So apparently yesterday (August 30th) was "Frankenstein Day" in honor of Mary Shelley's birthday on August 30th, 1797. I was not aware of this, but seeing as Frankenstein's Monster (or just plain Frankenstein as most of us call him) is one of the more popular monsters associated with Halloween, I thought you should all know there is such a thing as Frankenstein Day.
But that's not all....Frankenstein Day is also celebrated on the last Friday in October and/or October 29th. So if you missed out, and really wanted to go crazy (watch a Frankenstein movie, make a Frankenstein cake, have a Frankenstein party, put on your favorite Frankenstein tee shirt, or do something else involving the big green lug), you still have another chance to celebrate.
Here's a picture from the cover of Famous Monsters of Filmland (a great treasure for monster movie enthusiasts) featuring Frankenstein's Monster. Cheers!
Famous Monsters of Filmland Frankenstein cover.
One of the many great things about Halloween, are all the creepy lights that shine through the windows to guide Trick or Treaters and party guests through the darkened October nights. There are all kinds of blow mold Halloween figures out there...One of my personal favorites is from the P.T.L. Novelty Company (Brooklyn, New York) that made "Spook-O-Lites" (with Blinking Bulb). They made a devil (as I'm posting a picture of), a Jack-O-Lantern, and a skull. I'm pretty sure these molds were made by the Rosbro company originally, as you see these same mold designs on candy containers around the same time (mid-late 60's) if not earlier.
The going rate for these mini lamps seem to fluctuate quite a bit. The devil always seems to sell for a bit more than the pumpkin, and the skull doesn't seem to pop up as often anymore. Out of the box, you are looking at $40-$80. In the box (like this one) they will usually sell for between $90-$140 (once again, more for the devil and skull version, less for the Jack-O-Lantern).
I added a new picture to the Miscellaneous Toys section. I have for you a creepy Halloween candy bucket made by the Topstone Company. This devilish delight was made in the 1970's, and is worth around $35 (and I should know, because I bid on this one).
The Topstone Company made a few other cool Halloween candy buckets (of which I will post pictures of shortly). Topstone also made lots of rubber masks that were a big hit with Trick or Treaters 25 years plus ago.
Topstone Devil Candy Bucket 1970's $35
Remember the days of cheap Halloween costumes? For a few bucks and some change you could get your claws on the newest movie character, rock star, or classic monster. Most of these costumes were made by Ben Cooper or Collegeville. They also didn't tend to last very long. Most kids would run around, tear holes in em, rip em up, or crush the cheap plastic masks. With all that mayhem, it's no wonder that a lot of them didn't survive (especially with the box intact).
It wasn't until fairly recently that I have come to appreciate some of these old school costumes, but some are just too cool to be thrown aside. The artwork on the plastic body suits and the box art can be quite creepy and fun as well.
Here's an Alien costume from the Ben Cooper Company:
I added a couple of new pics to the the Misc. Toys section. I will be posting more ghoulish goodies soon so stay tuned!
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