Inspired by the vintage Luhr Halloween Cut Outs -
this version was cut on my cricut
I used a shiny thick black cardstock (in the packs from Dollar Tree - not certain they still carry them?) And for the yellow and orange I used Bazzil cardstock with raised polka dots. The extra textures really help the design pop, in my opinion. :-)
Miss Kate cuttables has a somewhat similar owl, as the Luhr design below, as an svg, for $1.
Vintage Luhr Halloween Cut Outs
Today's Rabbit Trail - Vintage Luhr Halloween Cut Outs, and The Dennison Bogie Book (Games, Recipes, and decor ideas for Halloween Parties)
The vintage Halloween cut outs that I love, and wanted to recreate with my cricut, were made here in Pennsylvania, by the Beistle Company of Shippensburg - still in business today. H.E. Luhrs worked his way up through the firm, becoming president of Beistle in 1941. The company was well known for making very detailed paper die-cuts, lanterns and table items.
There were two premier American die-cut and party supply manufacturers from this era: the Beistle Company of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania and the Dennison Manufacturing Company of Framingham, Massachusetts.
The Dennison Company published an annual "Halloween Bogie Book" from 1909 into the 1930s. Primarily an advertisement for their Halloween decor, the booklets are full of great illustrations, suggested menus, party games, decorating tips, costume ideas and tips for making the costumes.. They are wonderful to browse, and many of them are available in online archives.
In the 1920s, Halloween Parties were for adults, they were not focused on children. They frequently centered around Bridge, Mahjong, and similar game. " Tables and walls would be decorated with a wide array of Halloween-themed items, really setting the party’s mood. The games’ winners would be given prizes to take home, like candy containers, lanterns or noisemakers. Only later did “trick or treating” come into vogue, with the holiday becoming then more firmly oriented toward children. I tend to savor those items made in the interlude before Halloween became so child-focused." Halloweencollector DOT com
Trick or treating is mentioned in some papers as early as 1910 - but it was not common. It became popular and widespread after World War II.
While the adults were playing games, the children were pulling pranks. Halloween in the 1920s was sometimes called "Gate Night" - as so many farm gates were removed from their hinges. Other common Halloween night pranks included tipped outhouses, farm wagons placed on barn roofs, and soaping windows. By 1933, the pranks had escalated, with hundreds of teenage boys sawing down telephone poles & flipping cars.
In the 1920s, to help combat the prank problem, towns began holding Halloween parades, with the communities marching down main street in costumes, to a bonfire, sometimes with free candy distributed.
"Basements Of Terror" (early haunted houses) became popular in the 1930s. A 1937 party pamphlet suggested decorating with old fur strips and raw liver hung on the walls.
During World War II, 1942-1947, sugar was rationed, allowing only half a pound of sugar per a person, per a week. Common Halloween treats were peanuts, coins, fruit, and small toys. In Pittsfield, Massachusetts, children pledged not to vandalize, in support of servicemen abroad
By the late 1940s, towns were holding Halloween Window Painting Contests, with the idea that if the children painted the towns store windows, they would be less likely to soap them.
Dennison published booklets for a variety of holidays and crafts, not just Halloween. In 1948 they published a 37 page booklet (originally published in 1923) titled How to make flowers with Dennison crepe paper. See that book here.
In the facebook post here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1525fPHHHZo/
I have links where you can view and even download many of the old Bogie Books. Click on each photo, the links to the books are in the photo descriptions. (Eventually I'll add them to this post, but I'm short on time at the moment)
