Other Holidays Unlocking
Halloween Product data
As collector these past twenty-something years, it becomes apparent very early that numerous holidays (Christmas, Easter, et. al.) provide data relative to vintage Halloween collectibles, (and this writer thinks of their own multi-seasonal forays for Bindlegrim as creative maker). Thus, even though The Halloween Retrospect publication list (see Books) and archive library (see About) focus on October’s industry, there is comprehension that perspectives to a calendrical parade will contain important reference material.
Now, some readers are probably thinking (perhaps fan of all such red-letter days) that it would be obvious to review a full year of antique goods. However, collectors (THR included) may be flummoxed by specialization, restricted perhaps by budgeted bandwidth (shelf-space, funding, etc.) as to develop tunnel vision when seeking clues from America’s archives, libraries, and other sources. Truly a view that denies autumn’s celebrations seems rather contradictory, and yet this method is a great approach where others fail.
Pages 84-85 visible (left) from Halloween Artifacts, V1: Lighting includes a Cathedral Windows set from the 1940’s (not 1920’s) thru evidence of newspaper advertisements (right).
Although the above suggestion may remove a researcher from their area of interest, there are still ways to keep it festively interesting. Holiday addicts might simply replace Halloween in their equation with Christmas (for example) to reveal contemporary lantern, candy container, pull toy, etc. One will be amazed at how this expands data and narrows variables. To see this in action, this researcher will describe how a vintage decor series named Cathedral Windows (see page 84-85 of Halloween Artifacts, Volume 1: Lighting reference guide from the THR bookstore on Etsy) is discovered on sale not during the catch-all decade of the 1920’s but instead the 1940’s.
Dennison & Hallmark
Company histories, at times regardless of their active years, may have market examples of products created for a full calendar year of festivities. One example is the mysterious (and apparently brief) run of holiday items by GM Co.. Compare this to a robust and yearly output of E. Rosen Co.. While both companies offer brilliant product ideas for Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, etc., the upshot of such examples is this: if there is uncertainty which year a Halloween item ran on the market, a company item for other seasons will likely offer a more definitive route to information.
Stepping back in time just a bit, examples of pursuing inclusive holiday data appear in The Halloween Retrospect (particularly with digest Volume 2 and Volume 3) as seen below.
In December 2023, the above method considers Dennison MFG Co. (see blog entries Dennison Halloween and Dennison Publications for THR Volume 2 digest). Shown below are just two images that explain how this occurs. Since Dennison publications (The Bogie Book series, etc.) for Halloween alone do not immediately reveal an obvious understanding of serial numbers, THR creates a spreadsheet of some 200 publication from throughout the company’s printing history. This extensive sample size (definition on Wikipedia) together with assistance from the archivist of Framingham History Center determines the operation of the number system to offer us some amazing revelatory data – such as how many copies print in a single season – at times in the multiple tens of thousands!
A spreadsheet of around 200 titles by Dennison reveals what Halloween sampling alone cannot, allowing us to finally understand serial numbers (as in the 1915 example shown here).
Another major example of surveying the year’s holiday carousel occurs at THR with Hallmark mid-century Halloween products. The items in question require deeper research (as part of a two-part article concerning haunted house ephemera) because currently available records do not state release date nor subsequent market presence. Therefore, a wider view (with help of The Hallmark Archives), that takes in three decades of Hallmark product packaging (particularly pop-up related) allows for a more inclusive view of one product following another from 1950’s into 1980’s. The result is an identification guide n the digest pages of THR Volume 3 with relative blog entries Hallmark Halloween: 1950′s, Hallmark Halloween: 1960′s, and Hallmark Halloween: 1970′s linked below:
A collection of fascinating Hallmark centerpieces 1950’s, 1960s, and 1970’s examined by THR.
Cathedral Windows
As of 2025, collectors can still read print guides surmising, without source, a number of tales surrounding a diecut set of fauxe stained-glass windows (mentioned here earlier). Many of the notions unfortunately persist in collector-speak: referring to Dennison or Gibson as maker, or that the set hails from that magical catch-all decade of the 1920’s (as occurs often with lesser-known products), or worse that a combination of poor choices in style, hand-crafting, and bad product testing, etc. doom such decorative sets to one season.
Above 8-1/2″ x 11-1/2″ Cathedral Windows from Christmas and Halloween sets. Note the variable fenestration (window-like or not) appears dictated by each window, not by set.
