Since Halloween is just around the corner, we decided it was time to tell you a bit more about this popular holiday – and the postcards that used to be sent around this time of the year :)
Halloween originated from Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival celebrating the season change from summer to winter. This night was allegedly filled with magic and spirits. Demons and ghosts were allowed to roam the Earth on this night, so people wore strange outfits and scary costumes in order to trick the spirits and frighten them away.
The Catholic Church then adapted this pagan tradition into All Saints’ Day; the night before was called, “All hallows’ evening, ” or “Hallow e’en”. Irish immigrants rekindled interest in this celebration in America, with door-to-door visits, masquerades, and the jack o’lantern (based on a myth about a soul trapped on Earth, only given the burning embers of hell for guidance). It was the Victorians who eventually brought the Halloween traditions of England and America together, making it a refined holiday involving child’s play, romance, and parlor games.
When postcards emerged in the late 1800s, sending a holiday postcard was an inexpensive way to send your greetings. Early Halloween postcards featured cute, chubby traditional Halloween symbols- like jack o’lanterns, black cats, and children in costumes. Witches were often portrayed as very beautiful women sending messages of romance and amour. Other cards featured people bobbing for apples, predicting who they might marry, and playing games of chance. Some cards had accompanying verses like, “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."
The peak of the Halloween postcard trend lasted roughly until 1918. Approximately 3,500 images were produced during that time. Cards did not begin depicting the tradition of trick-or-treating until the 1930s; one of the only indications that trick-or-treating did not become a widespread practice until then.
Vintage Halloween postcards are highly collected and some of the hardest to find. Original Edwardian postcards are especially rare, and can be distinguished from the spelling of the holiday “Hallowe’en.” Prices for these postcards range from $20-$600, depending on the condition of the card and how rare it is.
Check out these and more great vintage Halloween postcards available through Flickr Commons!
28 comments so far
thank you for this very interesting piece of information.
:-)
Thanks a million, meiadeleite, for this timely, informative fun-to-read blog entry. Vintage postcard illustrations really enhanced it. I admire the level of research skills and individual writing style consistently displayed in Postcrossing blog. So . . . trick or treat ??????? You deserve a BIG treat.
Thanks for the great post!
what an interesting and informativ post!
for more vintage halloween cards: http://www.flickr.com/groups/halloweenpostcards/pool/
they are great - but soooo expensive!
Samhain is the Irish name for November
Great post! Halloween is my favorite holiday. I have sent a lot of (vintage) Halloween postcards in my time. Happy Halloween, to everyone!
So cute^_^
Happy Halloween ~
In Germany Halloween has no tradition. Children ringing the doorbell and like candy. Creepy masks have only few of them....
The vintage postcards are very nice. Great information.
A very interesting Blog, certainly filling in the parts of Hallow e'en I didn't know such as dates. The cards are beautiful, I wish that sort could be bought now. Tricking and treating is just about all that happens in England but it's fun. I love handing out sweets to the children and seeing their costumes.
wonderful, thank you so much!!!
Thanx for sharing and Happy Halloween!!! :)
I love the vintage postcards about the Halloween traditions. Would love to get such cards, but probably the chance is very low....
I collect Halloween Postcards, so I drooled over the lovely images you showed. Great article...now I'm REALLY in the mood for our 7th annual big Halloween Party tonight!
We got married on Halloween.....in costume..at Walmart, where we met...
Needless to say Halloween is one of our main Holidays!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN, everyone!
thank you for this, I didn't know why it was called "halloween", nice! :D And happy Halloween to everyone celebrating. :)
There are several different collections of reprints of vintage Halloween cards that can be purchased on Amazon. I have sent them out in the past during October, and they are typically well appreciated by the recipients.
I agree with hmthompson, the quality of the Postcrossing blog is very high. And indeed, a "Thank you" also from me for this informative and fun article!
Great post, as usual...
amazing post!
So interesting to know the story behind Halloween, didn't know about this. Thank you!
Halloween is my favorite day (time0 of the year...i haave purchased reprductions of these vintage Halloween prints over the years.
This year we celebrated our first Halloween, and in a very non-typical destination - in China! :-) local expats organized a nice evening for us, and going trick-or-treating in a group of 50 people was scary enough itself, nevertheless the costumes :-D. Kids loved it though, however the idea about going "door-to-door" in a skyscraper city was a little bit quirky to me at the beginning...
Love Vintage Halloween - I have a few, but you are right they are hard to come by and expensive. I also love the reprints though! Happy Samhain.
I love these postcards! I didn't realize that vintage Halloween postcards in particular were so valuable but I looked them up on EBay and most of them are quite highly priced!
Outstanding Post -- We love the colors and costumes of Halloween and the memories of Halloweens past with the parties and trick-or-treating. Now, thanks to the great article, discovered many things we didn't know...would love to acquire these special holiday cards.
Halloween Postcards！！！
I really like Halloween Postcards, I have many cute and interesting Halloween Postcards all from Japan. >/////
i've sent two.. http://www.postcrossing.com/postcards/NL-817545 and http://www.postcrossing.com/postcards/NL-815896. No clue if the shop (about an hour from amsterdam) still sells these...
Oh these are cute! I love vintage cards... ♥
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