For an appraisal session last month at the county library, a neighbor brought in this black cat papier-mâché lantern made in Germany in the late 1920s or early 1930s. A few years ago it would have appraised at $35-50, but items like this have become very

Is this time of year really scary? The poets seem to think so.

This is how Amy Lowell puts it: “Two gray old sisters, such/Are Autumn and Death.”

Not exactly a couple of gals you’d want to have over for tea.

From time immemorial, people have felt the need to cheer themselves up this time of year. It’s something to do with the diminishing light and reflections on our own mortality. If there were no Halloween, we would have to invent one.

Halloween lets us laugh in the face of the devil. It may be a nervous laughter, but it let’s the Old Guy know we’re not ready yet and in the meantime we’ll have ourselves some fun.

Some of the people having the most fun at Halloween are the collectors of antique and vintage Halloween collectibles. The values of these items have risen steadily over he past decade.

Halloween collectibles are second only to Christmas items on the antiques market, and the variety of fanciful images is just as extensive.

They include Jack-o’-lanterns (“JOLs” in collector-speak), black cats, witches, devils, scarecrows, ghouls, ghosts, goblins, gargoyles, vampires, and all manner of monsters, and can be found on postcards, costumes, candy containers, games and decorations.

It was the Victorians that made Halloween about children. It was a way of reassuring them as they days got darker. In the days before electric or even gaslight, when it got dark, it got very, very dark.

In the period from the late 19th Century through the 1920s, Halloween was more magical than scary. Children played fortune-telling games.

Bobbing for apples was a common one. Young men would bob for apples studded with coins of various denominations to reveal the level of their future fortunes. Other games involved mirrors or cards.

These traditions are often depicted on the Halloween postcards from the period. These have soared in value, with some valued at several hundreds of dollars. Look for famous illustrators or printers—Gibson, Whitney, Winsch, Nash, Barton & Spooner, and Fairman.

The golden age of Halloween collectibles is the mid-20th Century (late-1920s thru the late-1950s). Items, like lanterns and candy containers, made in Germany and Japan during this period are particularly sought-after.

These were often made of lithographed tin, paper, papier-mâché, or chalk, and didn’t survive. Their rarity today make them valuable.

The most collected masks and costumes from the period were made by Collegeville or Ben Cooper. These, too, rarely survived even one season. Discovering one in its original box is always happy find for a collector.

To learn more about Halloween collectibles, try www. vintagehalloween.com.

Appraisals: Candy container, black felt cat, German, $540; Devil head w/cat, papier-mâché candy container, $545; Pumpkin man, chalk, Japan, 1950s, $360; Owl, $ 100; Astro Boy costume, Ben Cooper, original box, $140; Postcard, jol has smoke coming out of top w/child, $250; Moon-face candy container, $175+.

It was 24 years ago this week that this column first appeared in this paper. I have lots of people to thank for that, but most of all I am grateful to you the reader. Let’s keep the conversation going, neighbors, as we head for a quarter century together.

—Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments, questions or appraisal requests to aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.