Tiny Blow Molded Witch

My content seems to be very witch-centric this year.  Here's another one.

I don't recall where I found this little blow-molded and flocked witch, but it reminds me of the Christmas ornaments from Hong Kong in the 1970s.

I've placed it here among my blow-molded Jack O' Lanterns (more on those in a later post).

I'm not sure if she originally had some kind of broom tuft sticking out the back of her broomstick. There's a hole there, but because it acts as a stand, anything stuck in there might cause it to teeter over.

The addition of the wart at the end of her chin is a nice touch and we can see she's painted her nails for the occasion, or possibly that's blood from some unfortunate victim.

Witch Paper Plate

Another piece of ephemera today is this Halloween paper plate featuring another witch and her familiar along with bats for good measure.  It probably dates from the 1970's when Halloween was softening from the prior scarier images.  I do like the bright neon orange colors which don't show up as well in this photo as in person. I bought this in a stack of 6 identical plates from the same estate sale as yesterday's nut cup.

Nutty Jack O' Lantern

I found this Halloween nut cup at an estate sale for $4 which might sound like a lot for such a small piece, but you have to remember how ephemeral something like this is.

Child Life October 1978

 I never read Child Life magazine as a kid. In fact, I never even saw it until I began finding them at estate sales. But anytime I find an October issue of anything, I'll pick it up.  For your perusal, here are the better parts of the October 1978 issue of Child Life.  The cover features a witch and her familiar being terrorized by jet-pack wielding Elves.  Kind of a metaphor for how stores push Christmas during Halloween these days.

Peck Witch and Petrified Cat

Sorry for the lapse in posting this weekend.  We've been having some house renovations done, a result of a tornado in March of 2025.  Our house had minor damage, but we decided to redo the whole house exterior as a result.  It's coming along very nicely, thanks for asking.

My first die cut of the season is this Peck (I believe) Witch and Black Cat.  The artwork looks very much like Peck, but I couldn't find an example on the internet and apparently neither could Google.  It likely dates from the 1970's based on the style.

 Clearly, this is this cat's first journey as a familiar.  Or maybe not, and he knows what's coming.

Ichabod Framed

I came upon this framed print of Ichabod Crane at an estate sale this past summer. The person whose estate sale it was had a house filled throughout with shelves of books.

Halloween -- It's My Bag and Welcome to It

"First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys." 

    -- Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes.

A rare month indeed.  One I await the whole year.

I begin this season as per usual by sharing a Trick or Treat bag I've found in the past year.  This one was found at the same sale as the "Sprint" magazine I posted recently.