Wednesday, October 19, 2011

THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU IF YOU DON'T WATCH OUT! Or at least Dennison's Bogie Books which were an (almost) annual publication from 1909 to 1934. These bygone books were printed by the Dennison Manufacturing Company to demonstrate the uses for their products such as crepe paper Halloween costumes, decorations and "tablescapes" to use the nauseatingly current term. These books go for hundreds and even thousands of dollars to collectors but there are thankfully reprint editions one can have for considerably less; I myself have 4 of them. Dennison's Bogie Books are a priceless way to get a glimpse at the early 20th century way of looking at Halloween; the time period when Halloween as a major holiday was really first coming into prominence. Pumpkins, witches, ghosts and black cats abound in the wonderful artwork strewn throughout these tomes and it might be a good idea to give you a glimpse at some of the artwork to be found therein. These are the images most true lovers of Halloween think of -- the vintage Halloween look is so nostalgic even for most of us who weren't even CLOSE to being alive in 1909. Which is just about all of us. Those were the days when Halloween wasn't cute, cuddly and commercialized but tried to be a little bit scary.
The Halloween Comic Book Cover of the Day #19 is Haunt of Fear #12 (1952). Yay, maggoty grave dirt from Ghastly Graham Ingles!

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