A History of Halloween Pumpkin Buckets & Trick or Treating in the US

Halloween festivities in the US can be sorted into eras. The late 1800s-1920s were the Trick and/or Mischief era. The 1930s saw the Birth of Trick or Treating era. The 1950s was the start of the commercialization of Halloween era, with ready made Halloween pumpkin buckets, costumes and packaged candy galore.

The Trick and/or Mischief era sounds horrible. Homeowners could wake up to find their windows soaped, their outhouse tipped over, their farm animals loosed, their shrubs cut down or the air let out of their car tires among other time consuming nuisances. Things were absolutely out of control by the 1920s. Pranksters tripped pedestrians, threw coal dust at them, pulled fire alarms and generally terrorized communities. Things sometimes turned ugly, with the vandalized shooting at the vandals. This nastiness lead to…

…the Birth of Trick or Treating in the 1930s, which was a Hail Mary attempt to convince kids to skip the vandalism and be rewarded with a sweet treat for not wreaking havoc. Newspapers and magazines, which had previously printed editorials and letters decrying the mischief, took the idea and promoted it. It caught on first in the midwest and western states, eventually spreading nationally.

Treats were collected in home decorated paper bags, pillowcases and homemade fabric sacks. Five and dime stores sold printed bags, including some from the legendary Dennison company. Sandbox or other small household pails were also handy for candy. Late in the 1930s, litho printed tin pumpkin buckets were introduced by companies including Ohio Art and U.S. Metal Toys.

The sugar rationing of World War II made mass produced Halloween candy impossible. Small homemade treats or non-food items were handed out. And metal wasn’t being used for frivolous things like pumpkin buckets.

And then…the 1950s, when Halloween exploded as a commercial holiday. Candy companies promoted the heck out of special Halloween goodies. Going door to door was a nationwide mass ritual. Stores were full of packaged costumes and masks and pumpkin buckets to collect your candy in. Retailers grabbed Halloween and never looked back, and consumers went right along with them.

The metal litho buckets time frame lasted from the last 1940s into early 1950s. In the mid 1950s, plastic pumpkin buckets were less expensive to make and lighter to carry. The buckets of the 1950s and 1960s were hard polyethylene blow molds made by companies including Empire Plastics, Tico Toys and Collegeville. Sold in five and dime stores like Woolworth’s, W.T. Grant and Kresge’s, these bright orange pumpkin buckets had pretty normal jack-o-lantern faces and wire or plastic strap handles.

The 1970s – 1980s was the avalanche era of plastic pumpkin buckets. Jack’s faces had more character. They were made of a softer sturdy plastic and had molded plastic handles. Other colors were introduced. The big American manufacturers were Empire Plastics, General Foam, Union Products and Collegeville.

The 1990s was a divided decade. Of course nice quality pumpkins were still made, but the market was also flooded with low price imports made from thinner plastic that were considered disposable. Licensed characters made their way into the game.  There were some bright spots, like the McDonald’s Happy Meals buckets and interesting branded products like the Blockbuster bucket.

If it was made for Halloween, there’s someone who wants to collect it, and pumpkin buckets are right in there with die cuts, crepe paper decorations and honeycomb tissue decorations. The earlier the pumpkin bucket, the more collectible it is. The tin litho and the early hard plastic buckets are the most sought after. Some character buckets and branded buckets like aforementioned McDonald’s Happy Meals are also popular for the pure nostalgia value.

Read more:

“When Halloween Was All Tricks and No Treats,” Smithsonian Magazine, October 2017.

“Halloween Was Once So Dangerous That Some Cities Considered Banning It,” History.com, October 2017