From 1972: Topps’ 250-Piece Bubble Gum Haunted House “Door-Knobber” Halloween Package!

While coming up with a vintage Halloween candy item to cover today, I recalled a fun piece of Topps bubble gum packaging that I picked up recently known as a “door-knobber”.  In the process of researching the origins of that package, I came across a few other neat items that I’m excited to share.

Before I get to the Haunted House pack, here’s a trade clipping from a couple years earlier that shows an award-winning piece of packaging that Topps created for the Halloween holiday in 1970:

Topps – Halloween Mr Pumpkin Jack O’Lantern bubble gum package – trade clipping – August 1970

That Mr. Pumpkin package looks pretty awesome and it’s certainly a piece I’d love to track down for my collection one day.  Topps’ Mr. Pumpkin would go on to receive awards for packaging innovation and became an annual offering from the company.  In fact, it was still around when Topps introduced the Haunted House door-knobber pack two years later:

Topps – 250 count halloween door hang trade clipping – June 1972

That clipping definitively dates the introduction of the door-knobber package to 1972.  And with that, let’s get to the actual package.  Here it is:

Topps – Halloween 250 piece bubble gum Haunted House door-knobber package – 1972

As you’ve probably surmised by the “door-knobber” description, this bubble gum package was designed to be hung on the inside door knob of a consumer’s front door – most convenient for serving trick-or-treaters!  Here’s a close-up of the graphic showing the pack in use:

Topps – 250 Count Halloween door-knobber close-up – 1972

I found one other piece of related information during my research on the Haunted House pack and it’s one that showcases a Bazooka gum product I had never come across before.  From the looks of it, Bazooka Bits appears similar to Mini Chiclets, both in packaging and style of gum.  These Bazooka Bits also came in a door-knobber pack style for Halloween:

Topps – Halloween Bazooka Bits Door-Knobber bubble gum poly bag package – trade clipping – August 1972

Pretty fun stuff.  Those individual Bazooka Bits packs are yet another thing I’d like to add to my collection at some point.

And that’s everything that I have to share today on Topps’ 1972 Haunted House door-knobber pack.

See you next time!

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Today’s post has been part of CollectingCandy.com’s 2013 Countdown to Halloween. To check out other sites celebrating Halloween all month long, check out the official CountdownToHalloween site.