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Good Halloween bags are actually very hard to find as kids dragged them along the ground ripping out their bottoms or they were ripped apart by the young trick or treaters and afterward, thrown out. But even though they are tough to find, the most expensive Trick or Treat bag may only sell for $45 and the majority sell for under $15. This is a good example where rarity does not translate into dollars.
Here is a selection of bags from the 1950s (top left & center) and 1960s (the rest). It is fun to find bags that were given out by stores or companies. As you can see, witches, scarecrows and jack-o-lanterns are among the most popular images. Trick or Treat Bags from the 1940s to the 1960s
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Trick or Treat Bags are one of my favorite things. I guess it is the imagery and the memories of trick or treating that appeal to me. My favorite images are those showing kids in costume and stylized images that reflect the time they were made.One of the great bags (#3 above), shows kids in costume and was made by Ben Cooper Co. - the costume company. It actually shows a few of their costumes. To its right is a very rare and my earliest cloth bag. Generally, the earliest bags were made of cloth, so I would date those as 1940s to early 1950s. Popeye, actually made in the 1960s, is an especially desirable bag sought by comic character collectors as well as Halloween collectors. After the cloth bags, the smaller bags with a loop handle appear to have been made in the 1950s. In my photos, you can recognize them in that they look like they have a single strap going up from the middle of the bag. It is actually going from side to side.
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In the early to mid-1960s, you begin to see a large shopping bag style trick or treat bag and a few heavy plastic bags appear. The above cat and the group of kids out on Halloween are two of my favorites. The 1970s was a strange time for bags. The stores began to emphasize their advertising rather than the trick or treat theme and although bags were made, there are very few memorable ones. The 1980s saw the death of nice T or T bags, but a few were made and sold in party shops and stationary stores that have some charactor (see my book, Halloween In America for examples). The 1990s was almost all thin plastic bags with a few interesting bags coming from McDonald's restaurants and party or stationary stores.
Go back to Halloween Museum, page 1
Parties and Decorations, page 3
Crepe Aprons from 1910s to 1920s, page 5
Halloween - Jello Sculpture instructions & my graveyard fence, page 6
The Pirate and Retirement Home Parties, page 7
The Black & White and Pajama Parties, page 8
Vintage Halloween Costumes For Sale, page 8a
Vintage Halloween Costumes for Sale, page 8b
Vintage Halloween Trick or Treat Bags for Sale, page 9