To make a long blog short, data gained from primary sources tells a completely different story than what has been described for nearly twenty-plus years! The Halloween Retrospect archive library is not keen on declaration of facts from secondary sources, and therefore with inclusion of these decorations (at that time still without a name) into the pages of Volume 1: Lighting (see Etsy bookstore) the time came to learn more about this product among the book’s jack o’lanterns, shades, and glow-in-the-dark diecuts.
Cover spread (front to back) of antique and vintage Halloween collectibles guidebook by THR for lanterns, shades, and glow-in-dark diecuts. – Halloween Artifacts, Volume 1: Lighting.
As shown in the first two images of this entry (above), a goal for THR’s research and books like Halloween Artifacts, Volume 1 is providing named sources of the vintage market. This goal is accomplished by offering (for any one item) timeline lists of catalogs and/or other sources that identify time and place on the market. Some of this is made possible by THR’s archive library approaching (as of Dec. 2024) approachingf 600 information objects (not counting additional finds in magazines, newspapers, etc.).
Circling back to the point at the beginning of this entry, other holidays offer essential clues to the story of vintage Halloween collectibles! In Halloween Artifacts, V1 (page 84-85) the book is able to create a timeframe for what advertisers call Cathedral Windows as dating circa 1940 to 1947 (though start and end dates might expand upon further discovery). And below is one example of the product for sale in 1946 from a merchant in Spokane – not only helping us pinpoint true market dates, but also show a wide area of distribution for nearly a decade!
Above is but one of many advertisements during the 1940’s from east to west that advertise other versions of Cathedral Windows as seen in Halloween Artifacts samplings 1940-1947.
THR’s Halloween Artifacts
As with Cathedral Windows, the 100 page gallery of THR’s new collectibles guide offers similar research for other items, such as: Toledo Metal Sign Co, Beistle, Dennison, Gibson Art Co., Dolly Toy Co., American Novelty Co., Miller Electric Co., Hallmark, and Empire Plastics Corp. (to name some that can be positively identified among makers less known or as yet identified). Provided for many of these objects are multiple views of single objects, or multiple objects that may have not been previously seen in print (beyond postage-stamp scale). Accompanying each item the page has a small introduction of various facts and/or mysteries, together with timelines as made possible by primary sources at time of print.
Page sample featuring Beistle 3-D Jack O’Lantern decorations, as well as a recent review for Halloween Artifacts, Volume 1: Lighting available on THR’s online bookstore via etsy.
Halloween Artifacts, Volume 1: Lighting
Available as an 8-1/2″×11″ full-color 114-page book of big images together with synchronous data from novelty merchandise catalogs held in The Halloween Retrospect archive library.
Contents:
Foreword by Charles Beck (pg. 4) offers an intro to the experience of meaningful vintage Halloween collecting and offers a look at Beck’s publications focused on antique and vintage photography featuring Halloween traditions. Contains photograph from Charles Beck’s “Halloween Haunts.”
Harvesting an Ember Glimmers of the Past in Lanterns, Shades, & Luminescent Inks (pg. 5) is the author’s introduction that builds for a reader a sense of what it is like finding the treasures of old Halloween, and beginning to comprehend their historical presence in a vintage marketplace. Contains 2 photographs from the author.
Introduction Revisiting a Foreword from Research Series THR, Vol. 1 (pg. 6) returns to the original publication by THR from 2023 to give a practical background of the author’s journey into research that includes the following segments: Positions for Context, Statement of Intent, Regarding Source, THR’s Archive Library.
Contains 4 photographs from the THR archive library.
Halloween Artifacts: Lighting THR’s Archive Collection Synchronized with Library Data (pg. 10 )returns to the original publication by THR from 2023 to give a practical background of the author’s journey into research that includes the following segments: Positions for Context, Statement of Intent, Regarding Source, THR’s Archive Library.
Contains 4 photographs from the THR archive library..
Sources & Additional Reading A Quick List of Selected Publications (pg. 113) reviews a small list of sources used throughout the book, and includes a list of additional research from THR.
THR notes the following as worthy of attention concerning the first edition of Halloween Artifacts, V1: Lighting. Typos or unclear statements will likely update in future editions.
THR on Instagram
Don’t forget to check out THR @halloweenretrrospecs on Instragram for more exiting finds which may not appear in print publications. Here’s an example:
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.
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