Halloween is not just a day for children, fancy dress and candy. The celebration of Halloween and witchcraft is now big business for adults too, particularly when it comes to memorabilia and antique collectibles.

The history of this great American tradition sets the scene for Halloween memorabilia collecting and it is quite an intriguing story:

Halloween as we know it originates from Scotland. Back in the 1700’s it was a time of year for the Scots to celebrate the end of the harvest and rejoice in the time for courting and romancing before the cold winter weather set in. Using such tactics as fortune telling and reading tea leaves, the “magic” of the wooing took place. It was also a time to gather around the night fires and tell ghostly tales.

These festivities became a great tradition in Scotland over the years with dancing, eating, drinking and reveling all around a huge bonfire.

It’s not surprising, then, that as Scots began to emigrate to America, they brought this tradition across the ocean with them. One such person who really set the Halloween tradition into motion in the U.S. was famed writer Robert Burns with his celebrated poems about Halloween and its customs.

At the same time German immigrants to the U.S. brought with them tales from their own folklore, of gnomes and elves and witches. And so, very quickly, a Halloween festival, with its night-time reveling combined with witchcraft and mysterious stories, became a popular occasion.

And then we return to the year 1692, and to the place, Salem, Massachusetts where the most famous witch trials in American history took place. Young girls began acting strangely, almost possessed. Today we might put it down to such likely reasons as their chewing of hemp (marijuana) to make it pliable when weaving it into rope, thus causing the girls to hallucinate. But back in the 17th Century the finger-pointing went straight to witchcraft. The rituals of Halloween were beginning to spill over into everyday life.

The Salem witch trials lasted for thirteen months during which time 156 people were accused of either being witches or practicing witchcraft, and 19 of them were hanged. As a result of this incredible event, Salem became a tourist attraction appealing to the more sadistic travelers of the time.

With any vacation spot, people want to return home with momentos. This tradition which began in European cities in the late 1800s was an idea that appealed to Salem jeweler, Daniel Low, during a trip abroad. He brought back the idea of making a witch spoon as a souvenir of Salem to sell in his store, an establishment for unusual, fine gold and silver gifts. Its immediate popularity inspired a second witch spoon design, and from there the souvenir craze swept across the U.S. An interesting note here, Low was not only a pioneer of the souvenir industry, he also published one of the very earliest catalogs in America, marketing his jewelry as well as the witch souvenirs.

It was then only a matter of time before other souvenir pieces were produced by Salem stores depicting the witch theme. Even local milk and soda companies started featuring the witch in their logo. The witch had become the symbol of Salem and so it was that, the very first witchcraft souvenirs began to have some collectibility.

The witch trials in Salem kicked off what can only be described as witch hysteria throughout America, but witch stories also came from the Germans and the Scots too and soon the link between witches and the Halloween celebration became customary. That doesn’t mean to say that witches were always presented in a wicked way. Many Halloween souvenirs and memorabilia, including many of the earliest collectibles, feature beautiful and kindly witches which probably enhanced their collectibility. As well as on the first silver spoons, witches can also be found on anything from plates to beer coasters to drinking pitchers to pipes and all have huge appeal among collectors.

Original witch plates in good condition today have a value around $150. Old silver dress pins have a value typically between $40 and $65. Because the spoon was the first souvenir piece to come out of Salem, the variety of spoons depicting witches became extensive. Most featured a witch on the handle, sometimes in simple embossing, other times in more detailed and intriguing ways and as a result can reach as much as $150.

But Halloween collecting is not just limited to Salem artifacts. A few Halloween decorations and momentos began being made in the late 1800’s but it was 1900 to 1920 that is considered the golden era of Halloween memorabilia. Cardboard lanterns, postcards, sheet music, candy containers, witch dolls and even party boxes were all made during this time with typical Halloween depictions. These early pieces, particularly those in good condition, are obviously rare, especially as most of them were made from paper, and their values range from $100 to $400. Throughout the 1920’s to 1950’s Halloween became very commercialized and so you can find a wide variety of amazing items, from life-size skeletons, to puppets, to noise-makers.

“Perhaps the most favorite of Halloween collectibles,” says Pamela Apkarian-Russell, author of Collectible Halloween, “are the vegetable people.” These were celluloid figures made in the 1930’s. They were whimsical figures that were made to be given out at Halloween parties to be crushed by the children. Luckily some of them weren’t crushed and, says Russell, “they have become wonderful collectibles today because they are sheer fantasy, they’re fun and very primitively appealing”. She warns collectors to look for complete pieces with bodies as well as heads.

“The best places to look for Halloween memorabilia,” suggests Russell, “is in antique stores and shows particularly around New England, Pennsylvania, New York and Minnesota because a tremendous number of Scottish and German immigrants settled there together and collections in these areas are more extensive. A good time to look is during Holiday shows and antique shows at this time of the year when dealers may bring out their collections to sell.”

Today, the collecting of Halloween memorabilia is an exciting and light-hearted step into fantasyland. Good luck with your hunting and Happy Halloween!