Halloween Stained Glass Window

 

Bindlegrim is very excited to be back exploring the warm glow of autumn light... with a special Halloween Window created as a one-time insert included only as a freebie with each copy of the new vintage Halloween collectibles guide The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 4. To start then, let's just begin this blog entry with various arty views of the windows, at times together with the book set as described via THR's etsy bookstore or recent blog entry "Vol 4 Halloween Retrospect."

Dual-side faux stained glass paper window (2 shown) for THR.

Not to scale: window shown (right) with book trio inset (left).

Faux stained glass windows assembled by hand are limited.

Detail of matte color tissue paper that creates a warm glow.

Following is a description for these windows --- importantly noting once again that they are not-for-sale on their own, but only included as a free insert with copies of the March 2025 vintage Halloween collectibles guidebook series The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 4. (Etsy link here).

To begin, Bindlegrim designs are inspired by research pursued by THR that proves the originals to be vintage 1940's products created by Milton Bradley. Those originals hail from a time that included well-known art contributors (such as Louise D. Tessin) when the company is regularly involved in education (not only entertainment) and regularly publishing a magazine for educators called American Childhood. (Internet Archive link here). And while the new items are true to the general feel of vintage pieces, the modern Halloween Window cannot be mistaken as such, because Bindlegrim's version is deliberately different in size, imagery, color, and production method (and collages the four characters into one space). 

As for construction, the Bindlegrim versions are made of a thick 2-ply museum board frame which has been laser cut by the artist yet hand-assembled in the final steps. Still, the result is a doubled-sided decoration with colored tissue paper inside (very old school) which by result means either side is equally presentable as front or perhaps simultaneously from both sides at once. The tissue paper glows with a brilliant color while the framework remains strong and steady.

But again, this is part of a set (shown below) and Bindledgrim is not selling these - they are free with a copy of THR's newest edition of research from its archive library publications.

THR, V4 is shown here with book, crossword, and decoration.

A little bit about vintage Halloween collectibles guides are in order here, particularly the newest book that releases March 2025 by THR. If you are not familiar with THR publications - basically the archive library publishes research that utilizes many hundreds of primary sources from its collection - to better understand the history of ye olde holiday market. So far there have been four research digests and one art survey book (with more planned in future). The newest of these digests is The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 4 with book cover shown below (see THR's website or THR's online book shop).   

Cover art for The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 4 by THR publications.

While many preview images of the book are available THR's website or THR's online book shop (or even via Instagram @halloweenretrospecs) here are a few to make sure this blog entry is complete...  

Page preview of The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 4.

The Halloween Retrospect, V4 book, puzzle & decor.

THR, V4 featuring an homage window by Bindlegrim

Well, to close this blog entry, Bindlegrim might advise that while this vintage-style artist has had the pleasure of being involved with Volume 1 and Volume 4 digests... THR since it's first release in June 2023 has five books now full of data or images about vintage Halloween collectibles of the past. They are great references for seasoned or new collectors of the hobby.... and here is an up-to-date image of those that the bookstore currently offers:

The Halloween Retrospect Vol 1,2,3,4 & Halloween Artifacxts.

Hope you enjoy and if you do, perhaps Bindlegrim will continue to explore such Halloween lighting projects in future!?!?

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Project for THR Volume 1

Okay, okay, so brushing past the fact that Bindlegrim made the mistake of waking up in the real world  (with things like stale coffee, office banter, and dangerous commutes) seems it all just put hin back to sleep, dreaming about the garden at Ichabod's Cottage to see if there's a pumpkin vine or two still crawling along the ground. And so this little project came to be...

First of all, for sure, Bindlegrim loves vintage Halloween! With so many direct influences from vintage objects on Bindlegrim's artwork for lanterns, postcards,  etc., there was destined to be some kind of project that involved that olde stuff more directly. Looks like this is it. An archive library, The Halloween Retrospect, houses a whole bunch of vintage information objects (including content from nearly 500 vintage catalogs) and decided to put together a small digest of research from those sources. Of course, that's going to need some work on the book (particularly the cover), and then there's the website, creating a logo, and on and on. But, well, it's all ready now, and here to share. 

