The Halloween Retrospect archive library is an evolving collection of information objects including (as of 1-25-2024) a little over 525 vintage catalogs (1900-1979), with an additional number of books, magazines, advertisements, and more. These are reference materials (most identified as primary sources) gathered for recapturing the original market of vintage Halloween collectibles.
Above is an early photo (with snapshot overlays of archive and library content) of THR shelves containing vintage-era research materials of early 20th century and mid-century timeframes. These offer a glimpse of today’s vintage Halloween collectibles as originally sold to stores and entertainment venues as vendor stock, or as favors offered for direct purchase by the public consumer. These various sources provide exciting content that is not only a window into the merchandising history of Halloween but a wide range of Americana (at times offering intriguing international connections to the development of holiday expressions we observe in current times).
Books & BLogs
While the original purpose of THR is archiving the rediscovery of these many forgotten sources, a newer mission is shared research. The latter is accomplished as dispatch through a series of self-published books titled, thus far, The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 1, andThe Halloween Retrospect Volume 2… (see Publications for information and bookstore). The resulting books offer 32-pages softcover digests of cited, illustrated research. As well, bonus material is included (that in THR, V2 is an 11″x17″ fold-out poster of Dennison Halloween publications, and two timeline cards featuring novelties from Shackman’s Favors).
latest blog posts from THR’s archivist librarian.
Below, are some on-site snippets of information (or on-site blog) expanding upon various content of THR volumes. These offer a range of treats – such as behind-the-scene views of the archive, the library, and book publications, or bits-and-pieces of text and images that didn’t fit the final print volumes.
PLEASE NOTE: THR does NOT employ AI-generative technology. Content is created by human biological entities to ensure results engage accurate research with mindful artistry.
If you wish to buy print copies of the latest edition:The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 1 and Volume 2 are available via THR’s book store page on etsy .
Hallmark Vintage Packaging Part 3: 1970-1979 This entry is Part 3 in a short blog series examining Hallmark (1950-1980) ephemera – mainly assembly, honeycomb, and pop-ups. As stated in Hallmark Halloween: 1950's and Halloween Hallmark: 1960's, THR is writing these entries to develop data for vintage Hallmark Halloween centerpieces to assist …
Hallmark Vintage Packaging Part 2: 1960-1969 As mentioned in previous entry Hallmark Halloween: 1950's, THR is developing data for vintage Hallmark Halloween centerpieces (those near and bit later than mid-century) to assist an article (on a different yet related topic) in works for collectors' guide Volume 3 of The Halloween Retrospect. …
Hallmark Vintage Packaging Part 1: 1950-1959 The archivist-librarian has been seeking data on vintage Hallmark Halloween collectibles now that articles are underway for Volume 3 of The Halloween Retrospect (a research series from THR's bookstore). And so, as a sneak-peek to future content for faithful readers (noting importantly that this blog …
Vintage Inspirations Developing cover art for The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 2, I remember much of the inspiration came by way of vintage textures, colors, and sales copy found in vendor catalogs – with the cheeky idea that one would view the front or back sides of a vintage collectible dependent on …
Toy Tales Collector Interview The Halloween Retrospect’s catalog collection is a market history seen through vintage pages filled of gewgaws, thingamabobs, whatchamacallits, doohickeys, and holiday curios (including my personal favorite Halloween) dating 1900 to 1979. Since the library began as a bit of a side-project as a relatively new venture built …
Midcentury Halloween Candies E. Rosen Company's Moon Pop, boxed with a set of 5-card Trix or Treats sucker holders from the pages of Sears 1950 Fall and Winter Catalog for the Chicago market. One of the shorter pieces in The Halloween Retrospect, Vol 2, (second book in a research series for …
Mysteries of Source & Credit This entry was bound for a fitful start of overthink, yet the contents are completely topical to the recent edition of The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 2 and to my own experience as collector, archivist, librarian, and researcher. I believe these are important notes regarding vintage data, …
Early Century Dennison Following is a quick glance at some vintage items as companions to the article (and poster shown below) discussing Dennison's vintage Halloween catalogs (and/or various promotional publications). In "Decrypting Dennison: Serial Number Guide Featuring Autumn Publications" of The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 2 numerous Halloween titles are referenced (starting 1909 …
A History in Numbers Have you ever noticed a rather implausible code number stashed in the nooks and crannies of authentic vintage Dennison publications (such as Bogie Book, etc.)? Ever wonder if it holds any significance in terms of book collectibles? Now, in a feature article of The Halloween Retrospect, Volume …
Volume 2 Vintage collectibles Guide Guidebook announcement here for The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 2 – the continuation of a new series of reference booklets about vintage Halloween collectibles. This newest edition is set to arrive mid to late December 2023, to offer more unearthed treasures found while the archivist librarian digs …
Beistle'S Vintage Halloween It is the way of the world – some things just get more volume while others exist far from the maddening roar. Yet, speaking personally, it is often those quieter places where one finds the most amazing treasure, and this seems to hold true for contemporary survey books …
Vintage Halloween Catalogs Looking more deeply within publications concurrent to the vintage Halloween market of the past (circa 1900-1980), it became evident, as an archivist and librarian for The Halloween Retrospect, that popular surveys created in modern times (while visually rich) appear to stray from the historic record. Given that citations …
Archives across the U.S. While working toward a Library and Information Science degree (scant time before publishing The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 1) opportunities arose to visit with some of the professional archives, libraries, and museums of the United States from coast to coast. One highlight was being first from the public …
March's Halloween poster The addition of an 11×17 fold-out poster insert for The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 1 wasn't going to happen unless its quality could be near (or better than) source material, so that those oh-so-tiny fonts and detailed illustrations of vintage Halloween collectibles would appear crisp and clear. Fortunately, some …
Dennison's Bogie Book Since it is difficult to squeeze everything found in the THR archive's library into the final version of a small softcover digest, it is advantageous having this additional blog space to reveal items considered and/or discussed in the pages of The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 1 (now available btw …
New Vintage collectibles series The Halloween Retrospect announces the new series of self-titled research digests (magazines) arrive July 2023 to gaze into the world of vintage Halloween markets as seen through hundreds of information objects (mainly ~500 vintage catalogs 1900-1979) housed in The Halloween Retrospect archive library. The content for the …
PLEASE NOTE: THR does NOT employ AI-generative technology. Content is created by human biological entities to ensure results engage accurate research with mindful artistry.
