According to many sources the practice of “trick or treating” began with a Celtic tradition. The Celts thought that by dressing up as evil spirits, they would be protected if they happened to encounter a demon who roamed the earth as we moved from one year to the next. The term “trick or treating” has a much more recent history. According to Smithsonian magazine, the earliest known printed reference is found in a November 1927 edition of the Blackie Herald (Alberta, Canada):

Hallowe’en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.

In 1909, Samuel Cornish founded the Collegeville Manufacturing Company in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. The company first made aprons, but soon began making American flags as well. In 1923, they further expanded to include making inexpensive Halloween costumes using fabric remnants from the flag-making process. Soon costume-making became a dedicated branch of the Cornish enterprise as the Collegeville Costume Company.

Throughout the years, Collegeville’s line of costumes included pop culture figures of the day. The 1976 Collegeville catalog featured costumes celebrating the Bicentennial and related to the blockbuster movie Jaws. During the 1980s, Peanuts and Transfomers characters were popular Collegeville costumes. Today, Collegeville no longer makes Halloween costumes, but the Cornish family still operates a retail costume store in Royersford, Pennsylvania.

Aaron Loehndorf is the Shiloh Museum’s collections and education specialist.

The very fragile skeleton costume laid out for careful cleaning before storage in an acid-free box.

This skeleton costume was donated by the estate of longtime Hindsville (Madison County) resident Patricia Laird Vaughan. She married James Vaughan, whose family first came to Madison County in 1831. In addition to farming, raising cattle, and running one of the largest fescue seed operations in Arkansas, James and Patricia Vaughan also owned and operated two well-known Hindsville businesses: the Valley Inn Café and Vaughan Valley Antique Shop.

The costume box is stamped as size “Junior (16)” with a penciled-in cost of $2.98. Unfortunately, we do not know if this costume was worn by a child in the Vaughan family, or if it was a item the Vaughans had for sale in their antique store.

According to many sources the practice of “trick or treating” began with a Celtic tradition. The Celts thought that by dressing up as evil spirits, they would be protected if they happened to encounter a demon who roamed the earth as we moved from one year to the next. The term “trick or treating” has a much more recent history. According to Smithsonian magazine, the earliest known printed reference is found in a November 1927 edition of the Blackie Herald (Alberta, Canada):

Hallowe’en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.

In 1909, Samuel Cornish founded the Collegeville Manufacturing Company in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. The company first made aprons, but soon began making American flags as well. In 1923, they further expanded to include making inexpensive Halloween costumes using fabric remnants from the flag-making process. Soon costume-making became a dedicated branch of the Cornish enterprise as the Collegeville Costume Company.

Throughout the years, Collegeville’s line of costumes included pop culture figures of the day. The 1976 Collegeville catalog featured costumes celebrating the Bicentennial and related to the blockbuster movie Jaws. During the 1980s, Peanuts and Transfomers characters were popular Collegeville costumes. Today, Collegeville no longer makes Halloween costumes, but the Cornish family still operates a retail costume store in Royersford, Pennsylvania.

Aaron Loehndorf is the Shiloh Museum’s collections and education specialist.

Note: Thanks to our museum photographer, Bo Williams, for filming Paul’s Blue Ox in action.

When cataloging an artifact, many aspects of it can be extremely helpful in determining how it was used, where it came from, and the date range of manufacture and/or use. A family history of that artifact can fill in many of those blanks. Artifacts that are stamped with company information, and, in some cases, a patent number, can give us a very specific date range to go from. However, when that patent number does not match a patent resembling the artifact in question, it becomes even more challenging to figure out a date. Such was the case with a recent donation from the Patricia Laird Vaughan estate of “Paul’s Blue Ox,” a toy made by Multipl-aktion Toy Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Paul’s Blue Ox is a “ball-actuated” toy:  marbles roll down the back of the ox until a lumberjack type figure rises up, knocks the marble off of between the ox’s horns, and dumps it on the tray at the bottom of the toy. Paul’s Blue Ox came to us in its original box. Printed on the box is patent number 1791217. A patent search on the internet linked that number to a European patent for female and male connector circuitry, not for a toy from the 1940s (that date was my educated guess).

