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Spooky Greetings
by Bob Brooke

“HAPPY HALLOWEEN!”—a greeting heard at parties and by trick o’ treaters as they go from house to house seeking candy treats. But back in the 19th century, people sent Halloween greetings by postcard.

Halloween has its roots in an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain, celebrating the end of summer. The night marking the change of season from summer to winter, the beginning of the Celtic New Year, was supposedly filled with magic. On this day, ghosts and demons were free to roam the earth, so villagers would wear ghastly costumes to fool the spirits and make food offerings to the dead.

Halloween came to the United States in the form of masquerades, house-to-house visits, and the jack o’ lantern, based on a myth about a soul trapped on earth who was given the burning embers of hell to light his way.

But it was the Victorians who homogenized diverse Halloween traditions in middle-class England and America. For them, it became a genteel holiday about romance, parlor games, and child’s play. People even softened ghost stories into tales of passion, as members of high society competed to one-up each other with their Halloween parties.

The late 19th century also marked the beginning of the “golden era” of postcards, which were the text messaging or social media of the day—people sent these cheap greetings for any reason, particularly holidays. This trend lasted until around 1918.

The early 20th century marked the golden age of Halloween postcards, with hundreds of designs flooding the market.

Halloween had become a commercialized holiday, and the demand for themed postcards skyrocketed. Publishers such as John Winsch, Raphael Tuck & Sons, and International Art Publishing Company produced high-quality postcards, employing skilled artists to create illustrations that captivated the recipient’s imagination.

Turn-of-the-century Halloween postcards featured cute, fat jack o’ lanterns topped with equally adorable chubby-cheeked children. Black cats, which used to be burned at Christian festivals for being “witches familiars,” were also cuddly icons of these cards, while the witches were often depicted as very pretty ladies bringing messages of love.

In the late 19th century, the popularity of postcards as a means of communication soared. Inspired by the success of Christmas and Easter postcards, publishers began producing Halloween-themed postcards to cater to the growing demand for holiday-specific greetings.

The earliest Halloween postcards can be traced back to the late 1800s, with black cats, witches, and bats often depicted as the central motifs. These early postcards were primarily printed in Germany, which was renowned for its advanced printing techniques and skilled artists.

Halloween postcards became a way for friends and family to send lighthearted greetings and well wishes during this spooky season.

Halloween postcards often featured a variety of both spooky and playful imagery and funny captions, capturing the spirit of Halloween in a visually appealing and entertaining way.

Black cats, with their association with witchcraft and superstition, were a major presence on in Halloween postcard artwork. They were often depicted in mischievous poses, adding a playful and sometimes mysterious element to the graphics.

Witches, another staple of Halloween, were commonly portrayed on postcards, either flying on broomsticks or stirring cauldrons filled with bubbling potions. Then there’s the beautiful and alluring variety of witches – more like bewitching young women wearing black or red robes and pointed hats.

Skeletons and ghosts, eternal symbols of the macabre, were also prevalent on vintage Halloween postcards. These spooky characters added a touch of fright to the otherwise lighthearted and whimsical imagery.

Pumpkins, with their association with harvest and the tradition of carving jack-o’-lanterns, are more commonly seen on these cards than anything else. Collectors and dealers will often use the acronym “JOL” to refer to a Jack-o-Lantern on a vintage card.

Anthopomorphic Halloween postcards, characterized by the weird depiction of human-like features on non-human objects like vegetables and hot air balloons, make for lots of laughter and puzzled expressions. Knife-weilding men with watermelon bodies, grinning pumpkin heads cutting a cake, and a pickle wearing a top hat and cuff links, strutting off into the dark are just a few examples.

Edwardian romanticism filled the accompanying verses which said things like, "On Halloween, take the seeds from a Pumpkin, place them in front of the sofa in the form of a cross―then the Witches won't bother you. That's a hard name to call ma and pa but they were young themselves once and won't mind it." Or, "On Halloween, Goblins have been known to fly away with Fair Maidens. Therefore 'tis best to have some one hold you and tightly, too―because Goblins are strong."

