As Halloween draws near, we wanted to celebrate the wonderful world of vintage Halloween postcards, often filled with a cornucopia of imagery including the familiar symbols of the holiday, like black cats, witches, and pumpkins. Sometimes, the postcard imagery veers from delightful towards creepy—but what would Halloween be without a little fright?

Starting around 1905, people began sending families and loved ones Halloween postcards, much like people send Christmas cards in the present day, says Sheryl Jaeger, an ephemera dealer and appraiser based in Connecticut. Postcard publishers like John O. Winsch, Raphael Tuck & Sons, and Marcus Ward & Co printed these cards using chromolithography, as were baseball cards and paper dolls, also popular paper products of the time. Halloween cards were marketed as an inexpensive way to enjoy the day.

Illustrations ranged from midnight flights and Halloween games and events. Courtship practices were a popular theme, showing young couples holding hands or about to—shockingly—kiss. Several cards showed people bobbing for apples. Allison Meier says that apple bobbing was “a way to get close to potential suitors during autumnal gatherings.” Jaeger points out that this period was when women began taking charge of the holidays and thus much of the imagery was aimed at women.

Other imagery reflects the changing American landscape. Cars and planes abound in the cards, but often in the shape of fruit. One postcard, “Halloween” from Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd. (1908) shows a car made from a watermelon with squash wheels and pumpkin headlamps. In another card “Hallowe’en morning” from John O Winsch (1914), a witch flies a corn on the cob through the galaxy.

Cards also featured attractive witches—a risqué move for postcard publishers, Jaeger notes. Many postcards stick to the essential Halloween motifs: lots of pumpkins, squashes, and cabbages, plus a few fruit people (pumpkin-headed creatures feature prominently) for good measure. This focus on fruits and vegetables is probably linked to the autumnal harvest season and resonated with the many people who still lived in rural areas.

Jaeger believes that like all advertising, the artists were “looking for some sensationalism” to sell the cards—a tactic that lives on in today’s outlandish pre-fab Halloween costumes. Sadly, the tradition of these Halloween postcards petered out with the Depression, likely as a result of limited disposable income.

“It is a fun collectible” that can be quite inexpensive, says Jaeger. Collectors can focus on their favorite publishers or illustrators, or choose to focus on certain types of images, such as goblins or cars. Postcards range from $30 apiece to hundreds of dollars; many can be bought in sets.

Jaeger points out that other contemporary Halloween ephemera includes invitations and dance cards, however, prices go up for vintage ephemera such as papier mâché pumpkins or die-cut pumpkins.

Looking for some spooky inspiration this Halloween? Both the Toronto Public Library and the Maryland State Library Resource Center, Enoch Pratt Free Library house solid collections available online and in person.

Elisa Shoenberger is a historian, journalist, and curator. She has published articles at the Boston Globe, the Rumpus, Deadspin, Syfy, Inside Philanthropy, and other outlets. She is a regular contributor to Book Riot and is the co-editor and co-founder of The Antelope: A Journal of Oral History and Mayhem.