Next I turned to a web search to find information about the Multipl-aktion Toy Company. The search engine kept trying to tell me the company name was “Multiple-Action” Toy Company, which was not the name I was looking for. I was able to find one web listing for the toy with the same patent number which dated the toy as 1931 but yielded no other new information. I also located an entry in the 1944 Minneapolis city directory for the “Multipl Aktion Toy Company” with salesmen David Ackerberg and Sidney Rivkin listed as company officers.

With nothing to show for my sleuthing but limited bits of information on the Blue Ox, I reluctantly moved on to another artifact from the same donor—a toy xylophone. The xylophone’s patent numbers proved quite helpful, and the numbers started with a “US” prefix. I finished cataloging the xylophone, then, on a whim, I went back to the Blue Ox patents. I decided to try the patent search again, this time adding “US” to the patent number. This led me to a 1929 patent for a liquid-vending machine issued to Sidney L. Long of Minneapolis, Minnesota—same location as the Multipl-aktion Toy Company, but the time period was a bit early and the patent was not for a Blue Ox toy.

I delved deeper into the other patents submitted by Sidney L. Long, and there, finally, I found a ball-actuated toy, patent number 2434571, filed August 29, 1945. That patent is for a toy that looks almost identical to the Blue Ox.

Even though an erroneous patent number led to several dead ends, it still provided valuable information for finally tracking down the correct patent for Paul’s Blue Ox.

Aaron Loehndorf is the Shiloh Museum’s collections and education specialist.

Shiloh Museum collections and education specialist Aaron Loehndorf greets Ed Stilley at the Instruments of Faith exhibit reception, March 30, 2019.

There is a saying, “all good things must come to an end.” On January 13,2020, our Instruments of Faith exhibit on the life and work of folk instrument maker Ed Stilley will close. For me, it was truly a blessing to curate the exhibit, and it will be bittersweet as I take it down.

Early in the exhibit creation process, I was fortunate enough to meet folk musicians Kelly and Donna Mulhollan, friends of the Stilley family. The assistance and support from Kelly and Donna made the exhibit possible, and they made the work enjoyable. Kelly and Donna introduced me to Ed Stilley and his wife, Eliza.  Meeting the Stilleys is still an awe-inspiring moment for me. They are some of the nicest people I have ever met as they welcomed me into their home. I have never met anyone like Ed—forceful yet quiet, reserved yet expressive. The fact that I had the chance to spend time with him during the course of the exhibit was the highlight of the entire process.

Museum exhibits frequently cover topics from the past or about individuals that are no longer with us. Telling someone else’s story, especially while they’re still alive, can be daunting. I had some concerns about how the exhibit would be received, especially since at the heart of Ed Stilley’s life story is his response to a vision he said he received from God. It’s a very personal story. I wanted to present it to the public in a meaningful, respectful way. Overall, I could not be happier with how Instruments of Faith turned out and the rave reviews we’ve received from visitors. There might be one or two minor tweaks—things I would have done differently—but all in all, I am happy with it.

Ed Stilley signs a copy of his biography, True Faith, True Light, as author Kelly Mulhollan looks on. Stilley and Mulhollan were attending the museum’s Instrument of Faith exhibit reception on March 30, 2019.

While Ed Stilley stopped making instruments a few years ago due to poor health, he and his family joyfully attended the Instruments of Faith exhibit opening on March 30, 2019. Ed sang a hymn for the audience and also signed copies of his biography, True Faith, True Light, written by Kelly Mulhollan and published by the University of Arkansas Press. I think for all those in attendance, being in the same room with Ed Stilley, getting the chance to shake his hand, was a very moving experience. I believe the exhibit reception was Ed’s last public appearance. He passed away on June 12, 2019.

Soon the Ed Stilley instruments will come down, the tools in his replica tool shed will be put away, and the life-size photo of Rose the mule will find a new home. I wish I had words to do justice about what this experience has meant to me, but I am at a loss. It was truly a life changing process to be a part of, and I will carry the memories and experiences for the rest of my life. Thank you once again to all the individuals who loaned their Stilley instruments for the exhibit. Another thank you to all who came to see the exhibit and took time to share their impressions with us. (It is always nice to hear positive comments from the people that the museum serves.) Finally, a special thank you to Kelly and Donna Mulhollan, and to the entire Stilley family for entrusting me with Ed’s story. I hope you feel that I did it justice.

Aaron Loehndorf is the Shiloh Museum’s collections and education specialist.