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?"

King Kong Board Game

From my collection of vintage monster-themed board games comes "King Kong," made by Ideal in 1976. This was a tie-in product released in collaboration with the King Kong film remake that came out the same year. The film was not well-received; critic Leonard Maltin didn't mince his words when he said: "it dispels all the mythic, larger-than-life qualities of the original with idiotic characters and campy approach." Ouch. Still, the game is cool!

The box features fantastic promotional art from the movie poster, of Kong standing atop the World Trade Center towers (a change from the original film's climatic setting at the Empire State Building).

The game board is huge (appropriate for a story about a gigantic ape climbing gigantic buildings), measuring 32 inches long when fully opened.

The board represents the World Trade Center, and your mission as a player is to successfully attack Kong before he reaches the top. He, however, can spin about and knock you off the building, which is not a good thing.

Cards pulled can help ("take a helicopter ride!") or hinder you on your mission.

The spinner is totally cool, a tiny King Kong:

Vintage monster games generally command high prices, but Ideal's "King Kong" is still rather readily available and pretty reasonably priced, perhaps because of the remake film's unpopularity. See if you can find one, and play it this Halloween!

King Kong Carnival Chalkware Figure

If you visited the gaming tents of a traveling carnival in the 1930s, and fortune favored you that evening, you could have won this glorious chalkware prize: a 14 inch tall statue of King Kong.

If I'd been at a carnival back then, you can bet I would have been begging my date for one of these. It always amazes me to find such old chalkware pieces in such great condition today, as they are notoriously fragile.

 Grrrowrrr!

Siamese Twin Sock Monkeys

I love sock monkeys, especially quirky vintage ones. These aren't vintage, but they are nonetheless some of my favorites. Made by a crafter on the U.S. west coast, these siamese twin sock monkeys are one of her specialities.

Just in time for Halloween, may I present Julius and Edsel, in all their cuddly freakishness:

Hello hello!

A Haunted Portrait

Well, I don't know if it's really haunted, but it seems a distinct possibility...

My favorite antique dealer decided this year that she was ready to part with this portrait of her family ancestor. (I know what you're thinking: how could she bear to give up such an heirloom?! I wondered too.)

The tinted photograph is in its original, 21 inch tall domed-glass frame, and dates from the early 1900s. The green miasma in the background really heightens the spooky mood, I think. I'm not sure what effect the photo tinters were going for there, but I can't imagine they intended the "ghoulish vapour" look they unwittingly achieved.

Isn't he a delightfully creepy looking kid?

Several observers have said he looks rather like a young Uncle Fester, of Addams Family fame. I haven't mentioned this to the antique dealer, as I believe the little boy was actually a relative of her husband's, and I'm not sure how flattered she'd be by that comparison....