This is an interesting artifact. Given the seller's statement that is was made in England in the 1880s, it would have been too early to have been made for the American Halloween market, since one wasn't truly developed at that time. Nonetheless, I can see this easily fitting into a collection even though the design is in the tradition of an English interest in supernatural beings rather than any intended connection to what we now celebrate as Halloween.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Antique Child's Hallowe'en JOL Teapot German
Even with a re-glued lid, whomever bought this German porcelain tea pot, made sometime between 1908-1932, got a true bargain. The paint has more of a matte finish than normal, but it was still a nice addition to a collection for about one-third of its typical value.
Pair of circa 1920's 30's Halloween Cloth (Felt?) hats
This is merely one of hundreds of possible examples of Ebay sellers crossing their fingers and asking for the moon for items that aren't worth much. This listing has a BIN price of $270.00 with an accompanying "Make Offer" button. I wonder how serious the seller is in considering reasonable offers. A reasonable offer for this lot of two non-descript felt hats in damaged condition is perhaps $30.
Old German Porcelain Halloween Pumpkin covered box Jack o Lantern
This is a rare jam pot from the adult-sized porcelain "tea set" made in Germany as early as about 1914. This is only the second time in 26 years of collecting that I have seen this item. (I bought the one in the collection several years ago in a private sale.) This one has a number of surface flaws but brought what I consider to be a strong price nonetheless. The Germans made three sizes of these porcelain sets. The largest, to which this jam pot belongs, was marketed to adults. Any pieces from this set are extremely desirable. Kudos to the prevailing bidder!!
1950'S BRACH'S FINE CANDIES TRICK OR TREAT UNUSED CANDY BOX
This is one of the most detailed and interesting candy boxes around. I've been trying to land one in collectible condition for years and was happy to have finally done so. The final price of $89 was quite reasonable given the richness of the graphics, its overall size and just how cool this will look in one of my display cabinets. I have concluded that the much smaller Boogie House shown on page 54 was also made by Brach's.
RARE Old Vintage Halloween Cardboard Nut Cup Candy Container Dennison 1920's
This seller, who regrettably doesn't seem to have a good camera, has listed three to the complete set of four hard-to-find Dennison nut cups from the late 1920s. These were sold by Dennison only as sets. The one missing has these same black borders on the short ends only with the imagery populated heavily with bats and new moons. Fair market value is $55 each for mint examples like this one.
02/14 Update: Two finished very strongly, at nearly $80 each. The third finished below fair market value at $41.00.
HALLOWEEN Early COMPOSITION - RED DEVIL NOISEMAKER
This poor seller must not handle many Halloween items. She gushes in the listing, "Here is the best vintage Halloween item I've handled in a long time." Unfortunately for her, or anyone who might buy this POS, this is a newly made item with no vintage counterpart - a fantasy item, made in many circumstances to deceive the new collector. It has zero collectible value. Don't be fooled!
Rare 1940s Halloween Decoration w/ Black Cat Playing a Fiddle HE Luhrs Co
The seller must be going stir-crazy in her snowed in bungalow to offer this with a BIN of $100! These typically trade between $20-55 depending on condition. This seller routinely asks, yet never seems to get, breathtakingly high prices for essentially common items.
RARE Old Vintage Halloween Cardboard Name Card Placecard Decoration Black Cat
The manufacturer of this cool place card was Whitney of Worcester, Massachusetts. This was made in the 1920s, It was sold in a set of six, all different.
RARE Old VINTAGE HALLOWEEN STRING EM OUTS DENNISON JOL GARLAND 1920'S 1930'S
Dennison issued at least two different packages of what they called String-Em-Outs. (Their marketing person at the time these were released, in the mid-1920s, was not a word wizard.) The cited value of $400 on page 250 resides almost entirely in the exceedingly rare and nicely illustrated envelope containing this mainly forgettable JOL banner.
VINTAGE RARE HALLOWEEN METAL BUGLE CAT PUMPKIN WITCH OLD TOY SHAKER NOISEMAKER
Bugle Toys of Providence, Rhode Island, made some of the more interesting tin Halloween noisemakers of all the largest manufacturers of such items. Their tin designs typically conveyed energy, rather than the stolid designs of Kirchhof, T. Cohn, U.S. Metal Toy, etc. Look at this design, for instance. The witch is trying to hide from a ferocious cat which seems to be in mid-jump. Now, unfortunately, the kinetic energy of their tin designs did not transfer to Bugle's paper litho designs. These tend to be so dull as to glaze the eyes. Too bad this noisemaker, a rare form, isn't in better condition.
02/05 Update: Condition aside, this was bought for $79.99 as a result of a BIN sale.
Huge ~~ BLACK CAT Lantern - SNARLING ~ HISSING Black Cat
This is a variant of the somewhat common Tommy Whiskers lantern issued by Beistle that I have not seen before. Typically, these were made with folded tissue sides, beginning when they were first issued in 1938. By 1941 these tissue sides were dropped, leaving the sides open. The lantern in this listing has cardboard sides attached to one side with staples and to the other through slot and tab construction. I don't know what to think about this third variant in terms of authenticity. What I can see looks right: the color of the sides, the thickness of the cardboard and the rust on the staple. What doesn't look right is the rather ugly slots being pushed through the one face. One way to sum it up would be to say that for $100, the buyer got an interesting item at a reasonable price.
vintage old witch Brewsome stunts Halloween game very nice
This game appeared in a 1948 Beistle catalog as a new item. These are common and typically fetch $100.
Vintage Cat Light Cover Halloween Christmas Green Satin Glass Painted Features
This was produced in the later 1990s as part of a set from Japan. I don't consider it to be a "vintage" piece. It has a modest value of perhaps $10.
GERMAN COMPOSITION 1900's ANTIQUE HAND PAINTED HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN CANDY CONTAINER
Although this is a nice, large candy container with fine detailing, the seller is dreaming big in starting the bidding at such a nose-bleed level. That said, the BIN price is astounding. Where does that number come from? The container is an early one given its wood base and the attention paid to the details. However, with a missing pipe and other mishaps to condition, I peg a value much closer to $600 than to $1,200.
