I had posted this on ZKF but all my posts there got lost, so here it is again. It is about some research I did to try to figure out where the skeleton inside Zodiac’s Halloween card may have come from. To my knowledge, nobody has been able to identify the source for the skeleton. And if I’m not mistaken, no one has found another example of the Halloween Card itself apart from the one Zodiac marked up and mailed to Avery. Is anyone aware of any examples of that card "in the wild"? (BTW here is the original thread, which still has some replies despite my missing post: http://www.zodiackillerfacts.com/forum/ … =65&t=1392)
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I found something interesting recently.
I was interested in this thread about the skeleton from the Halloween card. The discussion brought up the possibility that the killer cut the skeleton out from some source, or maybe drew it himself.
My impression is that the skeleton was a Halloween decoration, and the killer simply pasted it on the card. Or maybe it was a sticker, like the pumpkin on the front appears to be.
Most of the vintage skeletons I’ve seen are the large, jointed die-cut skeletons.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Halloween decorations were very popular, and there was a small handful of companies producing them. Did one of them produce Zodiac’s skeleton?
I came across this little guy:
According to the person who posted it, the skeleton was made in the 1950s, and is only 3 to 4 inches tall, a perfect size to fit inside a greeting card. It appears to be die-cut from a piece of card stock. This particular skeleton was made by a company called Dennison.
Dennison also made pumpkin seals that you could stick to envelopes and whatnot:
These made me hopeful about the possibility of locating a source for the pumpkin and skeleton. I decided to look into the Halloween decoration companies active in that time period:
* Dennison
* Beistle (decorations marked with "Luhrs" are also attributed to the Beistle company)
* American Novelty Corporation
* Hallmark
* Paper Magic
I contacted some of the companies to see if they could help me locate the skeleton or pumpkin. Dennison is now "Avery / Dennison". I contacted them but they said they couldn’t find anything, although I don’t know how deeply they peered into their archives. I had more responses from Beistle which is still active today.
One contact there says:
Our archivist does not think the skeleton is ours. She would tend to think it would have been a Dennison skeleton but you might also try a company called American Novelty Corporation (based out of Omaha).
Another contact:
After reviewing your images, I can confirm these are definitely not Beistle products. My best guess would be Dennison or Hallmark. I’m only an expert in Beistle Halloween, so you might try contacting a Halloween collector. I would suggest Mark Ledenbach… http://www.halloweencollector.com/contact/
I reached out to Mark, who has "written what is considered to be the bible for Halloween collectors." He didn’t recognize the skeleton or pumpkin. But he did say the skeleton looked like it could have been made by Beistle. However, he mainly specializes in items made before 1950, and he’s not aware of references containing photos of seals or stickers from after about 1960.
But my last contact at Beistle produced the most interesting information:
* Beistle did not produce seals or stickers, so the pumpkin isn’t theirs.
* The artwork is reminiscent of some old Paper Magic items.
* The skeleton’s line art is similar to M.L. Beistle’s "classic design". However, his skeleton’s face was profile, and in looking at the pelvic and rib structures it’s definitely not his.
* If you look at the left ankle, you will see an image of an eyelet, which was used to put joints on the skeletons. Beginning in the late 60’s, the Chinese became aggressive in knocking-off American decorations. A typical method of copying was to take an eyeleted item and pose it, photograph and reproduce it. The more savvy would make changes to the line art and "erase" tell-tales such as eyelets. But sometimes they would miss one, like the left ankle here.
* The skeleton might be a knock-off of someone else’s skeleton art work, maybe even a combination of skeletons.
* It appears to be hand cut instead of die cut, and possibly not a stand-alone product.
* It could have been cut from a greeting card, but since the skeleton looks to be a knock-off, that would imply Hallmark or American Greetings were in the business of knocking off skeleton designs, which they were not known to do.
* Paper Magic was known to make cheap cutouts, and "loosely" interpret copyright laws.
I contacted Paper Magic and it turned out to be a dead end:
I don’t think Paper Magic Group had halloween business back in the 60’s / 70’s. We were founded in 1974 as Eureka Resale then in 83 and 84 we got the Artis and Grand Award card lines.
And there’s no response from American Novelty Corporation.
I don’t have the resources to chase these leads. I hope that more capable folks can continue looking into them. The "knock off" info is the most interesting discovery that came out of this, but it seems to increase the difficulty of locating the source. Or maybe, physical descriptions to the contrary notwithstanding, the killer was actually a Chinese copyright infringer working in some sketchy San Francisco print shop. 
