Halloween Spooks Postcard, 1910

"I'm not afraid of Spooks, are you?

I'm just pretending they are true."

"Can you pretend?"

1920s Halloween Silhouette Lantern

Here's another amazing survivor of Halloweens past: this cardboard and tissue paper lantern. Made in the 1920s, it was intended to hold a real candle inside, just like the papier mache and pulp jack o' lanterns posted earlier. This one was used, but somehow managed to not burst into flames.

 

 

These lanterns have recently been reproduced, like so much other antique Halloween, so collect carefully.

Antique Halloween Ghost Postcard

Although ghosts have long been a staple feature of stories traditionally told at Halloween time, for some reason they do not appear often in old decorations, novelties, or postcards associated with the holiday. This one is a rare example, dating from around 1910.

There are a lot of details in this card: note the barely-there face of the ghost,

and the tiny witch flying past the moon.

Gourd Guys Halloween Postcards, 1908

My very favorite antique Halloween postcards feature these little gourd guys, printed by Raphael Tuck and mailed between 1908 and 1909.


 

First, the gourd guys run from a witch and her cat. 

Look at all the detail in the tiny image

of the moon & witch!



 

Here, the gourd guys have reached relative safety atop a large squash.

 

 

Finally, they make it home where a Halloween party cake awaits.

 

 

Pumpkin Candy Container

Here's a jolly looking jack o' lantern, a candy container made in West Germany around the late 1950s. Just 4 1/2 inches tall, he's made of molded cardboard and opens at the center, providing a space for small candies.



The candies are long gone, but here's where they were.

Candy containers of this type were exported from Germany for over 100 years, and they were made for many holidays, including Christmas and Easter. There are collectors who specialize in candy containers, and entire guidebooks are devoted to them. They're a fun collectible, although their fragile and disposable nature makes them a challenge to find today.



Antique Halloween Postcard: Pumpkin Boat

Something about the style of illustration in this Halloween postcard, circa 1910, makes me think of  children's picture books. I just see a story here, maybe something like "The Witch Who Came to Visit."

 

Where has she come from, and why didn't she just fly, as would have been traditional? Where is she going, in her broom masted pumpkin boat? Is she a good witch or a bad witch? She's smiling, but I suppose that's not a sure thing: the witch in Hansel and Gretel was probably smiling warmly right up to the time she tried to cook and eat her little visitors. Is that cat safe? Why isn't he in the boat too? I'm worried he's going to fall off. And just how seaworthy is that pumpkin boat? Is there any danger of fish nibbling away the bottom? Won't water come through the face holes? Seems like a major design flaw there. This is definitely a postcard that raises lots of questions.

Vintage Halloween Jack o' Lantern

Here's another vintage Halloween jack o' lantern from my collection. This one was made in the United States in the early 1940s, and is of a pulp/composition material. 6 inches tall, it still has its original paper face insert, and was clearly used: there is melted candle wax and sooty residue inside. Its amazing that these fragile lanterns still survive to enchant us today!

Pumpkin Head Postcard

This antique Halloween postcard is one of my all time favorites. The pumpkin head girl is so detailed: note her teeny tiny gold teeth, and the black cats on her dress. This fabulous character was mailed in October 1912 from Wahoo, Nebraska.

1920s Jack o' Lantern

This little 1920s German jack o' lantern measures 3 3/4 inches tall. In delicate, all original condition, he's one of my favorite Halloween pieces. These types of lanterns were made in the thousands some 80 years ago, but their fragility, along with the fact that they were intended to be used with real candles inside, makes them scarce today.

 

Happy October!

October is my favorite month of the year, and the perfect time to showcase some of the Other Stuff I collect: old Halloween decorations, postcards, lanterns, games, and assorted ephemera.

Over the next few weeks I'll highlight some of the favorites from my collection, starting with this fabulous postcard from 1908, featuring a romantic pumpkin-headed couple.

Pumpkin love.

 

Wacky Bat

This wacky wee bat, 7 inches tall, 

was another of this season's creations 

by one of my favorite primitive doll artists. 

Have a happy Halloween! Watch out for bats.

Primitive Witch Doll

Another Halloween doll by one of my favorite primitive artists, this quirky 16 inch witch flies through the cornstalks on her twig broom.

Her funny face is worth a closeup, I think. Isn't it fabulously freaky?

Ghostly Dolly

Each October, one of my favorite primitive doll artists makes another batch of fantastic Halloween pieces. This hand sewn and delicately aged muslin ghost just drifted in. He holds a rusty old key; perhaps it unlocks the tomb behind him.

Boo!

A Halloweeny Peng Peng Bear

Just in time for Halloween came my latest Peng Peng bear: Mr. Eightball, 4 inches of hand-dyed black licorice colored mohair, green glass eyes, and mischievous grin. (I added the tiny vintage jack o' lantern, and made the hat and bow tie...can you tell the hat was once the thumb of my left glove?)

Mr. Eightball and Jack hang out on the front porch.

Antique Halloween Witch Candy Container

I got this last December, and have been waiting all year to post it. (My family has grown used to me asking for antique Halloween stuff for Christmas...)

This pumpkin bodied witch, 6 inches tall, is a candy container. The base opens, revealing a space inside that could be filled with small candies. Made in Germany circa the 1920s.

Coming up in October...

My favorite month of the year is here: Halloween...I mean, October. Actually, I like Halloween so much, I keep one room decorated that way all year. It's my happy place.
  
Coming up this month: old Halloween decorations, spooky dolls, and some vintage monster and horror themed board games.

1950s Halloween Photograph

Here's hoping you have a Halloween as happily exhausting 

as this little boy's!

Original b&w photo, 1958: found at an antique yard sale.

Vintage Jack O' Lantern Decoration

One of my favorite vintage Halloween die-cut decorations is this jack o' lantern, made of embossed cardboard circa the 1940s by H. E. Luhrs. 12 inches wide, it sports a fantastic, toothy grin.

Hi! I'm Jack!

Vintage Halloween Cupcake Picks

Circa the 1940s-50s, these pulp paper cupcake picks, 2 3/4 inches tall, include two jack 'o lanterns, a black cat, and a grinning skull. It always amazes me to find such fragile, tiny pieces of ephemera have survived for so long...

Teddy Bears' Halloween

My miniature Schuco and Steiff teddy bears have agreed to pose for a Halloween photo, carving their pumpkin. The large scale antique dollhouse table and chairs are just the right size, and featured in last summer's birthday photo, too. The bears date from 1910-1950s; the furniture is early 1900s American; and the backdrop is by Edward Gorey, from his Dracula Toy Theatre.

"We love pumpkin carving!"

"Ewww...I don't think I want to stick my paw in there...do you?"