Exhibit 31(1)

                                  CERTIFICATION
                           BY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
                             PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-14

I, Gerald C. Rittenberg, certify that:

         I have reviewed this quarterly  report on Form 10-Q of Amscan Holdings,
Inc;

         Based  on my  knowledge,  this  report  does  not  contain  any  untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the  circumstances  under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

         Based on my knowledge,  the financial  statements,  and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial  condition,  results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

         The  registrant's  other  certifying  officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining  disclosure  controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a - 15(e) and 15d - 15(e)) for the registrant and have:

         a) Designed such  disclosure  controls and  procedures,  or caused such
            disclosure   controls  and  procedures  to  be  designed  under  our
            supervision,  to ensure that  material  information  relating to the
            registrant,  including its consolidated subsidiaries,  is made known
            to us by others  within  those  entities,  particularly  during  the
            period in which this report is being prepared;

         b) [Omitted as permitted by Exchange Act Release No. 47986];

         c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's  disclosure controls
            and  procedures and presented in this report our  conclusions  about
            the effectiveness of the disclosure  controls and procedures,  as of
            the  end  of the  period  covered  by  this  report  based  on  such
            evaluation; and

         d) Disclosed  in this  report any change in the  registrant's  internal
            control  over   financial   reporting   that  occurred   during  the
            registrant's  most recent fiscal  quarter (the  registrant's  fourth
            fiscal  quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially
            affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the internal
            control over financial reporting; and

         The registrant's other certifying  officer and I have disclosed,  based
on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial  reporting,  to
the  registrant's  auditors  and the audit  committee of  registrant's  board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

         a) All significant  deficiencies and material  weaknesses in the design
            or operation of internal control over financial  reporting which are
            reasonably  likely to adversely affect the  registrant's  ability to
            record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

         b) Any fraud,  whether or not  material,  that  involves  management or
            other  employees  who have a  significant  role in the  registrant's
            internal control over financial reporting.


Date: August 14, 2003                       /s/ Gerald C. Rittenberg
      ---------------                       ------------------------
                                            Gerald C. Rittenberg
                                            Chief Executive Officer
                                            (Principal executive officer)