Trashed Santa

 Not a Santa that went on a bender, but rather a Santa literally thrown in the trash.

Last winter I while driving my daughter to school, I saw a debris pile in front of a house being renovated.  Actually, what caught my attention was a large dollhouse next to the pile.  I thought my youngest daughter would enjoy that, so I stopped to pick it up. After loading that up, I glanced through the other items thrown out and saw a Santa Claus figure covered in snow and leaves.  I initially dismissed it as a modern decoration, but figured I might as well take a look.  As it turned out, it was a Harold Gale piece, made most likely in the 1950's.

Here he is, still covered in dirt and leaves.  He stands 22" tall to the peak of his hat.

Behind the Scene or What's in a Frame

A year ago last summer (2019), I walked into a garage sale in Sappington, Missouri where nothing was marked.  The host said "Everything is for sale".  I noticed a framed print hanging on the wall of the garage and pointed at it and asked if it was.  "Sure. $3," was his answer.

It wasn't a particularly nice frame and the print was deteriorating, but I liked the subject and bought it.

Halloween Post Mortem 2020

Well, once again, Halloween has come and passed.  I may have stretched the idea of Halloween on a few posts this month, but overall, I think I kept it focused.  I managed to once again churn out a post per day, which believe me required some stretching.

So how did I do?

Based on my site's statistics, readership peaked on October 19th with 529 views.  Total views for the month was 9,980 which is down about 2,000 from last year.

Waxy Witchie

Welcome to Day 31, or as we call it in the business, "The Big Dance".  Nah, nobody calls it that.  It's Halloween!!  Or Hallowe'en or even All Hallows Eve if you like to get all olde tymey.

Today's offering is possibly the smallest I've posted this season, but to me, it encapsulates the embodiment of Halloween memories in a wax shell.  In this case a wax witch.  I found this lonely witch among a miscellaneous lot of Halloween decorations at an estate sale this past summer.

Halloween Dynamite

This issue of Dynamite is a find from a while back. Amazingly, it's one I didn't have from my childhood days of reading Dynamite.

Great Giant Jigglin' Skeletons!

"Great Giant Jigglin' Skeletons" may be my new phrase of astonishment and it's what I said when I saw this set of twin jiggling rubber bones at a recent sale.

Spook-O-Lites

One of the challenges in collecting vintage holiday decorations is establishing the manufacturer and production year.  If you don't have the original box and there are no markings on the item, it's that much more challenging.  Of course, this information isn't necessary to enjoy them for what they are, but as a collector, it enhances my enjoyment of them and furthers my understanding of the progression of Halloween decorations through the years.  I can't say I have a very structured or scholastic approach to determining the source and age of the items I collect. I generally do a lot of searching on the internet and through shear volume of data gathering, I'm able to stumble upon an answer.  Such was the case with this small blow mold skull.