Charming Free Vintage Halloween Postcards To Download

The long days of summer are beginning to shorten. The end of the school holiday is insight. My thoughts are now turning to autumn and the festivities associated with that season. Here, I have curated a collection of vintage Halloween postcards in readiness for one of the season’s most significant celebrations.

Although Halloween celebrations in the UK grow larger every year, they are nowhere near as impressive and widespread as those in the US.

“Trick-or-treating” originates from ” guiding” in Scotland and Ireland. Guising requires people to go door-to-door and perform a song or poem without threat. The term trick-or-treating was commonly adopted in the ’80s.

It was actually due to the 19th Century Scottish and Irish immigrants that Halloween became a major holiday in North America.

Initially, the holiday was confined to these communities, but gradually it became more mainstream. By the start of the 20th century, people of all social, racial and religious backgrounds celebrated Halloween coast to coast.

Copyright Free Vintage Halloween Images

This charming vintage Halloween postcard collection celebrates common things linked with this fun holiday, such as witches, Jack-O-Lanterns, skeletons, and trick-or-treating.

Click the title link above the image to download a higher resolution of the vintage Halloween postcard.

The Vintage Halloween Postcards Collection

1. A Thrilling Vintage Halloween

A vintage Halloween postcard. Three black cats flying through the air with three Jack-O-Lanterns.

The Jack-O-Lantern got its name from the Irish legend of Stingy Jack. Jack was an Irish drunk who bargained with the devil and was doomed to roam the Earth with only a hollowed turnip to light his way.

Black cats are often associated with Halloween. This is probably due to the fact that in many cultures, they symbolise bad luck. Also, black cats are usually in the company of witches.

The vintage Halloween postcard is dated 1910 and from the Missouri History Museum.

2. A Demon On A Jack-O-Lantern

Another 1910 postcard from the Missouri History Museum.

The antique Halloween postcard shows a little demon sitting on a Jack-O-Lantern.

3. Halloween Pleasures – Apple Bobbing

Another cheery image from the vintage Halloween postcards collection at the Missouri History Museum. The vintage Halloween image depicts a young girl bobbing for apples.

Apple bobbing is an Autumn game often played at Halloween. We used to play it at Beaver scouts. The idea of the game is to pick up an apple from a bowl of water without using your hands.

As apples float in the water, this is a lot harder than it looks. The apple bobber often ends up with a very wet face and hair. I think this is partly why children love playing the game and find it hilarious.

4. Girl With Mirror

A delightful vintage Halloween image of a young girl brushing her hair in the mirror.

If it wasn’t for the Jack-O-Lantern and the delightful poem, you wouldn’t know it was a Halloween postcard.

The poem reads as follows:

On Halloween, Oh mercy me,

The awfulness that one can see,

Ghosts and goblins, and witches too,

And other things to frighten you.

A 1900 postcard by Wolfe Company, New York.

5. 1880 Vintage Halloween Postcard

This delightful vintage Halloween scene is from the collection at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.

The postcard depicts a mother and daughter looking out the window on Halloween. Whilst a witch and her black cat fly past on a broom.

6. 1880 Halloween Card 2

Another one of the delightful vintage Halloween postcards from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum collection.

If you note that only one lady is looking in the mirror, but two faces are reflected. I assume this implies that the second reflection is a ghost.

7. A Witch Riding A Broom

Another 1910 vintage Halloween Postcard from the Missouri History Museum shows a witch riding a broomstick pulled by a jack-o-lantern and a black cat.

8. 1900 Witch and Jack-O-Lantern

A vintage Halloween postcard from the Toronto Public Library from 1900.

The card shows two classic Halloween icons of a witch and a Jack-O-Lantern.

9. Jack-O-Lantern Driving A Car

Another vintage Halloween postcard from the Missouri History Museum (1908), complete with the pun “You Auto Have a Happy Hallowe’en.”

10. A Merry Halloween

Girl blowing a horn with three Jack-o-Lanterns, 1910.

11. Halloween Greetings

Two boys carrying a large Jack-O-Lantern

12 A Jolly Halloween

Witch on broom stick, with cat, owl and bats.

Other Halloween Ideas

If you want more artistic paintings, check out this wonderful collection of vintage Halloween art. Both collections would be great to display in one of these upcycled Halloween shadow boxes.

For more spooky vintage Halloween images, check out the Halloween patent prints, vintage skeleton illustrations and vintage skull drawings on Pictureboxblue. There is also a fun collection of spooky bat illustrations that would look great on the wall for Halloween.

If you liked these vintage Halloween postcards, you would probably love these other collections on Pictureboxblue.

• Antique Scandinavian Christmas Cards
• Vintage Valentine Cards
• Vintage Easter Postcards and Favour Boxes
• Circus Posters To Download
• Vintage Seed Packets Art

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