Retro Holiday

Before the 1960s, Halloween was much more of an adult's holiday than it is today. Kids didn't go out trick or treating in the neighborhood. Instead, your parents and grandparents held parties for their friends and neighbors and the kids went to bed! So all the fun was had by grown-ups!

Since Halloween was such a popular party holiday, it's not surprising that lots of decorations were made to celebrate it and many of the most popular collectibles were made during Halloween's heydays in the 20s, 30s and 40s.

So if you find yourself drawn to vintage Halloween items in particular, you’ll have a lot of collecting niches to consider -- including die-cuts, papier-mache, lanterns and vintage candy pails -- the pre-cursor to the “trick or treat“ bag. The most popular Halloween collectibles are American or German made. All of the early German made Halloween items were actually made and exported to the American market during the post-war period after World War I when Halloween was increasing in popularity as a holiday in the US.

Other Halloween collectibles that are highly sought after currently are hard plastic items, mostly toys, but also cake picks, candy holders, plastic pumpkins and Jack O’Lanterns. For years, most of the plastic collectibles were easy and cheap to purchase, but now they are so hugely popular that you’ll see these plastic Vintage Halloween collectibles go for big prices in Ebay auctions. But you may just find a bargain if you sift through the listings we have posted here at Retroholiday.com

Happy Halloween!