Witches are always among the most exposed characters on Halloween. But they are not necessarily scary. As we can see, Ellen Hattie Clapsaddle loved to portray cute girls dressed as witches in red cloaks and covered with pointed hats.
Millions of pumpkins are grown every year just for Halloween. They are used for decoration, and in most cases carved into so-called jack-o'-lanterns. A scary-looking face made of a pumpkin is hollow with a candle or other light source inside. When the night falls, it really looks spooky. This is how, according to the hundreds of years of tradition, ghosts who supposedly roam the earth on Halloween, are driven away.
Candles are a traditional source of light but have been recently less and less used because of fire safety. They still possess a special charm and Halloween greeting cards with candles used as a part of Halloween decor are one of the possibilities for carrying on with the old customs.
Jack-o'-lanterns became more or less active parts of children's plays on Halloween, which can be clearly seen in different series of Clapsaddle's Halloween postcards. They can also be used as masks in numerous combinations.
How many ways to play with Jack-o'-lantern can you name? As we can see, Ellen Clappsaddle never got out of ideas for her Halloween-related projects.
Halloween is not just about decoration and sweets. It's also a great opportunity for kids to develop and hone some crafting skills. Many parents use this opportunity to spend some quality time with their offspring, revive their childhood, and create precious memories.
Spooky! While it's not good to scare others, Halloween may be an exception if you do that right. Watching a scary movie, sharing a horror story, or just listening to mysterious sounds of nature in the night might be the way to go.
Pumpkin is not the only fruit typical for October 31. You may ask what is so scary about the cabbage? Well, as it's portrayed in Clappsaddle'y cards for Halloween, it definitely doesn't look friendly, especially if you meet a couple of them in a dark street. Cabbage has a long tradition from an old custom, when girls examined cabbage stems to predict the look of their possible boyfriends. Acorns have a long relationship with magic, too. They were used by druids in numerous rituals related to fertility and rebirth. Acorns, of course, come from the oaks, which were considered sacred trees for many centuries.
We hope you learned something new with all these lovely Halloween greeting cards by Ellen Clapsaddle. It's time to say goodbye. Our vehicle will be - what else - a large pumpkin!
All presented graphics are in the Public Domain. If you enjoyed the presentation of Clapsaddle's Halloween postcards, tell your friends. Happy Halloween!