13 Days of Halloween: 5 {Collecting Halloween}

Do you consider yourself a Halloween collector? I have eight bins of Halloween decor items, much more than for any other holiday, so I guess I would fit into that category. However, what I collect is not the highly sought after and usually very high priced items from the early 20th century. Mainly because I could never afford it, but also because I'm just as happy with the reproductions.I've always had a lot of love for the holiday, more on that in another post, but it wasn't until I saw the glittered, wide-grin of the pumpkin above that I became more interested in vintage Halloween and reproductions of Halloween items from the past....and collecting them. I bought this JOL new at a gift shop about 5 years ago, it is made by Dept. 56. I love the whimsical nature and nostalgic look. Over the years I have collected other items that the company has made in the same style. These piqued my interest about the same time that Country Living, Country Home and other magazines had full spreads on vintage Halloween decorating in their October issues, like this one from last year featuring items from Bruce Elsasses' collection (also seen in the photos below). He also designs for Bethany Lowe Designs. So what I collect are things that appeal to me, and may not actually be old, or have much value. For a hard-core real Halloween collector see Mark Ledenbach's very informative web page for a look at the history of collecting Halloween, the current market and his book on the topic.

What do you collect?