Halloween Beistle Rare Antique Nut Candy Basket 1920 Witch Ghost Cat Owl Bats

It is nice to see a true gem amongst the many listings. This early Beistle creation is among the very first items that began to firmly set their iconography. As I write on page 51, "This delicate basket has virtually all of the early, iconic imagery associated with Beistle. Made at the beginning of their golden age, this light cardboard candy basket has a trio of seated black cats and two flying bats on one of the other sides and a witch with a broom on her shoulder, two flying bats and a pine tree (odd...) in the background on the remaining side." SGV is $325, but one hasn't come available in some time, so it will be fun to see where this ends. 

09/25 Update: The answer is known! This ended at a completely unsustainable price of $687.99. 

New Lantern Design from Tim Ramzyk of Pulp Novelties

Wow! I just received Tim Ramzyk's 2017 Halloween pulp lantern, The Ghost, and LOVE it! As you know, it is rare that I tout anything but vintage items on this blog, but take a look at this unsettling lantern along with three others I am so proud to own - a devil head, a witch head and the frightening Nosferatu.

Tim is a Wisconsin-based artist who meticulously and painstakingly hand molds his own designs from a heavy, durable material. Including this year's true treat, The Ghost, he has 7 designs in limited quantities at price points that are in a few words, way too cheap! The other designs are Nosferatu the Vampire ($95), The Witch ($85), The Skull ($85), The JOL ($70) and The Black Cat ($70).  He has just a handful of The Devil left for $70 each. Once they're gone the design will be retired.

I am in awe at the workmanship and the true craft Tim brings to pulp design. I proudly have now four of his treasures on exhibit in my main display room. (For those who I've been lucky to host at my home, you know that in order for something to be placed in that room, it has to carry its own weight. These do, easily.) 

Tim is only making 40 The Ghost lanterns. Tim told me that this design is more ambitious in that it is made from three castings rather than two. He has cast the eyes in tinted three-dimensional resin - and they are spooky! The price for this masterpiece is much too cheap at $115 with $18 for shipping. Having seen the meticulousness of these wondrous and limited edition objects, I can surely say these prices are way too cheap. (Hurry, order quickly before Tim comes to his senses and raises them!) By the way, Tim numbers each of his creations. 

For those who know me, you know that I rarely buy anything Halloween unless it is vintage. I've made an exception - and you should too. Snap these up before they are ALL GONE by contacting Tim directly at pulpnovelties@aol.com. He lists these as well on eBay and Etsy. 

Vintage Halloween Tin Litho Tambourine Noisemaker T. Conn

This seller obtained very nice results across the board for his tin litho offerings, a genre that has been flickering back to life. This tambourine is quite rare. I've been wanting to acquire one for the collection, but this one escaped my scrutiny as I was traveling. Produced by T. Cohn during the 1930s, this design has that motion and energy the best Art Deco designs were meant to convey. 

Vintage Halloween 1920's Rocker Stand Up Fortune Place Card Skeleton, Cat, Owls+

Unusual small paper has been on fire over the last year. This result far exceeds what I would have expected. The tombstone and graveyard motif is underused in vintage Halloween design, and that may have contributed to this eyebrow raising result. You can't go wrong with this seller - truly a gem in our fun field. I wish this piece was marked. It is definitely not Dennison nor Beistle. It doesn't strike me as a Gibson item. Whitney? 

Vintage Halloween Catalog Book: Candy Container Die Cut Lantern JOL Witch Cat

Wow! This excellent reference sure is bringing a pretty penny. Ben should re-issue this so more collectors can afford to get a copy. 

09/25 Update: High prices are flushing out other copies. As with so many other instances, the first movers get the best price. A copy sold today for only $102.50. 

20 VINTAGE 1950'S HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN JACK-O-LANTERN PARTY INVITATIONS UNUSED

Buzza was known for many innovative designs. Their output is avidly collected - and most of the time I get why. In this case, I don't see the attraction for these to have sold for over $27 each. The design is plain and uninspired. As is so often the case when something sells for significantly more than is sustainable, two bidders were vying for supremacy. 

