Sunday — November 1st, 2009

   SIGNING OFF FOR ’09...Well, another Halloween has come and gone, and as usual I will be putting this blog on hiatus until the spring. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and a good 2010! I will see you all back here toward the end of March.

Saturday — October 31st, 2009

   HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO EVERYONE!!!!! Here we are yet again…another Halloween season has passed us by and the big night is upon us. Soon the ghosts and goblins will be out hunting for candy and I will be happily ensconced in my Jack-O-Lantern carving and scary movie watching. I hope everyone has a fun, spooky and safe Halloween 2009!

Thursday — October 22nd, 2009

   I found yet another interesting video on YouTube. This is a short excerpt from a National Geographic program on the history of Halloween. They pack a good amount of information in just a few minutes, explaining how Halloween morphed from the original Celtic holiday of Samhain into modern Trick-Or-Treating. Click on the link below to view it.

HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

Friday — October 16th, 2009

   Another delightful YouTube discovery! I found an old Mickey Mouse cartoon from 1929 entitled “Haunted House”. It’s a great Halloween treat from the folks at Disney. Similar in style to ‘The Skeleton Dance’ (which it even references at one point) this cartoon has the same vintage feel. Click here or on the link below to view it.

   THE HAUNTED HOUSE

Friday — October 2nd, 2009

   I'd like to send out a hearty “CONGRATULATIONS!” to my good friends and fellow Halloween enthusiasts, Cindy and Mark Vogel for TWO reasons…First, for being recently voted as one of eBay's ‘Top-Rated Sellers’. They sell under the handle zizsdream and are always wholly reliable. If you bid on one of their items rest assured you are in good hands! Secondly, for their recent award from the Lancaster Historical Commission for preserving the historical integrity of their home which is an older construction. Bravo to you Cindy and Mark! You deserve it. :)

Thursday — October 1st, 2009

   Pictured below is a candy box from the 1940s or 1950s. Here again we have a phenomenon occurring on eBay that I have dubbed “The Mushroom Effect”. That’s when a seemingly rare or hardly ever seen item suddenly starts to pop up on eBay all at once from random different sellers. This has recently occured with this candy box. I think I had seen this maybe two or three times in the last 7 years? Within the last two weeks there have been at least 6 that have appeared on eBay. Strange… Luckily, I was the proud winner of one of them.

Sunday — September 27th, 2009

   I just ran across this interesting video on YouTube. The lady in the video is showing a 1923 Bogie Book she has for sale on eBay, and although the second half of the video is mostly an advertisement for her website, the first half is really neat! As a person who does not collect Bogie Books, and hence have only seen photos of the covers of them, I really enjoyed the chance to get a good look at the inside of one, including the wonderful back cover illustration. You can view the video here.

Saturday — September 12th, 2009

   Congratulations to Halloween folk artist Johanna Parker for being selected as the Doer of the Week for Martha Stewart’s online newsletter! Hooray for you Johanna! You are so talented...

   On another note, I must say I was thrilled to see that Target stores are using my fonts on the signage for their 2009 Halloween displays as well as much of this year’s Halloween merchandise! Namely “Alpengeist” and “Baileywick Curly”. What fun it was to see that when I went to buy some laundry detergent!

Wednesday — September 9th, 2009

   Today is my birthday, so as a treat to myself I took a trip up to ‘Traditions’ in Canoga Park this morning to see their Halloween displays and do a little shopping. It was an enjoyable experience and it was fun to make a foray back to the store as I had not been there since 2007. I bought a few things, my favorite being a cool reproduction German candy container made by Jamieson Studios. Not only is it my birthday today but Matt Kirscht’s of Shiverbones as well, so I want to shout out a “Happy Birthday” to Matt…I met him last year at Halloween and Vine and he’s just the nicest person. And SO talented!

Tuesday — September 1st, 2009

Hello everyone!! September is here at last and marks what I feel to be the beginning of Autumn (I don't care that the scientsts say it's the 21st). This is the month where all the Halloween stuff starts to appear in stores, and by the end of Sept. my own displays will be up...

   On another note, I want to send out a “Congrats!” to my friend Mark Ledenbach for being featured yet again in this year's Better Homes and Gardens’ “Halloween tricks & treats” issue. There is an article on vintage Halloween collectibles that features some of Mark’s great items, along with his expertise. Run out and get a copy when you can!