation mania --- this is a wonderful set for those who enjoy the old glow-in-the-dark effects on printed ephemera! These heavy card-stock decorations (approx. 3"x4") identified by the ghostly "logo" as being produced by  American Novelty Corporation of Omaha  were likely created sometime between 1943-1950. One of my favorite for the nostalgia --- (I really LOVED these type of dimly glowing paper novelties when I was a kid hiding under the covers imagining that the glowing form was eerily moving before my eyes). The following photos (at right) were taken in the dark with a time-lapse of 800 ISO for 30 seconds with 5.6 aperture. PS - If you like glow-in-the-dark novelties, check out this blog : SPOOKY THINGS THINGS THAT GLOW IN THE DARK, VINTAGE TOYS OF A SPOOKY NATURE AND OLD-FASHIONED CHILLS...