Darlings, Halloween is just three days away! To usher in this Halloween week, let’s travel back in time to the turn of the century for a few proper Halloween greetings from America’s Golden Age of Postcards.

Spanning roughly from 1898 to 1918, the Golden Age of Postcards represented a time when the popularity of post cards exploded, especially seasonal and holiday designs. Halloween was no exception, with thousands of different Halloween designs printed over the twenty year period. In particular, the lovely postcards from artist Samuel Schmucker and printer John Winsch, such as The Magic of Halloween, were in unsurprisingly high demand and are still sought by collectors today.

Observing the Halloween traditions of the day, where young people would attempt to foresee their fortunes for the year and play games to predict future spouses, the cards often bore wishes for good luck and references to love and marriage, in addition to the usual pumpkins, witches and ghosts.

Take a look through the gallery below at these lovely Art Nouveau images…Perhaps there’s someone in your life that could use a Halloween greeting this week, darlings. Happy haunting!

For more vintage Halloween postcards, visit Vintage Every Day, Philosophy of Science, One Woman’s Hands, and Very Vintage Images.

Related Posts:

– Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness: Vintage Thanksgiving Art

– “Hallows’ E’en” by Winifred M. Letts 

– The Lips of a Strange Woman: The Pulp Art of Margaret Brundage

Categories: Art & Inspiration

Tags: art, Art Nouveau, Featured, Golden Age of Postcards, graphic design, halloween, John Winsch, lists, luck, postcards, turn of the century, vintage, vintage Halloween