Ghostly Flexatones

This entry is dedicated to arguably one of the most ignored Halloween noisemakers of vintage collectibles - the Flex-a-tone (wikipedia). Its minimal graphics (opposed to artwork that lifts others into triple digits) may forever hold the value of this particular item down (as of this writing) to about $10-$25, and yet for audiophiles it could in fact be the most desirable of any in this genre. Contrary to other noisemakers with their monotonous racket, the musical sound of a Flex-a-tone was used in the recording studios of classic cartoons and vintage jazz for its glissando effect - a warbling that changes tone - something like a ghost crawling up and down your spine.

You probably recognized that sound instantly and can likely name a few tunes or shows where you've heard it? (For example, one person identified it used in the film Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) whenever the evil sorceress Zenobia made her appearance). Well, it's been around for much longer. An invention for a flexatone occurs in the British Patent Records of 1922 and 1923. In 1924 the 'Flex-a-tone' was patented in the USA by the Playatone Company of New York (wikiedpedia). Here's one example of the effect used in a vintage cartoon Scrappy's Ghost Story (1935), making its eerily sonic appearance at about 1:18 into the animation (and appearing in quite a few other places during the song such as 1:53 to heighten the lyrics "I'm a ghost. Whoo-oo-oooo!"):

Below are a few photographs of the vintage Halloween version of the Flex-a-tone (exact date of production unknown). 

Shown below are some vintage ads... but you might be interested to know that professional Flex-a-tones style instruments are still sold in at least two different sizes. I have seen them available from a few online stores including Latin Percussion.

Here are some more links on the vintage Flex-a-tone:

• http://www.flexatone.org/article/flexatoneHistory
• http://rhythmdiscoverycenter.org/onlinecollection/flex-a-tone/

Pull the String!

A cool black cat from Gibson (circa 1930s) that follows the character design of many of their table decoration sets. In this instance the large diecut is an articulated hanging paper decoration --- a string would attach to slots (not visible) in the rear of the limbs and create motion when the "tail-end" string was repeatedly pulled downward and released. This particular example fortunately escaped any damage from excessive teasing... though i do wonder if the visibly missing tail was simply the string or a representational tail missing from the diecut? 

Lenticular Spooks

Originally used mostly in novelty items and commonly called "flicker pictures" or "wiggle pictures" lenticular printing is a technology in which lenticular lenses (a technology that is also used for 3D displays) are used to produce printed images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles. (source: wikipedia)

The image below is a quickly animated gif that I created from a recent listing appearing on ebay for a 1950's child's novelty ring.

A quick google search for lenticular imagery (or the wikipedia link above) will direct you to tons of interesting new and vintage uses of this technique. Here is one link to a gallery of vintage imagery on pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ohbyjingo/action-vintage-lenticular-pictures/

Halloween Diecut Quiz

Here's a bit of fun for both newbie and seasoned collectors? Look at this selection of lanterns, candy packages, toys, and more. Can you name which of these is a diecut?

Now that you've looked them over, do you have your answer? Well, before you read onward for the solution, can you say for certain what a diecut is exactly?

While not technically incorrect, the terminology "diecut" seems to be used without much understanding by many folks in the Halloween community as a word generalizing a certain range of flat 2-D hanging decorations. It is interesting to see how many mis-understand what diecut really means. This is most obvious when a remnant shows up at auction and is called a diecut. Or a long-time seller lists an item with sloppy hand-cut edges claiming it must have been a bad day at the factory. While the first instance is still a diecut (just referenced incorrectly), a ragged hand-cut edge on anything is not. 

Die-cutting is an industrial machine process that, in tremendous assembly-line quantity, created a large variety of Halloween products, all in the same cookie-cutter shape --- paper lanterns, cardboard box displays, on and on..., as well as that outer line of tissue paper pumpkins that expand into three dimensions, and metal objects. (See this wikipedia article).

So the answer is? Quite possibly every piece of what you see pictured above!