Vintage Holiday

Vintage holiday is hot this time of year. Halloween items from your childhood and your parents childhoods are going quickly.  These items are few and far between this year for some reason and are being sold very quickly once they are displayed.

Blow mold items (those hard plastic ghosts, pumpkins, etc. that you place a light bulb in the back of) are literally on display one day and sold the next at several of the Cleveland shops that I have visited this past week.  According to one informed source, blow mold items are not being made anymore due to the environmentally unfriendly processes that are needed to produce them.  However, I was at the world's biggest retailer the other night and found a 2 1/2 feet tall ghost blow mold with light for $19.99. That was styled like the vintage ones that we have come to love.  Evidently, some company is still producing these items.

Die cuts are also few and far between.  If you have any of these items from years ago, hang on to them or get them to your local vintage store and get them on the market. Do your homework to figure their worth and then ask for the best price you can get.

I found a giant zip locked bag of Halloween die cut including a jointed skeleton and some embellished cut outs a couple of years ago at a flea market.  The person selling them sold them to me for $1.00.  Yes, one dollar! What a great find. I've never used them yet, they are still in flat  storage but I will drag them out someday and enjoy them.

When shopping remember how you decorated when you were a kid.  Outdoor and window lighting was not popular for Halloween and lights weren't really made specifically for this holiday until this past decade or so. Prior to that, sometime people would put Christmas lights up with Halloween displays so don't go pay vintage prices for what you can buy at your neighborhood retailer.

I've also found a lot of children's toys or candy dispensers (no, I'm not referring to PEZ as this has it's own following) being sold with Halloween decorations.  Unless you are into vintage candy wrappers or toys, I would fore go these items as they really haven't changed much over the years.  Buy only if they have some nostalgic value to you.

Anything old and made of paper or similar materials are getting harder and harder to find.  Mostly in the shape of pumpkins and skulls with an open top, these are highly desirable and can be costly.  Anything that is made of such fragile material and that has survived decades (1930's or 1940's) is worth every penny in my opinion.

If you are buying new, for goodness sake, save the boxes and store well because one day (in about 25 years) these items will likely be sought after and the value will be higher with original packaging.

Happy Shopping!

Allan