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Collectible Halloween - With Values |
By Pamela E. Apkarian-Russell |
| Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, Pa., 19310, 1997, pp. 192, $29.95, paperback. |
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| Halloween collectibles are hot, and only Apkarian-Russell, a Winchester, N.H., dealer known as the "Halloween Queen" on the antiques show circuit, could have put together such a thoughtful and thorough examination of her subject. The author began acquiring Halloween items 30 years ago (she has a collection of some 10,000 objects) when, she writes, "people laughed at me." They are no longer laughing, as the most innocuous of these creations now seem to be snapped up at auctions for $400 or more; a devil head composition candy container, for example, is priced by Apkarian-Russell in the vicinity of $600.
An interesting and well-researched look at the origins of this holiday in the United States is followed by advice on collecting Halloween items. Objects are divided into chapters on embossed German die cuts, hard plastics, devils and imps, celluloid figures, "The Cat," chocolate and ice cream molds, advertising, skulls and skeletons, ornaments and bulbs, sheet music, witches, postcards, tin noise makers, black memorabilia, cartoons and caricatures, paper ephemera, games, and masks and costumes.
Part of the charm of collecting the stuff of Halloween, the reader quickly becomes aware, are all the choices one has: it seems no holiday other than Christmas provides such a range of expression. The author includes snippets of production history for each category, and detailed, informative captions accompany more than 850 color photographs. There are even sections on Robert Burns memorabilia and Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas collectibles. Happy haunting!
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