As a postscript, here are some vintage Halloween resources and miscellany:
* Etsy search for vintage Halloween
* Ebay search for vintage Halloween
* Skeleton card with artwork that resembles the artwork on the killer’s card
* More vintage cards with similar artwork / themes
* And more, including more examples of "From your secret pal"
* Another "From your secret pal" Halloween card
* Vintage Halloween photo pool on Flickr
* Mark Ledenbach’s Halloween collectibles "bible"
Some ideas for further investigations: Contact more vintage halloween collectors, post Zodiac’s skeletons in vintage Halloween forums or photo pools, go deeper into the contacts at various Halloween decoration companies (especially Dennison), etc.
Here is a die cut cardboard Beistle from the 1950’s.
Back in ’93 or so, I stumbled across a greeting card whose printed text was, so far as I could tell, indistinguishable from Zodiac’s. The text was not "Zodiacal", but the printing definitely was. Which made–and still makes–me wonder if Z were a greeting card artist/writer.
There was also craft magazines where you could cut things like the skeleton out on a thick stock paper.
“…they may be dealing with one or more ersatz Zodiacs–other psychotics eager to get into the act, or perhaps even other murderers eager to lay their crimes at the real Zodiac’s doorstep.“ L.A. Times, 1969
There was also craft magazines where you could cut things like the skeleton out on a thick stock paper.
That’s a good suggestion.
BTW here’s a collection of some other vintage cards I found that are similar in theme to the Zodiac’s Halloween card:
From that album, these look particularly similar:
Dont know how long Dennison has been making novelty adhesive decorations but the Avery side has been doing it since 1935. The business names in order are:
1. Kum Kleen Products 1935
2. Avery Adhesives 1937
3. Avery Adhesive Label Corp 1946
4. Avery Adhesive Products Inc. 1958
5. Avery Products Corporation 1964
Those listed above are prior to the date of the card. The next name change to Avery International Corp doesn’t occur until 1976. Dennison doesn’t come into play with Avery until 1990. So in terms of Avery/Dennison it can only be Avery or Dennison.
Frankly, I like the Avery side. The company began its startup in Los Angeles, probably continued there for quite some time and, is a location known to be of interest to the Zodiac. Then there is the original founder: Ray Stanton Avery. Ray Stanton Avery is Paul Avery’s sixth cousin. Given that the card was sent to Paul Avery I would venture to say that the images come from one of the 5 company names listed above.
As far as, the pumpkin, I would also look into autumn stickers/seals. Doesn’t have the typical Halloween style to it. Well, might as well say the skeleton too. The Zodiac had some serious issues
Soze
Oh, and by the way Doranchak, thank you for the post. It was most enlightening.
Soze
Nin at Tom’s showed a good example of how the skeleton was cut out—I will see if I can find it.
EDIT: Here it is, but unfortunately the photos are no longer there. I remember you could tell it was cut and not hinged.
http://zodiackiller.fr.yuku.com/topic/3 … p5585orL6p
“…they may be dealing with one or more ersatz Zodiacs–other psychotics eager to get into the act, or perhaps even other murderers eager to lay their crimes at the real Zodiac’s doorstep.“ L.A. Times, 1969
Isn’t it strange that the back of the Halloween greeting card doesn’t contain a logo/trademark? Was it whited out?
Isn’t it strange that the back of the Halloween greeting card doesn’t contain a logo/trademark? Was it whited out?
Good question.
It almost looks like the letters where pasted on the back (maybe covering something up) as you can see almost what looks like square outlines. Probably just an effect of the copying. Surely that would have been mentioned.
“…they may be dealing with one or more ersatz Zodiacs–other psychotics eager to get into the act, or perhaps even other murderers eager to lay their crimes at the real Zodiac’s doorstep.“ L.A. Times, 1969
Oh, and by the way Doranchak, thank you for the post. It was most enlightening.
Soze
I second that.
I’m really curious if the skeleton was cut out by the Zodiac himself.
Back in ’93 or so, I stumbled across a greeting card whose printed text was, so far as I could tell, indistinguishable from Zodiac’s. The text was not "Zodiacal", but the printing definitely was. Which made–and still makes–me wonder if Z were a greeting card artist/writer.
I believe that as well! Do you happen to have a pic of the greeting card you found? I believe the ‘odd’ paper Z used could be from a greeting card company as well.
Margie: I no longer have that card, unfortunately. However, I showed it to a couple of cops who agreed with me that it did look like Z’s printing. My POI had a degree in Graphics Design, so I wonder if I could run his name past greeting card companies to see if they recognize it?