One particularly popular superstition for romantic Halloween cards shows a young woman looking into a mirror at the stroke of midnight to see the face of her true love, using the light of a jack o’ lantern. At times, she’s pictured looking into a hand mirror at a larger mirror over her shoulder, and other times, she’s looking directly into the larger mirror, as the image of her future husband hovers ‘over her shoulder.

Postcard Artists
Several artists of are highly sought after by Halloween postcard collectors.

Ellen Clapsaddle was a prominent artist known for her charming illustrations and use of vibrant colors. She began her work in 1906, becoming the most prolific of all the Halloween postcard artists. She produced cards with distinct illustrations of children some of the most collectible Halloween cards today for Raphael Tuck and Sons, International Art Publishing Company, and Wolf Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Inter-Art that Clapsaddle launched herself.

Another highly collected artist is Samuel Schmucker. Despite partial paralysis from childhood polio, Schmucker pursued an artistic career. He began as a commercial artist in 1905 and his success with fashion illustrations led to collaborations with the Detroit Publishing Company, producing 52 postcards across 8 sets. This achievement paved the way for designing numerous holiday postcards for the John Winsch Company, featuring his wife as the Winsch Girl. Schmucker’s Halloween postcards often featured sexy witches, black cats, and pumpkins. His detailed and colorful designs contributed to the postcard craze, making his work highly collectible today.

Jason Frexias, meanwhile, produced holiday cards for Winsch with round-faced toddlers with starfish hands. Because Frexias didn’t copyright his work, his images would be copied. An illustration of a child originally perched on a jack o’lantern would be lifted and placed on an Easter egg or a heart for a Valentine’s Day card. These knockoff illustrations for which Frexias no payment, lack the detail of the original.

Grace Gebbie Drayton, known for her iconic Campbell’s Kids, made Halloween cards for Raphael Tuck and Sons showing the similar big-eyed chubby-cheeked kids. Comic-strip artist Clare Victor Dwiggins made a gorgeous set of unsigned Halloween cards in fantasy style featuring a beautiful “witching queen” presumably based on his wife, who was often a model for the lovely ladies on his cards.

A prolific artist known for her charming portrayals of children, Frances Brundage had a remarkable career spanning 65 years. Specializing in illustrations, she created over 200 books and gained recognition for her work with Raphael Tuck & Sons, Samuel Gabriel Company, and Saalfield Publishing.

Postcard Publishers
John O. Winsch of New York published the most beautiful and most collected Halloween postcards between 1911 and 1915. His firm used heavy, rich inks and embossing on his cards, and sent them to Germany to be printed. Some appeared in sets of six, but most came in sets of four. Some of these postcards had booklets attached, and still others had die-cuts. Thanks to the Payne-Aldrich Act, which increased the tariff on imported cards, Winsch cards were two for a nickel, while cards printed in America only cost a penny. Collaborating with European artists, including Samuel L. Schmucker and Fred Kolb, Winsch produced nearly 4,000 unique card designs. Though he published most of his cards in Germany, he had some printed in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, other publishers copied his designs, misleading customers and capitalizing on Winsch cards’ higher prices.

Another publisher, Raphael Tuck & Sons, founded in the 19th century, was a pioneer in the postcard industry. The firm earned a reputation for their innovative lithographic techniques and artistic designs. Renowned for their “Artistic” series which can be identified by the notation printed on the backs of their cards, their postcards featured intricate illustrations, often depicting landscapes, holidays, and charming scenes.

Gibson and Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, emerged as a printing business in the1850s. As the 20th century approached, the company began collaborating with individual artists for their holiday cards. Notable ones included, among others, Bernhardt Wall and Kathryn Elliott. Their distinct designs were especially popular during Halloween.

Collecting Halloween Postcards
Collecting Halloween postcards has been a popular hobby for enthusiasts of Halloween ephemera for decades. Those that have been well-preserved, with no tears, stains, or significant wear, are more desirable to collectors.

The scarcity of some designs and the historical value associated with them make them highly sought after by collectors. When collecting vintage Halloween postcards, it is important to consider factors such as condition, rarity, and the appeal of the artwork or artist.

As the 1950s approached, the popularity of Halloween postcards began to decline.

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