So, Bindlegrim had fun at first revisiting some old ghouls from an early lantern, and found this witch face from the very first lantern prototype in 2011.

4 sides of Bindlegrim prototype lantern from 2011

Once in a layout, she took over and let the scene coalesce around her..., and here is the cover for the book which should be available around end of July and/or beginning of August. (It's ready but has a layout bug that needs fixing). 

Cover art for The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 1 by Bindlegrim

That offered a chance to do something more with the art, to offer the books a little extra something to go with them. From out of the cover art, four bookmark-tallies were created to accompany the mailer. Here they are below:

Set of 4 bookmark-tallies, an extra with official copies of the book.

The book also comes with an 11"x17" fold out poster featuring a 1926 Halloween ad of products for schools (very fun stuff), and has some nice color and black and white illustrations across 32 pages. It's a 9"x6" publication, much like those old novelty catalogs, and is sure to have some good info for those into vintage Halloween collectibles. Here are some sneak peek images:

The Halloween Retrospect Vol 1, with poster and 4 tally cards.

The Halloween Retrospect Vol 1, with poster and 4 tally cards.

Oh, and last but not least, Bindlegrim put together a little website for the project: https://halloweenretrospect.com, and the logo below is a link there. Hope you enjoy the return of Bindlegrim, and the book...! 

The Cornish Litany Commission

Here is a litany (prayer, invocation) you have probably heard, though perhaps not by name, that asks for protection against what gramps from The Pumpkin Dream might term as a woeful host of haints and witches. And the litany goes:

From Ghoulies and Ghosties
and Long-leggety Beasties
and All Things that go Bump in the Night,
Good Lord deliver us!

Words like that are perfect fodder for imaginative sorts to conjure up all sorts of hideous beasts lurking in the darkness... And Debra Meister (www.debrameister.com) has collected a good number of these postcard visions in her book  A Litany... Cornish and Otherwise. Here are two such examples of vintage cards Debra shared on the website lotsofcards.com:

The book is also a showcase for newer works by such artists (to name a few) as Chuck E. Bloom, Rick Geary, Matthew Kirscht, Chad Savage, as well the author herself. And the author says the third edition (coming next year) will offer even more artists including Ian Miller.

That's amazing company, and I'm thrilled to have been commissioned to create a postcard (or two) for that next edition! As someone who was scolded in my early years for drawing monsters, it is so much fun, as an adult, to return to a project where monsters are actually the subject of concern.  I have completed one work thus far, in a somewhat similar style to the art of The Pumpkin Dream... and have already set my sights now on completing a second work more in line with my surrealist drawings (seen here in monochrome and color).

In the meantime, Debra Meister is offering a full preview of the second edition available on blurb -- until the 3rd edition (preview here updated 1-16-2012) appears, brimming with even more ghoulies and ghosties...! Good Lord Deliver Us all! 

The Grim Happy Blurb Preview

Red Hob and Green Hob are happy to announce the availability (for the 2011 Christmas season) of their 40 page photographic adventure book "The Grim Happy Christmas: Another Fireside Tale from the Library of Mr. Bumble Bindlegrim", on the shelves of blurb.com and would like to direct you to this preview of approximately the first 16-17 pages of the book.

The Grim Happy Christmas by Robert Aaron Wiley

The Grim Happy Christmas

Following the last post (Peeking into the Christmas Box), I wanted to follow up with news that The Grim Happy Christmas photo book will be available soon within the next few days from the Bindlegrim library located on blurb.com, and here are a few sneak peeks of the cover and first few interior layouts of the book:

What happens next? I hope you will enjoy finding out.

The story is a simpler tale with simpler text (than that of poetry in The Pumpkin Dream) and is intended for a larger audience and families; the story follows a gnome who wakes up at Christmas wondering where the holiday he had dreamt of all year can be found, because something in this house seems terribly wrong!

