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Click https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com to visit my store. These artworks and many other images are available on magnets and postcards.⁣Japan

Wow, quite a lot of responsibilities we pets have. I'm glad I never signed a contract agreeing to any of that.

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It's autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, and as such, it's a time of harvest.🌽🍎🥔🌰🎃 Historically there are a wealth of harvest festivals, but a more recent one is the celebration called "Thanksgiving". ⁣ ⁣ Besides being celebrated in the USA and Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated in some form in a number of other countries too. And even though it's springtime south of the equator, Thanksgiving is celebrated at this time of year in Brazil and Norfolk Island. I have no idea what they harvest there for the holiday.⁣🌴 ⁣ Behind me is a vintage Thanksgiving postcard with a Cornucopia, or a "Horn of Plenty". In Latin, "cornu" means "horn" and "copia" means "plenty". It's usually shown as a wicker basket overflowing with fruits, vegetables, nuts and flowers. It's a symbol of abundance, and in North America it's come to be associated with Thanksgiving. Its history goes back much further though.⁣ ⁣ Way back in the days of Ancient Greece, mythology tells the story of a Titan named Cronus. Cronus was a patron of the harvest, but he was a bit paranoid over a prophecy that his children would overthrow him. His plan to prevent the prophecy was to devour his children. ⁣🙀 ⁣ After five devourings with no intervention by Children Protective Services, Cronus' spouse Rhea decided to hide the sixth child, Zeus. Fortunately there was a magic goat around to nourish Zeus, but as the future leader of the gods, he had some godlike strength, and one day he accidentally broke off a horn of said goat, which poured forth never-ending nourishment.⁣ ⁣ Another myth, though, says that Hercules fought a river god named Achelous for the hand of Deianeira. Achelous took the form of a bull and Hercules broke off one of his horns which nymphs then filled with the choicest fruits of the autumn. The myth doesn't say why the nymphs were just standing around with these "choicest fruits" with no place to put them before that⁣🤷🏼‍♀️ ⁣ Later, drinking from horns modeled after the Cornucopia became common with Bronze Age Greece, Germanic Tribes, Celts, Romans and Vikings.⁣ ⁣ Holiday postcard images are available on refrigerator magnets, postcards, etc from my shop. Click https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com ✅️

Vintage holiday images, art works and more are available on refrigerator magnets, postcards and other things in my shop which you can visit by clicking https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com ⁣⁣❤

As I mentioned in a previous post, Halloween used to be a celebration that was mainly for young adults, and many Halloween games focused on divination, and learning the future of one's love interest.⁣💘 ⁣ In this vintage postcard, a prolix rhyme states that by looking into an apple-strewn tub of water on Halloween Night, the face of one can be seen who will love with a love that's true and pure.🪣💝 ⁣ ⁣ In this case, the woman seems to be looking at her own reflection. She seems content though, that she herself is her one true love. It should be a perfect match, unless she has dome kind of multiple personality disorder.⁣🤔 ⁣ However, all is not rosy and bright. Across from her is a man wearing a woman's shoe, with a menacing look on his face. He's grinding a cigarette over the tub while possibly thinking of dunking the woman in the water to see if she's a witch.💦🧙🏻‍♀️ I think that was another fun Halloween game from several centuries prior.⁣🙀 ⁣ Vintage holiday images, art works and more are available on refrigerator magnets, postcards and other things in my shop which you can visit by clicking https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com ⁣⁣❤

Here I am with another vintage Halloween postcard. I sell these on refrigerator magnets, postcards and other things in my shop which you can visit by clicking here https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com  . ⁣ ⁣ Even though the US Postal Service has raised their rates for the next three months,💰 I've kept my shipping prices the same. It's my purrsonal sacrifice for truth, justice and the American way! 🇺🇸 Plus I'm afraid that my sales will suffer if I raise prices.⁣📉🙀 ⁣ So ... about this postcard .... I honestly don't know what the fluff is going on here.🤷🏼‍♀️ It looks like a woman is leading a pumpkin-headed man through a field of giant thistles by pulling a waffle on a chain.⁣🧇🎃 ⁣ Nothing on the internet is written about such a Halloween ritual, so I consulted my local source of ancient knowledge, who said that the waffle looks like some device for sowing seeds, and the pumpkin-head seems to be dropping seeds behind it.🌱🌱 ⁣ ⁣ I suppose that's more logical than a waffle on a chain, but pumpkin seeds are sown in late spring, not autumn.🤔 ⁣ ⁣ Perhaps it's symbolic, and these two are sowing seeds of hope for the future.😊 Or maybe they're government workers, sowing seeds of discontent.⁣😬 ⁣ I'm open to suggestions on this one.🤷🏼‍♀️ Thanks for reading.⁣🤗 ⁣

Please click https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com to visit my store. These Halloween postcard images shown here, plus many other images and artworks are available on magnets, stickers, etc.

