PUMPKINROT.COM: The Blog: vintage

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Castle Halloween

On the way back from our recent trip to Pittsburgh, we stopped in Altoona, Pennsylvania to visit Castle Halloween. I've never seen so much Halloween in one place. So many rooms filled with vintage Halloween memorabilia and decorations of every kind imaginable. Photos of the interior of this beautiful brick home are hard to come by since there's a one-photo-per-person limit, but I think I might have been snapping away secretly so I could promote this magical place to anyone who reads this entry.

It's by appointment only, so if you're ever in the area and want to visit, make sure you call first.

Address: 2028 Broad Ave, Altoona, PA 16601

Phone: (814) 940-1031

Curator/Owner: Pamela Apkarian-Russell

Below are some bootlegged photos of this incredible museum, and they only show a fraction of what's inside...

Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Memories Of Halloweens Past

The next entry for this nostalgic blog series comes from my gal Jenna. I've had the pleasure of seeing this neat item up close, so it was really wonderful hearing about its backstory.

Jenna writes "Over the years people have often asked me, 'Why do you like Halloween so much?' or 'Why do you like such scary things?' I don't really have an answer for them. Truthfully, I have always found myself drawn to darker interests. Poe and R.L. Stine in grade school. The Twilight Zone and heavy metal in middle school. But when thinking about my favorite memory of Halloweens past (thanks to Mr. Macabre), my thoughts kept coming back to a very non-scary subject: My Grandmother, from now on referred to as Grandie (a nickname of her own creation). She is decidedly not spooky, or scary, and does not relate to my love of horror movies and dark art, but she was formative for my love of Halloween.

Grandie and my Grandfather lived out in the country, not far from the previously mentioned Hex Hollow. In fact, my first haunted hayride as a kid was the local fire hall hayride that took you though Hex Hollow the week or so before Halloween.

She was Martha before Martha - making loads of homemade candy, Golden Grahams smores bars, and soft pumpkin cookies with caramel frosting in the days leading up to the High Holiday. The house was filled with decorations - a sound activated laughing witch (long gone), tons of paper Hallmark party goods, and a unique ceramic pumpkin that she would save for me to put together (once I was old enough to be trusted not to break it).

This particular decoration encompasses all the imagery I love and associate with Halloween - ghosts, a spooky tree, a cemetery, and a jack-o-lantern. Each year, I would arrange the ghosts around the tree, always in the same places, like a ritual. The tombstone and the jack-o-lantern were my absolute favorites, and would go in the very front, so that I could take them out and hold them whenever I wanted. It wasn't truly Halloween until this pumpkin was on display.

Grandie is still with us and turned 98 this year. Knowing my love of Halloween, she handed down her recipes and decorations over the years as she downsized and moved into a retirement community. I think the ceramic pumpkin was the first decoration she gave me when she moved - she knew how much I loved it. Now I am the one decorating and hosting for Halloween, and though she doesn't always understand the darker decor, she loves seeing how we spend our holiday, and will forever be an important part of my Halloween."