Holiday & Patriotic

Thanksgiving turkey candy container, German, first-half 20th century

If you are a Thanksgiving collector, you can help yourself to seconds and even thirds without a lot of competition, good fortune that surely makes you thankful.  Not yet as popular as Christmas or Halloween, vintage Thanksgiving collectibles are still plentiful fairly low in price, and may well be the next big thing.   Look for pilgrims, Native Americans and harvest themes.

Food Themed Thanksgiving Collectibles

Not surprisingly, a large majority of Thanksgiving collectibles have to do with food.  Corn, pumpkins and turkeys top the list, with autumn harvest themes and cornucopias abounding.   Since Thanksgiving festivities center around a traditional dinner, mementos that symbolize that dinner are highly popular, whether in ceramic, paper, cardboard, fabric, or wax (candles).  In keeping with the traditional dinner theme, Thanksgiving collectibles lean heavily towards serving pieces and table displays.  Platters, bowls, gravy boats, salt and pepper shakers, casseroles, and dinner plates are all popular usable collectibles.  In the late 1800’s, a variety of manufacturers started producing Thanksgiving transferware dishes for the American market that are still used today. Manufacturers include Johnson Brothers, Wedgwood, Spode, Fitz and Floyd and Staffordshire.

Food and soap molds are popular, as are candy containers.  Candy containers are most often found in the shape of turkeys and can date as far back as the early 1900s. These containers were often made in Germany and Japan of papier-mache or composite, or plaster and used as table favors well into the 1950s. In the U.S, Dennison made many cardboard and crepe paper candy and nut cups.

Turkey Candles and More

All lovely dinners require flickering candlelight, and Thanksgiving is no exception.  Figural candles in the form of turkeys (of course), Native Americans, and pilgrims are all readily available.

Thanksgiving Paper Ephemera

Dennison and Beistle made a variety of paper Thanksgiving decor, from crepe paper honey-comb cornucopias, to standing turkeys.  As these were designed to be used and discarded, they are available, but hard to find in excellent condition.  A large turkey centerpiece with a crepe paper honey comb body can go for as much as $75.  In years gone by, it was not unusual to send Thanksgiving greetings via the Thanksgiving postcard.  These are readily available cards with pleasing graphics in a variety of Thanksgiving themes.  Common cards sell for as little as $5 each, but an unusual or heavily embossed made in Germany card can cost much more.  Cards with crossover appeal such as artist signed or black Americana are costlier still.

Macy’s Does Thanksgiving

Begun in the 1920s by mostly immigrant employees of the Macy’s department store, the parade in New York has evolved into one of the country’s most famous holiday events.  Collectibles from the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade include posters, jigsaw puzzles, tote bags, snow globes and VIP passes.

-By p4A Contributing Editor Susan Cramer.

Reference & Further Recommended Reading:

Halloween fortune teller game with Witch and Pick A Pumpkin verse

Vintage Halloween Games
Once popular with partygoers and now popular with collectors, Halloween party games and score pads are an important segment of the vintage Halloween collectibles market.

Vintage Halloween Tally Cards
In the early part of the century, Halloween was celebrated at parties, typically by adults.  They would gather at each others’ homes and play social games like Bridge and Mahjong.  Consequently, there is a wide variety of collectibles in the form of tally pads.  These pads were used for keeping score and were often elaborately decorated including cut-outs in complex shapes. While many cards were flat or folded, some were much more complicated.  Mechanical tally cards were like modern day pop-ups complete with scene changes.  Denison made a popular card in 1929-30 that portrayed a witch’s head in a fiery cauldron.  When the tab was pulled, the witch disappeared into the brew.   Beistle made a three dimensional set with the characters sporting honeycombed crepe paper tutus. Tally cards were mostly made by American manufacturers.

Halloween Fortune Telling Games
Since Halloween in America has always been a holiday whose purpose is pure fun, Halloween games played a major part in any party. There were games of skill, chance, stunts and fortunes. The earliest games were made to be played by adults, which is why the Mystery Witch Answer Game asks questions such as “Will I own a home?” and “Will I become bald?”  The fortune wheel featured flaps that folded out and told fortunes.  The Crystal Fortunes game by Beistle (1942) featured a numbered spinner.  The player’s fortune was read from a poster with a dozen fortunes that corresponded to that number. Also by Beistle, the Halloween Stunt Quiz (1940s) asked questions that today could culminate in lawsuits like “Do I like old people?” and “Am I too fat?”

Goblo Pumpkin Face Halloween Jack-O-Lantern bag toss game

Vintage Halloween Stunt Games
Stunt games required that the participants complete such tasks as spinning blindfolded, pushing an apple across the floor using only the nose, whistling Yankee Doodle while wearing a sauce pan, or yodeling.  The names of the games were as clever as the challenges.  One could play Zingo Halloween Fortune & Stunt, I’m a Dumbskull Stunt Game, Owl Tell Your Fortune and Spin-O-Rama.

Vintage Halloween Skill Games
Games of skill were also popular.  Partygoers could toss rings or bags in the shape of donuts at witches, Jack-O-Lanterns, and the tails of growling black cats.  The Hitchy Witch game (Beistle 1940’s) had a ring on a string that players could hook on the witch’s nose, chin or hat for a variety of scores.  Other skills included tongue twisters, drawing and target shooting.  As with other Halloween ephemera, the games were meant to be used and discarded.  Often the pieces were printed on a single sheet and had to be punched out before use, so finding a complete game is as easy as pushing an apple with your nose.

-by p4A Contributing Editor Susan Cramer

Reference & Further Recommended Reading: