Beistle Halloween Witch, ca. 1955

This mid-1950s Beistle “Full-bodied cardboard witch Centerpiece” (or “Centrepiece” if you are in Australia) is 66cm high and 34cm wide (26 x 13.5 inches). In other words, it is big! As Mark Ledenbach says (in Vintage Halloween Collectibles, 2nd ed. (2007), 201):

This superbly detailed and large item was made for no more than two seasons. Because of a flawed design, the piece would generally bend and then rip at the waist. When seen at all, most will have tape or some other repair at this juncture.

[Detail of the waist, showing the flawed design]

Ledenbach suggests a value of USD300, classifying it as “Exceedingly Rare and/or possibly unique,” which explains why it has taken me so long to get one in decent condition, with no rip or repair at the waist! (And at a price I can afford.)

Anyway, as well as presenting challenges to preservation and collecting, this fabulous centrepiece presents certain challenges to a photographer. But you should get the general idea of the look of this item from the photos.

Ledenbach describes the artwork as “interesting” because the witch is “anything but a crone, whereas her cat looks quite fearsome.” You’d look pretty fearsome too if someone stuck a finger in your ear …”

Ledenbach concludes his description with this comment: “This is a definite transitional piece away from the more challenging earlier designs toward the typically banal designs seen in the 1950s.” Ledenbach’s theory being that Halloween started out all adult and scary (i.e., challenging) and gradually became all childish and anodyne (i.e. banal). He sees sexy witches, in particular, as evidence for that transformation: hag = early, sexy = late.

Unfortunately for Ledenbach, sexy witches are as old as Halloween itself, as this blog shows. In fact, although sexy witch Halloween images appear in every decade, they seem to be more common in the early part of the 20th century than in the later part! (If you need convincing about this, browse my chronological index here.)

Also, although the focus of Halloween parties shifted over the 20th century from the community (adults and children) having fun to the children having fun (with the adults organising events), children were involved in Halloween celebrations well before the fifties, and adult-only events continue to this day. Also, party supplies were aimed at children, and at children’s events, long before the fifties; just as many party supplies (think sexy-witch costumes and scary-adult decorations) have been aimed at adults since the fifties.

So, it just seems too simplistic to claim that the presence of children at Halloween events explains a change in decorating styles. America (i.e. American adults) changed profoundly in the 20th century, community ties changed, popular culture evolved, the marketing and sale of holiday-themed consumer goods also changed dramatically, all of these are just as likely to explain (or not explain) what Ledenbach sees as the triumph of “banal” Halloween decorations.

I suspect Ledenbach simply prefers the older decorations (and I can understand why, they do have a special charm) and has read Nicholas Rogers, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night (2002), who presents a similar theory. Rogers’ book promotes the idea that Halloween was, from the start, an anarchic event for adolescent boys (75, for adolescent girls it was simply a time for dress up parties and fantasising about love-matches) and that the state consistently attempted to tame it (81), finally succeeding in the fifties with “trick or treat” (86).

I am not convinced by this theory either. I am no expert on US popular culture but I have seen a vast number of vintage Halloween items in the last five years (basically, everything that has appeared on eBay in that time), and I can say that I haven’t seen anything that would back up Rogers’ theory (or Ledenbach’s theory relating to witch images). As for my own theory, well you’ll just have to wait for my book to find out what it is!