Vintage Halloween Collectibles [Paperback]

Mark Ledenbach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2003

The tradition of trick-or-treating can be traced back to the early 1900s, but the decorations of all things scary began much before that. Some time around the late 1800s pumpkins, witches, black cats, and ghouls began appearing in parades, adorning city streets, and decorating homes. Mark Ledenbach shares his collection of vintage Halloween collectibles for the first time in this new identification and price guide. Nearly 1,250 vintage collectibles are vividly displayed in full-color, with the majority of them having never before been published in previous works profiling Halloween memorabilia. Each masterfully photographed item includes manufacturing country, company, and dates; specific measurements to the nearest 1/4 inch; and reproduction alerts, item iterations, and more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Krause Publications (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873495624
• ISBN-13: 978-0873495622
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,848,275 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely well researched book- beautiful!, August 12, 2003

By 

Bobbie Lasky (Woodland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vintage Halloween Collectibles (Paperback)

As a collector of Vintage Halloween, this is the most comprehensive and well researched book on the topic to date that I have found. The layout is spectacular and well thought out. Photographs and descriptions are superb. The "tab" index that identifies the chapters makes it easy to find a particular item and the rarity rating is a wonderful addition for serious collectors. Almost all of the items pictured are in first-rate condition, well-described and logically grouped. If you are going to buy one book on Vintage Halloween, this is the best!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars INDISPENSIBLE FOR THE HALLOWEEN COLLECTOR, November 4, 2007

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Vintage Halloween Collectibles: An Identification & Price Guide (Vintage Halloween Collectibles: Identification & Price Guide) (Paperback)

Another Halloween has come and gone but for some people like myself, the Halloween holiday lives on 365 days a year due to my love of the holiday and my passion for Halloween décor. When I was a kid, I used to be rather afraid of the old decorations in my grandmother's house. These were quite a bit scarier than those jointed cardboard skeletons and plastic light-up pumpkins that I was used to...Little did I know then just how valuable those pieces were. When she passed away about ten years ago my wife and I scoured her house for those trinkets but alas, they were nowhere to be found, most likely tossed in the trash years ago.

Vintage Halloween Collectibles from Krause Publications is yet another outstanding edition to their library of collectibles books. When I first received the book I literally sat down for a couple of hours and just browsed through the book from cover-to-cover, looking for the items my Grandmother used to have as well as finding the few items that I've been able to collect. Collecting vintage Halloween decorations is no easy task Halloween wasn't nearly as big and commercialized decades ago as it is today. Vintage Christmas items show up endlessly at flea markets and garage sales but vintage Halloween items are much harder to come by because there just wasn't as much made, not too mention that much of it was made out of paper and simply didn't last as long.

This 256 page trade paperback book covers some 1600 items and features over 1100 full-color photos. The book lists the item with country of origin, manufacturer, date of manufacture, dimensions, current value, and, perhaps most importantly, a scarcity index on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the rarest and 5 being the most common. Naturally, the items my grandmother had fell into the common arena but still were fairly valuable, all things considered. The items are broken down into eight different category chapters including games, candy containers and figures, noisemakers, and decorations.

I found it interesting that there were so many games that involved fortune telling that were made in the 30's and 40's. This is certainly a sign of that era's infatuation with mysticism. One motif that seemed so common back in the first half of the 20the century that you don't see much today is devil and demon décor. The stereotypical red horned devil was a very common theme that has nearly disappeared from modern décor...I guess that's' a sign of OUR times. The other overwhelming common theme was the black cat. The book contains hundreds of black cat items from figurines to paper lanterns. The lanterns are things I remember distinctly from my youth and I am still amazed at the intricate detail of these rather delicate Halloween decorations. The book has dozens of examples of paper lanterns adorned by witches, black cats, pumpkins, and skeletons. These items are beautiful and Krause has done a great job with clear, beautiful photography of these rarities.

One of the most interesting chapters is simply called "A Nice Variety" because the items didn't fit into any of the other categories. These feature items such as paper aprons, candy boxes, candles and candleholders, books and magazines. The covers to the books published by Dennison's in the 20's and 30's are gorgeous. These books were geared towards the woman of the house with ideas for recipes, decorations, and Halloween games. I also loved the die-cut chapter because those are the decorations I remember my mother having as a young kid and still fondly remember. But again, those red devil die-cuts, circa the 1930's are just wonderful. These items may not be easy to find anymore, but if you do, there is simply no better resource than this book from Krause Publications.

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The new Standard for Vintage Halloween reference, July 4, 2003

By 

matthew kirscht (collingswood, nj) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vintage Halloween Collectibles (Paperback)

This new book excells in the areas of detailed information and rare items not seen in the previous 7 books released on the subject. The scarcity index is a great tool for comparing rarity between items and will help collectors make up their minds when faced with multiple buying options. There is extensive information on dating items that goes far beyond what has been touched upon in other books, including histories of maker's marks. The photos are well taken and highlight some of the rarest and most beautiful halloween decorations ever produced. The book has a great feel to it, reads well, and is crisply designed. If only all collectible reference books had this attention to detail! This book is an absolute must for the collector, or the person who is struck in awe by the beauty of these antique graphics.