Vintage Halloween Collectibles

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, and because the date falls close to my birthday, I have always had an October-themed party. Black and orange decorations, colorful paper graphics on nut cups, pumpkin lanterns, and themed games. If you love everything about autumn and October or are just nostalgic for the trick-or-treats of your childhood, look to decorate your home with vintage Halloween.

If you're lucky, you will have kept some collectible October youth decorations. If you're starting, vintage Halloween can be found year-round at church sales and garage sales; use vintage masks to decorate pumpkins, set out a row of blow-mold jack-o-lanterns to line your driveway or entrance to your house, display vintage postcards, and line the mantle with vintage party accessories and decorations.

I recently found and bought a vintage blow-mold Jack-o-lantern flashlight at a local thrift store. I was thrilled to find this treasure that resembled the one I had as a child. Throughout the year I look for these collectibles at antique malls, thrift stores and garage sales.

According to the National Retail Federation American's spend billions of dollars a year on our favorite October holiday. That includes costumes,candy, decorations and greeting cards.

Made with paper mache and filled with candied fruit, salted nuts, and other confections. Vintage paper-mache candy containers are difficult to find in excellent condition.

At the turn of the 20th century women's magazines were filled with festive table settings which almost always included nut or candy cups. The settings were orange and black decorated with silhouettes of witches, cats, bats, skeletons and more.

If only we saved our costumes from the 1960's and 1970's! I distinctly remember the cool graphics on the boxes, the smell and feel of the plastic masks and the unique fabric of the costumes. Collectors look for names like Ben Cooper and Collegeville. Look for costumes that are in great condition, in the original box, with popular themes television themes including Wonder Woman, Popeye, Flintstones, Casper the Ghost, Spider-Man, the Hulk, The Muppets or the traditional Halloween costumes: gypsy, Frankenstein, witch, skeleton and many more.

Hold on, man. We don't go anywhere with "scary," "spooky," "haunted," or "forbidden" in the title. From Scooby-Doo

Many people love these collectibles because it reminds them of their childhood. Black and orange graphics are the most common, with familiar themes of owls, black cats, witches, devils, pumpkins, Jack-o-lanterns, and ghosts.