This week on The Collectors Show we meet Mark B. Ledenbach to talk about collecting Halloween. He is an extremely well respected collector and writer. Mark is the author of an incredibly informative and beautifully illustrated book called “Vintage Halloween Collectibles” now in its 3rd edition. Mark has been all over television including a segment on Martha Stewart Living, HGTV and all of the major print publications, and the owner of http://www.halloweencollector.com.
The trouble with collecting Halloween items is that so many of them were made to be used once and thrown out, which is exactly what most people did with them.
I was really happy to see some die-cut items in his collection that I had not seen
This was a die cut decoration from Beistle that was made in the 1930’s. But I remember seeing it in elementary school back in the 1960’s.
since elementary school.
This one in particular is a Beistle Die Cut cut out. It was supposed to have been made in 1930’s, while I was in elementary school in the 1960’s. So the ones I saw when I was a kid may have been knock-offs, but it was still fun to see again.
Things That Go Bump
This week’s bump music comes from the soundtrack of the television classic, “it’s the great pumpkin charlie brown” which first aired in 1966 when I was 7 years old! This music was also used in the Charlie Brown Christmas, but this music is played under the opening segment where Linus and Lucy find a pumpkin and bring it home to be made into a Jack O Lantern. You may be able to hear some of the action in the bumps. And while almost 50 years old, the music and the program still hold up.
Why I Like Halloween
Some of my best memories of being a kid were around Halloween. I did not grow up to be an astronaut, like I planned and rehearsed for every October 31, but it was still fun.
Did you get a rock?
My sister and I went to at least two blocks near where we lived with some of our friends. It was safe to do that in those days. And like I said during the interview it was still OK to post Halloween decorations at school. We even sang Halloween songs. Halloween, like Christmas and Thanksgiving is an American celebration that borrows from the diverse heritage of all the people who live here.
Halloween is not strictly a set of traditions we took and grafted onto our culture. Instead we borrowed the parts we liked best and that we were most suited to and made them uniquely our own. It’s too bad for kids growing up today to miss out on that.
Next week, Legos and Will Reed from the web site Brick blogger to discuss a hobby that is completely out of control. Lego!
The Collectors Show 