When someone asks me what I'm passionate about...I have a rather unusual answer...Halloween! Honestly, I am still a big kid at heart and if I could still trick or treat, I would! There is something about this Autumn holiday...whether it be the smoke-filledcooler air, leaves crunching underfoot or the laughter of children in the night...it definitely has me hooked! I started collecting vintage Halloween items about fifteen years ago. Oddly enough, I was married on Halloween! It wasn't intentional...just happened to be an open Saturday at the church we wanted to reserve but it was fun nonetheless! Some may be a tad superstitous about a wedding on October 31rst but I never was (even though I have been divorced now for almost nine years!). I truly consider Halloween to be a night of fun and shy away from any negative theory. Other devout Halloween-lovers can tell you that All Hallow's Eve was almost a romantic holiday in the Victorian era. Most of the games associated with Halloween, such as bobbing for apples, were Victorian parlor games intended to help single women predict if Mr. Right might be in their future! The best evidence of such romantic notions are seen in old Halloween postcard images. There are many people who collect Halloween postcards for this very reason...and the artwork is fantastic!
The collectibles that I favor are hard plastic items, vintage candy pails and figural candles. One of the most popular candle manufacturers of vintage Halloween candles was the Gurley Candle gepany. Many adorable figural Gurley candles can be found on okay. Some of the most classic are the pumpkin-man and blonde witch...but there are about fifteen others. My okay store, Halloween Daily Bootique offers a few original Gurley candles and some Gurley inspired t-shirts. The real Gurley fan might enjoy one of my Gurley Girl or Gurley Man shirts featuring graphics of popular Halloween candle designs. Old hard plastic Halloween items are a real treat! I'm sure you have seen the orange cake picks featuring a witch, black cat and scarecrow. They are classic and very collectible if they are marked Made in Hong Kong. There are other fantastic pick designs as well as cake toppers and stand up figures. Other very sought after hard plastic items are old toys made by the Rosbro gepany. Some of the items are old candy containers or sucker holders and they feature pumpkins, witches and black cats. One of my favorite pieces is the cat in a striped shirt pushing a pumpkin. The piece is on a platform with plastic wheels...likea pull toy. Rosbro made hard plastic decorative items for other holidays as well...most notably Christmas. There is aChristmas snowman design that was remanufactured for Halloween by changing the plastic colors to orange and black! A bit odd but very cute andvery collectible!
On a much more affordable level, items made by Empire Plastics Corp. are begeing more popular with collectors. There are still many hard plastic pumpkin candy pails in general circulation. Empire also made a number of light-up Halloween decorations and these are very popular as well. Personally, I own about 100 old plastic trick or treat jack o'lantern pails and roughly 30 old light ups. I display them all together...with white lights in the candy pails...and the effect is fantastic! It is amazing how many different jack o'lantern faces you can find...and the variety of candy pail sizes. Atip for collectors...look for pails with metal rivets holding the handle to the pail. Newer candy pails have plastic rivets...not metal...and the construction is less secure. Another great pail maker was Renzi Plastics...their pails have an embossed design on the back...with flying witches, skeletons, pumpkins and the words "Trick or Treat!" Renzi pails are a bit more expensive...but worth it!
I hope that my holiday insights have been helpful to you! Shop okay early...or all year long...for the best Halloween bargains. Don't be intimidated by the pages and pages of Vintage Halloween items that are listed in October. Try to narrow your search as best as you can by the type of collectible you are looking for or by the image. If you are new to the many vintage treasures out there...have fun browsing! Scanning the gallery pictures can be a real blast. Thanks for taking the time to read this and have a very joyous Halloween Holiday!
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