It’s official. Fall has entered the chat.
And, as if on cue, the weather here went from humid and hot to rainy and cool.
Sunday, the hubby and I ventured to a nearby town to see what vintage code orange we could find.
We haven’t had much time to hunt this year, and with Christmas already edging in on Halloween, we headed out to see what Fall finds we could uncover.
Our first stop was at an antique store that my husband had yet to have the pleasure of visiting.
I warned him to get ready for overload as the store, while fairly good sized, hosted many tiny booths that were stuffed so full you could barely navigate them, let alone get a good look at everything.
We managed to go through every booth, but there was no orange treasure to be found.
Next, we headed across the street to our two favorite shops.
We zigged and zagged through the booths, which are nicely organized and not overly cluttered, but we weren’t finding anything until we happened halfway down the last row.
I was so excited to start checking out the wares that I forgot to take pics of the booth, but I did capture these few:
The horn was the first thing I zoned in on. The graphics are great, and it’s in very good condition.
This piece was produced by Bugle Toy of Providence, Rhode Island, in the 1950s.
These horns are constructed with litho paper over discarded textile factory cardboard cones used for yarn and thread, and this piece still has the textile factory sticker on the inside.
It is now perfectly at home nestled among the other vintage Halloween horns in our Cabinet of Curiosities.
Next, we leafed through some bagged die-cuts, and this little ghosty caught my eye. He’s been on my wish list, so I was super happy to have found him.
This little boo-ty is a Beistle Favor-ette. These are constructed with a tab and slot that allows you to hook the sides of the base together to form a standee.
Based on the tape and several staples I could see through the packaging, I could tell this one had damage to the hook tab and slot, but that’s not unusual. The tabs are often missing, and the slots are easily torn.
Sadly, such is the case with this one.
But, no worries. I removed the staples and secured the frame so he could stand tall once again.
We have quite a collection of old and new pumpkin pails, so when I saw this little diamond-eyed Jack who needed a home, we had to have him.
Bayshore made a diamond eye Jack with a flat strap-like handle in the 1960s.
Standing at approximately 4″ high, this little guy has a different handle so it could be a replacement. (If you have any info, please let me know.)
Regardless, he is now living his best life in our collection.
The vendor also had a few badly damaged pieces in his booth, including this witch over moon die cut.
Beistle made a similar witch in the 1920s, placing the witch higher on the moon and exposing both of the moon’s eyes.
Marked Made In U.S.A., she is missing the tip of her hat and broom, but for $2, I brought her home.
For now, she resides on the Halloween memory board.
Lastly, we discovered a few blow molds in a booth where everything was 50% off – one cat with Jack and two of the ghosts holding Jack.
Made by General Foam Plastics, the company was still manufacturing this piece when it closed its doors in 2017.
Blow Molded has catalogs for General Foam going back to 1963.
The first catalog showing this piece is in 2001, however, there is a gap in their archive between 1990 and 2001 so it could be a bit older.
We have several large outdoor blow molds including the Cat on Pumpkin, Menacing Monster (Frankenstein), and Tombstone from this series.
But, we did not have the Ghost with Pumpkin so – how could we say no?
He’s hanging out in the dining room, patiently waiting to join our creepy crew.
I have picked up a few other things of note this season.
While visiting our youngest, I could not resist this faux fur pug pirate pillow by Midnight Magic that I found in a thrift boutique.
I put this back on the shelf twice but it reminds me of our Lily pug so, in the end, it came home with me.
This fabric was hanging at the edge of an antique booth, and I almost missed it.
It is very thin, and I believe it’s older, but I haven’t located any info yet.
It is a pale pink but could it originally have been orange or white?
And, saving the best for last, I scored this 1950s 55″ Beistle jointed skeleton for just a few dollars at an antique shop I visited on a whim.
It is marked Made In USA, and I thought it might be Luhrs, but during my research, I discovered it was Beistle.
We have several jointed skeletons, so I think he feels right at home.
In my research to identify this big guy, I found a few just like him on eBay – in case you want one for yourself.
We left a lot behind, so maybe we’ll take another look before the season ends.
Either way, I’m super happy with our 2024 Fall Finds, and I hope you are finding some treats and treasures as well.
Until next time – stay spooky.
