I had this game as a child, and my sister, cousins, and I played it over and over, until the game literally disintegrated. Last year, I finally decided my nostalgic yearning was strong enough to justify paying the steep asking price for a decent example. Now, we play it again, but very, very carefully!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Vintage Disney Haunted Mansion Game
I had this game as a child, and my sister, cousins, and I played it over and over, until the game literally disintegrated. Last year, I finally decided my nostalgic yearning was strong enough to justify paying the steep asking price for a decent example. Now, we play it again, but very, very carefully!
Vintage Casper the Ghost Wooden Pull Toy
Here's one of my favorite toys for Halloween-time: a wooden Casper the Ghost musical pull toy made by the American Pre-School Toy Company around 1962. Great graphics cover the base of the xylophone, which Casper plays as he's pulled along. I love this toy!
Labels:
character toys,
monsters,
pull toys,
vintage
Sunday, October 4, 2009
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.
Labels:
antique,
ephemera,
fortune teller,
games
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...
Labels:
antique,
ephemera,
fortune teller,
games
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