Legend has it that Halloween started as an ancient Celtic harvest and sometimes-secular celebration. In the 20th century, however, the holiday became more mainstream, without any ties to religion. The craze to collect Halloween memorabilia took off in the 1990s, due in part to the publication of Stuart Schneider’s landmark book Halloween in America (Schiffer, 1995). When showcased in print, the colorful items once considered post-holiday throwaways were given a new lease on life. Halloween items were reinvented as collectibles, and soon they began popping up on dealers’ tables at antique shows and flea markets from coast to coast.
Some of the most coveted Halloween novelties were made in Germany in the 1930s and ’40s. It’s a wonder some of them were even allowed to be marketed – like, for instance, papier-mache jack-o-lanterns – or “JOLs” – with rings to hold a candle in place. When lit, the candle would illuminate the area behind the lantern’s tissue-paper eyes. Because of their possible flammability, JOLs of that type would never meet today’s safety regulations, but fortunately that’s not an issue with collectors, whose standards have more to do with condition, color and imagery.
The gold standard for many collectors is early figural candy containers, which generally were designed with removable heads, so candy could be accessed. But there’s always competition for these sorts of items at auction. One particularly desirable candy container we saw at Morphy’s Sept. 11, 2010 auction was a 9½-inch combination “veggie man” and lantern, with parsnip arms, zucchini legs, potato feet and a fruit-type head. When its interior candle was lit, the veggie man’s paper eyes and mouth would glow. Against an auction estimate of $5,000 to $8,000, it sold for $12,650 (inclusive of 15% buyer’s premium).
Even when initially retailed, candy containers were at the top end of the market, pricewise. In the 1940s, smaller Halloween candy containers sold for 49 to 59 cents. That sounds cheap in today’s money, but not so much back then, when a loaf of bread cost 8 cents, gasoline was 18 cents a gallon and minimum wage was 30 cents per hour.
Jack-o-lanterns were even cheaper than candy containers and originally could be purchased in dime stores for as little as 19 cents. Not all were designed as traditional pumpkins with eyes, noses and broad, toothy smiles. Some of the lanterns resembled owls, witches, ghosts, devils or bats. Generally, the offbeat character lanterns are more valuable to collectors than garden-variety pumpkin JOLs.
After candy containers and lanterns, arguably the third-most-popular items with collectors are Halloween-theme board games. Especially in pre-Civil War times, people would host Halloween parties at home. Games were always high on the list of party activities, especially those involving fortune telling. Generally, the more colorful the box and board graphics are, the more valuable a game is to collectors. Naturally, rarity is also a consideration.
By far, the greatest selection of vintage Halloween collectibles can be found online at LiveAuctioneers. Run a search for “Halloween” and you’ll be amazed at what’s available: www.LiveAuctioneers.com
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