Boo! Halloween Collectibles Are Scary-Fantastic

Dear Lee,

Leaves are brilliant burnt orange, red and yellow, and the sweaters are pulled out of storage. That can only mean one thing: It’s time for me to display all the spooky jack-o-lanterns, cats, ghosts and witches I’ve collected over the years. Many are stored on shelves in the General Store re-creation in my basement.

Halloween became a popular holiday in the 1880s in the United States. In the 1920s, it became a children’s holiday and is now second in popularity only to Christmas among collectors of holiday memorabilia.

We antique enthusiasts can tell the age of a collectible from its materials and what is represented. In Victorian times, bats and spiders were symbols of good fortune and a long life. They, and spider webs, were painted on vases and bowls for the parlor in the late 1800s.

Frogs, bats, snakes, spiders and other creepy creatures were on Art Nouveau jewelry, silver, pottery and glass. In the mid-20th century, most decorations were jack-o-lanterns, black cats, spiders, bats, ghosts and witches. Today popular decorations are scary zombies, ghouls and bloody characters from horror movies. (If you collect them, save the original boxes!)

Let’s not forget about Halloween postcards. They began to appear in the early 1900s. Collectors look for Halloween postcards featuring a particular subject like witches, pumpkins or black cats, or by a favorite illustrator or publisher.
Halloween collectibles never die … like zombies … and ghosts … and monsters. …

Speaking of annual traditions, we’re very proud of our new, 55th Edition of Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide 2023, available now at bookstores and online at Kovels.com.

It includes 12,500 new and real prices based on actual sales, 500 marks and 3,150 color photographs to help you to identify, date and value your items. Not only can you price your antique, but you can use our book as an encyclopedia of the antique market. An experienced or novice collector can get a visual overview with prices, photos, marks and insightful information on the important antiques collected today.

We have also included a special section, “Collecting Trends: Twentieth-Century Studio Ceramics,” with this edition.

Happy Halloween (and collecting)! 

Halloween postcard from the 1900s