Vintage Blow Molds

If you were a child of the 50’s or 60’s you may remember putting a light up Halloween figure outside or in the window that depicted a pumpkin on a black cat’s back.  (I just put mine up in the grandkids room) Or maybe at Christmas time, you had a hard plastic Frosty or Santa with a nightlight bulb in the back that your family put inside or outside for Christmas.

As you know, in the antiques and collectibles world, nostalgia sells!  The popular aforementioned decorations are known as “blow molds” for obvious reasons.  They are hard hollow plastic figures that were blown into a mold and often painted or the plastic itself was colored.  Blow molds first appeared in the 40’s and were two dimensional until the 1950’s when Union and Empire Plastics started making a certain “pink” lawn ornament!

The infamous pink flamingo that you would see in yards, and still do, were the first popular blow molds.  They were cheap and easy to produce and affordable for the consumer.  They often appeared for sale in five and dime and discount stores. The lawn ornaments were lit up with a small “night light” bulb in the back.

Several companies produced blow molds but Empire is one of the most sought after.  You will find many holiday decorations such as Halloween and Christmas but cartoon character and non holiday figures were produced as well and are rarer and harder to find. Some companies even produced blow mold banks and toys.

Many of these blow molds are still used and produced today although most of the production has been moved to China.  These sought after collectibles even have enthusiasts who will collect and restore the vintage ones.   Many holiday blow molds were used outside for years and the elements took a toll on them as they faded out or lost their paint.

I kick myself for missing out on a “free” nice large ghost blow mold that someone set out for the trash one day last year!  I believe it was one of the rarer ones.  One man’s trash is another man’s treasure but I just drove on by because I had an appointment.  Woe is me!

I hope you have some vintage holiday blow molds that you will proudly display this season or maybe you have some that you would like to sell on eBay and make some extra money.  Blow Molds are so popular that new ones are being made and  Walmart has them in their Christmas section. Certain figures are already selling out!  I have seen some really nice ones at the local antique malls too!  Either way, Happy Collecting!

Jillinda Falen has been buying and selling antiques for over 40 years and is a licensed REALTOR and estate liquidation specialist.  You can contact her through the Houston Home Journal or via email at jcfalen@gmail.com