Halloween Witch Black Cat Cardboard Candy Holder E. Rosen Company Lantern

I have never seen this Rosen candy box before. Every once in a while some new Rosen-made artifact surfaces to my surprise. They were surely prolific with their designs! Rosen-made items are difficult to date with accuracy. They left few clues to help collector/curators like me. The acme of Rosen paper is surely their various "Pops" boxes. Check out pages 116-118 for a nice selection in the collection. 

Vintage Halloween German Porcelain Jam Pot

This superb item was made in Germany between 1908 and 1932, with a bias toward the earlier time frame. The seller is correct in stating that the top edge is typically rough and cannot be considered a flaw. I personally looked this very item over some years back and can attest to its quality. In my opinion, the leaf repair can be done better. A qualified restorer could make this jam pot's lid leaf look nearly as good as new. The RSIN on this item is a "1," making it exceedingly rare. If you collect German porcelain - and what discerning collector wouldn't want to - snap this item up. 

09/19 Update: This sold for an astounding $1,225!

Vintage Super Small Halloween German Pumpkin Lantern

This near-mint diminutive JOL was made in West Germany during the 1950s. These typically sell for between $75 - 125. Whenever you see the mark, Container Made in Germany, you can assuredly date the marked item to the 1950s. You cannot go wrong doing business with this seller! 

Early Halloween Folded Candy Holder OWL 3.25" ~ Used / folded

This is an item clipped from a 1930s Whitman Halloween Party Book. Several designs appeared on a page and were meant to be clipped and used as place cards. The entire book typically changes hands for $50-65, so I feel the price for the three designs from the book this seller is offering is too high. 

Vintage Orig. 1923 "Halloween Party Decorations" 30 Pcs. Beistle Co. Org. Env.

Beistle made three iterations of their 1923 party set: boxed, enveloped and in a booklet form. (The latter was produced with both orange pages and white pages. The color of the pages doesn't seem to impact value.) The boxed and enveloped sets are quite a bit harder to find than the booklet form. The envelopes of the enveloped set are nearly always in poor shape, as was this example. Still, it nearly reached SGV of $400. 

1930s Vintage Paper Halloween Light Lamp Lantern Owl Unusual

I wish I had remembered to place a bid on this rare shade. It is quite nice - one that I've not seen before. Gibson wasn't diligent about marking their goods, so it is possible this shade was made by them. I haven't seen it in their catalogs I have on file, so cannot be sure. I do think the ending price was in the right neighborhood. 

Vintage HALLOWEEN 4 STACKED PUMPKIN JOL w/ CREPE PAPER HONEYCOMB HAYSTACK - USA

Beistle produced at least two table decoration designs that incorporated their signature honeycomb onto a diecut backdrop. They produced these only during the 1957-58 seasons. I don't feel they were big sellers. Not only did Beistle cut off production rather abruptly but you simply never see them. This is only the second time I've seen this in nearly 30 years of avid collecting. A friend of mine snagged this by floating a BIN offer to the seller. Although the offer was a generous one in that it exceeded SGV, I have to wonder what this item would have brought if the auction would have proceeded from the original starting price of $19.99. Refer to page 228 for the other Beistle design from 1957-1958. 

Beistle Vintage Halloween Fortune Crystal Game Early 40's VERY Nice!

I don't understand why some collectors feel this has a connection to Halloween. Although it is a fortune game, that fact doesn't connect it to Halloween any more than a fortune cookie at your favorite Chinese food restaurant connects to Halloween. Because this game has no graphical connection to Halloween, I've never included it in any edition of Vintage Halloween Collectibles.

VINTAGE HALLOWEEN ORIGINAL BLACK CAT CENTERPIECE GIBSON 1920'S

This rare table centerpiece was produced by Gibson during the later 1920s. It is nice to see one perfectly intact. It is more common to see individual sides wrongly offered as diecuts. SGV is $200. I don't recall seeing such a nice example of this centerpiece for many years.