Please click to visit my store https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com . The Halloween postcard image shown here, plus many other images and artworks are available on magnets, stickers, etc.⁣⁣🎃 ⁣⁣ This vintage Halloween postcard is from sometime in the early 20th Century. It shows a variation of the apple bobbing game, where instead of sticking one's head in germ-infested water, players would instead attempt to be the first to bite an apple on a string. No records exist as to whether the players bit each other in the process.⁣ ⁣ Here there are only two players, a boy and a girl. The boy seems to have lost his competitive spirit and isn't even trying. Perhaps this is an act of chivalry, or perhaps the placement of the girl's hand caused him to forget about the game entirely.⁣🙀 ⁣ In folklore and mythology, apples are often regarded as sacred, mystical or even forbidden.🍎 ⁣ ⁣ Most people know of the story of Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden, where Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden apple.🐍 Except the fruit in that story is never actually named. In their conversation, it was only referred to as the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden. In the Hebrew Bible, the term "peri" is used, which could refer to any fruit. ⁣ In the 4th Century, Pope Damasus tasked a scholar named Jerome to translate the Hebrew Bible into Latin. For the Hebrew word "peri," Jerome chose the Latin word "malus" which had two meanings, "evil" and "apple". Jerome may have come up with a little pun in his translating. He certainly was in no hurry. The whole thing took him over 20 years. He was probably an hourly worker.⁣ ⁣ In the Middle Ages, the word "malus" came to refer to any fleshy, seed-bearing fruit. Probably like "Coke" can mean any soft drink in America's Deep South. When Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, he drew the serpent around a fig tree.⁣ ⁣ It was German artist Albrecht Dürer' who in 1504, first drew Adam & Eve with an apple tree, and that painting became sort of a template for future artists.⁣ ⁣ By the 17th Century, countless artworks showed the apple as the forbidden fruit. John Milton firmly established it when he used the Apple in his 1667 poem, "Paradise Lost."

Please click https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com to visit my store. The Halloween postcard image shown here, plus many other images and artworks are available on magnets, stickers, etc.⁣⁣🎃

This vintage Halloween postcard shows a clock at midnight, and below is a warning that the hour is here when witches appear. And lo and behold, the shadow of one is visible on the left.⁣🙀 ⁣ The origin of the term "Witching Hour" is uncertain, but it may go as far back as 1535. At that time, when Europe was in a panic over witches, the Church forbade activities between 3am and 4am, as it was believed that this was the time of peak supernatural activity. ⁣ ⁣ I personally have witnessed peak activity at this hour, though I wouldn't consider it supernatural. It's the time when many humans rise from their beds and stumble to the bathroom, having to relieve themselves after a night of drinking.🚽 It's also the time when we cats are most active, probably because we don't want some drunk human tripping over us in the dark.⁣🥴 ⁣ The hour of midnight is considered a magical time because of liminality, which refers to the psychological process of transitioning across boundaries and borders. At midnight we transition from one day to the next, so therefore, midnight is a nether time, being neither one day nor the other.⁣ ⁣ Anything in such nether realms was considered magical, being betwixt and between, and neither here nor there. Shorelines were such, being neither land nor sea, as was twilight, being neither day nor night, and crossroads, which were neither one road nor the other.⁣ ⁣ Halloween is celebrated on the date of the ancient Celtic Festival of Samhain, marking the end of the harvest time and the start of winter, or the darker half of the year. The Celts had four seasonal festivals, the one opposite Samhain being Beltaine. Samhain and Beltaine were liminal, or threshold festivals, when the boundaries between worlds thinned and spirits could cross over.⁣👻 ⁣ In Ireland these spirits were called Aos Sí, and in Scotland they were called Sìth. Somehow both terms are pronounced the same, meaning some people don't know how to use Latin letters. These spirits were like fairies or elves, and in the postcard it looks like a tall, blonde one is lurking behind the clock, waiting to mug the witch.⁣🧝‍♀️🧙🏻‍♀️💥 ⁣ Link to my store https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com .❤

A hundred years or so ago, Halloween parties were more for young adults than children. One of the main activities during Halloween were games from which to learn one's future spouse.⁣🤵👰🏼‍♀️ ⁣ There were many different variations of these games, but most involved looking into a mirror at midnight to see the face of your beloved.🪞 Kind of creepy that one's beloved might be stalking up silently from behind.⁣😬 ⁣ Anyway, some involved holding a candle, others involved eating an apple, and one required a young woman to walk backwards down a staircase while holding a mirror. That last one was good if the woman hoped for an ambulance attendant as her beloved.⁣🚑 ⁣ Another variant required the brushing of hair for the spell to work, and that seems to be what the young lady in this vintage postcard is doing. ⁣ ⁣ On the other hand, she looks kind of young for such a game. More likely, she noticed her premature thinning hair, and the magic book on the floor is her attempt to gain thicker, fuller locks before she ends up bald at the age of twelve. This old postcard could serve as a warning to have homes checked for radon levels.⁣☢️ ⁣ Please visit my store by clicking here https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com . Vintage Halloween and other holiday images, as well as artworks and other themes are available on magnets, postcards, stickers, etc.

