Though these Halloween postcards were not exceptional either for their beauty or color - and the artwork can best be described as interesting rather than superb or exquisite, they rank among the most sought-after by today's collectors. This is because the firm's marketing was not nationwide and production runs were so low that an abundance of them did not survive, at least not in the quantities we have from other publishers.

Most were either sepia or black-and-white instead of the more expensive color found on cards by other companies. When color was employed, it was usually light pastels sparingly applied. And in an era when embossed' greeting cards were commonplace, Gibson's cards were always flat printed.  

Undoubtedly, Gibson was aiming at the lower end of the market and produced cards ticketed with inexpensive prices,  most likely retailing them in packets of 12 cards for a nickel. This at a time when top quality cards were selling for a nickel or a dime each, and medium quality at a penny or two each.

The Gibson Halloween postcards were designed, printed and inventoried with little rhyme or reason. Of the 150 or so different illustrations printed, they only assigned one group a set number - Series number 606, of ten children's designs. The rest of their output seems to fall into about two dozen or so groupings, discernible mainly by a common art style, border design or subject matter, and a whole lot of singles. This has made it very difficult to place them into any sort of order. They were issued in the years from 1907 to the eve of World War I, in 1917. Two groups of them are easy to distinguish, as each bears the artist's signature.

Bernhardt Wall, who was to gain his greatest fame after he ended his career as a book and postcard illustrator to become an etcher, drew one set of 10 or 12. Kathryn Elliott, who did much work for Gibson and is remembered today for her association with them, created another. Her series contains 18 cards and has a distinctive art style that makes it easy to spot.

There were about a half-dozen different Gibson Art Co. backs used. In some cases, the same card is known with two different backs. This adds yet another element to any attempt to categorize and describe Gibson cards.

One series of three sets has a wide border. There appears to be four cards in each set and each has a different border design: jack-o'-lanterns, cats and witches.

Another set of 12 shows imps in various seasonal romps.

There is also a group which has black-and-white checked square borders. Another printing has a narrow yellow border and another a narrow orange border. Scenes found in this set are of young boys and girls involved with Halloween activities.

One of the more interesting sets is of cats, easily identifiable by its orange and black backgrounds. Individual cards picture a black cat in the company of a ghost or some other goblin.

For a domestic publisher of a wide variety of paper novelty and printed goods, who traced its origins back to the 1850s, Gibson was unusually late getting into the souvenir postcard game. And once in it, they never became overly involved, always treating their postcards as a side line.

 Founded by George Gibson and his five sons, all of whom were trained and experienced lithographers and printers newly arrived as immigrants from England, the firm became one of America's most prosperous printers in the years following the Civil War.

By the 1880s, under the firm hand of Robert Gibson, second eldest son and the businessman in the family, the family-run company entered the greeting card field and quickly dominated it.

By the turn of the century, control of the company was in the hands of Robert's four children. Increased activity in the greeting card line only enhanced their position as the industry's leader.

Though they eventually became involved in the picture postcard fad, they never really had the heart for it. Except for a series of Rose O'Neill's Kewpies, published beginning in 1915, they have left less than an enduring mark in the historical annals of picture postcards.

Gibson's Halloween postcards were marketed for a few short years at best. Considering their lower-grade quality, sales must have been lackluster. All of this translates into scarcity today, and thus Gibson Halloween postcards are held in high esteem nowadays by collectors.