From the inside cover:

Red Hob & Green Hob (front flap)

The characters of Grim Happy Christmas, Red Hob and Green Hob, were cherished vintage ornaments handed down from family and became the centerpiece of this book during a particularly skint holiday.

Christmas Gnomes (Tomten, Nisse, or Hobs) were Christmas kitsch ornaments Made In Japan during the 1950s of hand painted hard plastic faces topped by flocked paper hats. Arms, legs, and hair were chenille, and the bodies and feet were made from spun cotton.

Bindlegrim and Wiley (back)

Mr. Bumble Bindlegrim was a collector of holiday literature, and is said to have lived his later years among wild rabbits and mossy apple trees of an orchard on the San Juan Islands of northwest Washington.

Robert Aaron Wiley ( author of The Pumpkin Dream) is also an avid fan of holidays. He is known to explore the arts via writing, illustration, photography, design, digital media, music... as well as the history of vintage ephemera and kitsch.

Peeking into the Christmas Box

We may be rushing Christmas a bit here at Bindlegrim Productions, but snow has fallen before Halloween could arrive, and even now snow keeps doing its best to extinguish the presence of the Jack O'Lanterns. (And if you've been following the gardens at Ichabod's Cottage, check out our pumpkin-head scarecrow trying to chew its way out from under the snow in this late season battle between Autumn and Winter).

And so while the Halloween poem The Pumpkin Dream is finding its way back on a temporary shelf (and we happily thank all of those who purchased a copy in its initial year of self publication), there is another holiday classic from the Bindlegrim library being dusted off, and given a fresh design, for your Christmas enjoyment in 2011. And here's a little sneak peek:

Is it time to unpack the Christmas box?
Photograph (c) 2001 Robert Aaron Wiley from The Saddest Christmas Ever

Are you already thinking about Christmas too?
Photograph (c) 2001 Robert Aaron Wiley from The Saddest Christmas Ever

Above are just a couple of the original photographs from a book created in 2001. The somewhat sad story behind these photographs is that we had decided at our house, due to ongoing financial challenges, to cancel Christmas (something that happened quite a few times in the immediate years that followed). I had decided that year to at least use a few things on hand (an inkjet printer, a tiny sketchbook and pen, and the digital camera) to create a tiny book/card gift to my partner, containing an original story that will be revealed here over the next couple of weeks.

This year the book is being updated and it's characters looks forward to sharing a message of hope with everyone. Below are a couple of facing pages from this updated version:

I believe the content of the book is relative to all of us who haven't always had the means to celebrate the holidays, and the book would be appreciated by those who seek deeper meaning in the madness and/or emptiness that sometimes surround these celebrations, (this may be even more true as great numbers of us experience a tough economy). So as we work hard here to pull this book together at the studio, we're reflecting on Christmas past and of those to come, and we hope for the best to everyone this Christmas 2011. May the times be joyous!

Bindlegrim's Sneak Peek Pumpkin Video

While my ultimate goal has not yet come to pass, to create an audio and/or video presentation of this book (maybe available through iTunes...?), I gave a quick go at this little promo video that covers a little under a third of the book... (continuing to play on that inspiration of graphics/animation from the 1930's, with some olde style title cards, etc., that developed from dingbats and borders in the newer version of the book that is available on Amazon).

I cringe to say it now, but I also did the music mix that is on this video. It is a not so great mix from the previous year with samples from various vintage Halloween songs, and was named after a really great short story by Peter Straub called "Pork Pie Hat" that captures the same mood of those old songs.

I, uhm, was doing a few holiday mixes at that time... but I would prefer to remix them all. Another one was for Christmas, and it featured samples from a now infamous radio interview with Joan Crawford and family... for the brave, both the Halloween and the Christmas mixes can be heard here at the moment:

Pork Pie Hat (a Halloween song mixed on AcidPlanet)

Ho Ho Hopalong (a Christmas song mixed on AcidPlanet)

Ultimately, I would love to remix them all and put some video imagery to them.... but, as my favorite mad scientist in the old Bugs Bunny cartoon says, my brain is "a wee bit small, but it will have to do"...