"Little Johnny was shocked to learn that the IllumiCati had been holding their Secret Society meetings beneath his staircase."⁣ ⁣ Whatever these cats are, the sight of them has shocked the poor, one-legged child so much that he's about to light a broomstick on fire. ⁣🧹🔥 ⁣ The conical hats worn by these Cats in Hats indicate that they either consider themselves to be in a separate class from average anthropomorphic cats, or that they've mugged a group of garden gnomes. For this post, we'll assume the former.⁣ ⁣ Such hats were worn by Mongolian warrior queens a few thousand years ago to indicate high social status. The style was later worn by nobel women of Western Europe, and this is the origin of the classic princess hat.⁣ ⁣ Conical hats have long been associated with magic and sorcery. The shape represents a cone of power, allowing the wizard to concentrate his energy so that he can be centered. Originally wizard hats were brimless, however, J.R.R. Tolkien depicted his wizard Gandalf with a brimmed hat.🧙🏻‍♂️ The inspiration for that was from Odin the Wanderer, as Odin's hat was drawn with a brim when he wandered seeking knowledge.⁣ ⁣ Tall, golden conical hats embellished with stars and moons were worn by priests in the Bronze Age to denote their ability to read the stars. Such early astronomers were thought to have magical powers.⁣🌌🪄 ⁣ The Church frowned on such hats, associating points with the horns of the devil.👹 In the Middle Ages, some European Jews were required to wear such hats, called Judenhats, to signify their religion. Conical hats became associated with religious outsiders, and this is one of the thories as to the origin of the classic witches' hat.⁣ ⁣ In the 19th Century, pointed hats called "Dunce Caps" were used for humiliation and punishment in schools. The origin was possibly from a 13th century magician called John Duns Scotus who believed humans act as a funnel for wisdom. His followers were ridiculed by humanists and reformers as enemies of learning.⁣ ⁣ The Halloween postcard image shown here, plus many other images and artworks are available on magnets, postcards, stickers, etc.⁣ Please click https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com to visit my store

This is a postcard image from around 1910. Something below the kilt of the pumpkin-headed violin player is terrifying the poor cat,🙀 but in general, characters with pumpkin heads at that time were not scary.⁣ ⁣ One famous one was Jack Pumpkinhead from L. Frank Baum's second Oz book, "The Marvelous Land of Oz" in 1904.🎃 In that book, Jack was a scarecrow made by an orphan boy named Tip to scare his guardian, a witch named Mombi. But instead of being frightened, Mombi decided to try out her newly purchased "Powder of Life" on Jack.⁣ ⁣ Unlike most jack-o-lanterns, Jack's head still contained pumpkin's seeds and pumpkin guts, which acted as his brains.🧠 Although not known for his intellect, he wasn't altogether stupid either. When Mombi asked him what he knew, he replied that he didn't yet know what there was in the world, so it would take him time to determine if he was very wise or very foolish.🤔 ⁣ Jack appeared in other books too, eventually settling down in the Winkie Country where he grew pumpkins to replace his heads as they eventually spoiled. How sad that humans cannot do the same.⁣ ⁣ Another character with a pumpkin head was from an 1852 short story by Nathanial Hawthorne. In that story, a witch named Mother Rigby created a scarecrow which she named Feathertop. Happy with her creation, she brought him to life, giving him the appearance of a handsome human man through the use of a magic pipe which he had to keep smoking to remain alive. ⁣ Feathertop fell in love with a local girl named Polly Gookin. All was well until they passed a mirror, which revealed Feathertop's true nature. Polly ran away screaming, and Feathetop ran home to throw away his magic pipe, telling Mother Rigby before he did so, that he had seen the monster that he really was, and no longer wished to live. ⁣ ⁣ Mother Rigby lamented that the world contained so many vain and conceited charlatans who don't even know their own emptiness, yet her creation, who did know, had to come to an end.😔 She honored his wishes and did not reanimate him, instead letting him serve as a scarecrow where she said he would do more good than many living men. ⁣ ⁣ Link to my store https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com

