Well, it has become more difficult to find cool vintage Halloween items at garage sales lately, but today I had a little luck. I managed to find this Ghost Halloween pail from Empire plastics. It's not worth a great deal (in the $10-$20 range if you could find one in a collectible shop or online), but I was looking to add a ghost pail to my collection. Empire Plastics went out of business a few years ago (it amazes me that so many American made Halloween companies have just gone out of business in the past few years). I believe Empire Plastics stopped making this ghost pail around 1997. General Foam Plastics (another American company that produces cool Halloween products) makes a version of the ghost pail that looks like the same mold Empire Plastics used, but the eyes are different (more cartoon like).
I also managed to score some cool vintage Halloween decorations that were made by the Beistle company. These jointed skeletons are in great shape and are marked 1973 (I have a much larger version of these guys in my Halloween decorations box). The witch is neat looking too. She has 2 small pieces of tape on her, but what do you do (you don't pull it off because the cardboard will tear). The witch is also dated 1973. I'm not much of a Halloween decoration collector, but I do like skeletons and witches, and the artwork is creepy on these (which make me like them all the more).
All in all, not a terrible garage sale day. I even picked up some creepy looking animal bones and skulls (that were prepared by a taxidermist) that I will turn into some ghoulish Halloween art.
One of the more unique items I saw this past weekend were these "Werewolf Firecrackers" from the 1950's. Definitely something you don't see everyday. I think the artwork on these are very cool. For only $5 a pack, you could take a pack home with you.
What a busy weekend it has been....Yesterday I traveled to Lansing Michigan to meet a group of collectors named "All Holidays-New and Old". This group collects all kinds of holiday antiques and collectibles. Many of these kind people are big Halloween nuts (and you can never meet too many Halloween nuts). Lots of the members of the group had set up tables selling all kinds of stuff (Halloween buckets, Jack-O-Lanterns, lights, and other goodies....even packs of vintage firecrackers featuring cool artwork of bats and werewolves...I will post a photo soon). I also learned a bunch about other holiday collectibles (including interesting tidbits of knowledge like green plastic pigs and their association with New Years).
I headed to Saline Michigan today for their big antiques show at the fairgrounds. I found a few dealers that were selling vintage Halloween items. I saw a few tin noisemakers, a couple plastic Rosen witch and cat candy containers, some older cups and napkins, a cool "Miller Lite" sign with a Jack-O-Lantern, a couple paper lanterns, and a very nice lady named Charlotte who had some very reasonable prices on some old paper mache pumpkins and a cat. Here's a picture of a similar looking paper mache pumpkin to what Charlotte was selling:
So if your having a hard time finding cool Vintage Halloween stuff, get out to your local antique shows and try to find some collectors of holiday stuff. It's always great to network and meet some new friends (and who knows...maybe these new folks will set some ghoulish goodies aside for you the next time you meet ;) Introduce yourself to the dealers, tell them what your looking for, and support your local antique and collectors shows!
If you've been a bad boy or ghoul you might just get a visit from Mr. Rottentail....He brings rotten eggs and screams to all who've been mean and unpleasant.
I added a new pic of a toy tin banjo from the 1920's to the Misc. Toys section. This particular item sold at auction for $875. You don't see many of these around, so when you do they tend to sell for top dollar.
I managed to pick up a couple of cool vintage Halloween candy buckets (or pails or Trick or Treat baskets.....take your pick) of Skulls. I'll post some pictures soon.
Happy hauntings!
RSS Feed