Vintage Fisher Price Haunted House Puzzle

Great graphics on this 1980s Fisher Price haunted house puzzle. For a haunted house, it looks very inviting!

Vintage Star Wars Toy Ads

I was flipping through one of my old copies of Famous Monsters of Filmland last night (the May 1978 issue) and found this Star Wars toy advertising insert at the back. How cool to see these much-loved toys of my childhood in what were surely some of their earliest ad appearances! Click on the pics for more details.

Martian Finks!

"LOOK! MARTIAN FINKS ARE INVADING!"

This was such a great gumball machine display card that I framed it. Who could resist its call to "take home a pocketful of Martian Fink Fun"? I have two so far. Martian Finks were inspired by Rat Fink, the hot rod mascot of the 1950s and 60s craze, but in my opinion they're much cuter.

Vintage Monster Magazine

Here's one of my favorite issues of Famous Monsters Of Filmland, from April 1977, featuring Robby the Robot. Just a fab cover!

1950s Space Themed Dexterity Puzzles

Here's a fun trio of games from my collection, all dating from 1957 and made by Comon Tatar, Inc. The first one is called "Stop the Martians!" and features a classic flying saucer buzzing a city. The second is "Trip to the Moon", and the last is my favorite: "Space Gallery," with fantastic graphics of a spaceman, ray gun, Sputnik-style satellite, and a monstrous, many-tentacled alien.

Vintage Gumball Machine Monster Toys

These little 2 inch tall Frankenstein Monsters are 1960s gumball machine prizes. They came folded in half inside their plastic capsules (the line visible across their midsection is actually a hinge). They're a great size to carry around in your pocket and have handy in case you ever need a monster while you're out and about.

1964 MAD Magazine: Monster Edition

I love MAD magazine and monsters, so this is, naturally, one of my most favorite issues ever. From 1964, during the height of the "monster modeling" craze...

Vintage Comic Book Ads

I love looking at the old ads in vintage comics and monster magazines. So many treasures to be had for such small amounts of money...Why, you could order your own live squirrel monkey from Monster World magazine in 1966! The ad claims the monkey will be "almost a member of the family soon after you get" it. (Hmmm. Wonder how many 1960s moms felt that way when their son's monkey arrived with the daily mail?) If a live critter was too much, other ads offered 10 foot rubber snakes for only $1.98, and promised that "people will admire your courage" when they see it wrapped around you. If crafts were more to your taste, a mere .98 would get you "Madame Tussaud's Chamber of Horrors Guillotine" model which, in a seemingly incompatible pair of testimonials, claimed both to "really work" and provide "harmless fun!"

Click on the pictures for more details. I don't recommend trying to order the squirrel monkey, though. I think we have laws about that sort of thing now...

1966 Monster Magazine: The Addams Family

I have a small collection of vintage "monster magazines" from the 1960s and 1970s. They're loads of fun to read, especially the old ads. Here's one of my favorites: the July 1966 issue of Monster World, with a feature article about the Addams Family tv show. The back cover has a fabulous ad for the Addams Family model house that you could order for only $1.98!

Old Black Cat Dexterity Puzzle Game

Here's a Halloween themed dexterity puzzle from my collection (click on the "dexterity puzzle" label at the bottom of this post to see some more). You have to ring the black cat's tail in the order specified to win. I can attest that it's really, really hard!

Vintage Disney Haunted Mansion Game

If I had to choose one vintage board game as my most favorite of all time, this would be it: the classic Disney Haunted Mansion Game made by Lakeside in the 1970s. Based on the beloved attraction at Walt Disney World, the game beautifully recreated its scenes and specters.

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!

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!"

Vintage Monster Gumball Machine Toys

Probably from the early 1960s, this vintage vending machine display card is one of my favorites. It reads: "Monsters...HEADS. GHOSTLY! HEY KIDS: They stick on your head!" And indeed they do: the tiny monster heads are still sticky after all these years. Or, you can string them on a necklace for a fabulously ghoulish fashion accessory.

Vintage Addams Family Colorforms

Here's one of my favorite vintage Colorforms sets: The Addams Family, from the 1960s. This was a super hard set to find, so even though it's missing a few bits, I don't mind too much. I just pretend Lurch has his arms tucked behind his back...

Mandrake the Magician Magic Set

I love vintage magic stuff, and October, with its aura of spooky mystery, seems a suitable month to post some.

Here's a vintage Mandrake the Magician Magic Kit, dating to the 1940s or 50s.

My brother Jody gave me this for Christmas a few years ago: its one of the greatest toy gifts I've ever received!