Bobbing for Apples wasn't always a children's game where a group of kids stick their unwashed faces in the same tub of water.😬 It wasn't always associated with Halloween either. It started in Europe hundreds of years ago and it had to do with romance.⁣💘 ⁣ In the game, apples are placed in a tub of water.🍎 Being less dense, they float. According to Sir Bedivere from Monty Python, this could mean they're witches, but for our purposes, the apples are just apples.⁣ ⁣ While there were many versions, in one of the most popular, each apple represented someone special. If the bobber, who was usually female, bit the apple with a love interest on the first try, fortune had smiled on them and they were destined to be together.💞 If on the second try, they'd have a relationship, but it would not last.💔 But if three or more tries were needed, it just wasn't going to happen.⁣❌️ ⁣ My question in regard to the above scenario is, if she failed on the first two tries, why did she keep trying?🤔 ⁣ ⁣ Another variant said that the first girl to bite an apple would be the first to be married, and another said that if a girl put a bitten apple under her pillow, she would see her true love in a dream. And she'd probably see ants when she woke up.⁣🐜🐜 ⁣ In time, interest in the game faded except in Scotland and Ireland. There it became incorporated with the Celtic harvest of Samhain, where apples represented fertility and abundance. Samhain was celebrated on the night of October 31.⁣ ⁣ In this Halloween image that I have today, the girl on the right seems to have been upset that two of her companions bit apples before she did. She's therefore eliminated the competition by mounting their heads on the back of the bench supporting the tub.🙀 Jealousy can be frightening.⁣ ⁣ The Halloween postcard image shown here, plus many other images and artworks are available on magnets, postcards, stickers, etc.⁣ Please click https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com to visit my store

Please click to visit my store https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com. The Halloween postcard image shown here, plus many other images and artworks are available on magnets, stickers, etc.⁣ ⁣ This particular vintage Halloween postcard is from sometime around 1910. Just a nice scene showing some kids being led by an adult disguised in a bedsheet and a pumpkin, with a boy in the front eating his mask, and a girl doing all the physical work. The only thing I find strange about this picture is that they seem to be transporting a weird tree that looks like something from a Dr Seuss book.⁣😮 ⁣ I looked it up, and it's apparently a Joshua Tree which only grows in the higher elevations of the Mojave Desert in North America.🏜 Not the typical item one would expect to be transported on a Halloween Party rowboat.⁣ ⁣ My expert analysis of this mystery is, that groups like this were involved in smuggling operations, and used festive Halloween costumes as cover. No records exist of the smuggling of Joshua trees, so they were probably hollowed out and used to hide the true contraband. Most likely they were full of Halloween goodies, and smugglers wished to avoid paying high sugar confectionery duties and taxes.🍫🍬💰 ⁣ ⁣ Yes, I'm happy with my conclusion.🤔 I'm proud to share my knowledge and put my half-semester of Criminology and Sociology to use.⁣😉🎓

This picture was from a post I did last October. It was the second post I did for this account, and in it I blathered about the history of cats and fiddles, a history that goes back to at least the 14th century.⁣🐱🎻 ⁣ Since this image sold well last year, I figured I'd post it again for this Halloween.🎃 ⁣ ⁣ Most people know that the ancient Egyptians revered, or even worshipped cats. But that stopped when in the year 391, the Roman Emperor Theodosius I banned all pagan worship. ⁣ ⁣ Meanwhile in the Celtic lands was a fairy creature called Cat-Sìth. He was a large black cat with a white spot on his chest, and it was believed that on the festival of Samhain, which took place on the night of October 31, Cat-Sìth would bless any house that left a saucer of milk out for him. 🥛 Those houses that did not put out a saucer of milk would be cursed by having all of their cows' udders go dry.🐄 Kind of like a trick-or-treat prototype.⁣🤔 ⁣ It sounded like a pretty good deal for just the price of a bowl of milk, but the people of the Scottish Highlands did not trust the Cat-Sìth. They believed that he could steal the soul of a corpse before burial.⚰️ ⁣ ⁣ To prevent this, they'd hold watches called the Fèill Fhadalach (Late Wake) all night and day. They'd also try to distract Cat-Sìth by playing games like leaping and wrestling, telling riddles or playing music in the room which held the corpse. I can see how those things might annoy any cat away, supernatural or otherwise.😬 ⁣ ⁣ So things were going downhill for black cats, but they really got bad in 1233 when Pope Gregory IX published Vox in Rama. This was a papal decree condemning a German heresy known as Luciferian, a form of devil worship. In one of these banned rituals, a statue of a black cat would supposedly come to life, walking backwards with its tail erect. First new initiates and then the master of the sect would kiss the cat on the buttocks.🐈‍⬛😚 ⁣ ⁣ That in itself seems like the ultimate in degradation, but it started the widespread persecution and dislike of black cats which sadly still carries on to this day.😿 ⁣ ⁣ For more old Halloween images, please visit https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com