Antique Halloween Postcards

I've been fortunate enough to find some beautiful antique Halloween postcards at reasonable prices. These all date between 1907 and 1914. My favorite is the first one, with all the jack o' lanterns.


The message on the back of the blue card, penned by an aunt to her little niece in 1914, reads, "I hope the goblins don't get you!"

Antique Fortune Telling Games

Here are some of my favorite antique fortune telling games.
The first two are Halloween themed, with a great design of a witch and her cauldron, and date to the 1940s.

The "Fortune Telling Favor Set" is a small box that contains a set of tiny metal charms. The hostess would insert these charms into a cake, and the guests would hopefully find the charms and not swallow them! Each charm has a corresponding fortune: there's a pipe, which predicts "your pipe dreams come true"; a thimble
(spinsterhood); a baby (that's an obvious one); and several more.

The large witch game of "Hallowe'en Fortunes" is a simple spinner fortune teller. You spin the wheel, and the number that shows up in the cauldron matches a fortune printed below. I tested it this morning, spun the number 6, and it said: "Your fortune is good, you see, For you will contented be." Whew! Glad I didn't get 9: "At 50, you'll be grumpy, fat, round and very stumpy."

The last game has a very ponderous title: "Fortunescope: The Prognosticator of Human Destiny." It's another spinner type, and was printed in 1935. I love the graphics on this one, of a mysterious swami and his crystal ball.

Antique Fortune Telling Cards

Some Other Stuff I collect besides toys are vintage fortune telling cards and games. At Halloween I bring them out, and guests enjoy playing with them. Here are three fortune telling card decks, dating from about 1920 - late 1940s. I've had the best luck with Ingalls, the Wonderful Zodiac...

Antique Howard Thurston Magic Card, Program, & Book

I love vintage magic stuff, and Howard Thurston is one of my favorite magicians to collect. Here are one of his cards, a magic and fortune telling book you could order from him, and a program from one of his shows. They all date from the late 1920s - early 1930s.

Vintage King Kong Toy Ring

I felt I had found a treasure with this great vintage 1960s King Kong ring in its original packaging.
The front of the package reads, "10 cents: GENUINE KING KONG RING. Feel like the King!" (I'm not sure what a non-genuine King Kong ring would be like, but at least we're assured that this one is the real thing...)
The back of the package features a cut-out membership certificate for the official King Kong Klub, with the club's creed, which reads: "I am entitled to membership because I like King Kong and my Aunt looks a lot like him!"