Happy Halloween To One and All!

Well, another Halloween is upon us! Where does the time go? I'm always a little bummed out on Halloween since my favorite season is at an end. Yes, Christmas is around the corner and all that, but nonetheless it will pain me when I turn the lights off my 7.5' black artificial tree tonight festooned with mostly older Radko ornaments. My outdoor purple and orange lights will turn off at 10:00 and will be packed away the next day until later in 2018. 

This last week has been so busy that I've made no time for my blog. I know that I post much less frequently during November and December, but do check back occasionally. I'll return with gusto in January. 

I'm already preparing for my annual May auction. I am pleased with the lots I'll be offering this year. Remember that the auction and my For Sale page items are only open to those who have purchased the third edition of Vintage Halloween Collectibles. The number of copies that I have to sell is getting low and I will not do another printing. Know that I plan to raise the price from $49 to $55 as of January 1st, so if you've been delaying purchasing a copy, you may want to put it off no longer. 

I hope you, my faithful readers, each have a wonderful Halloween night! 

BEISTLE HAT? Halloween printed headband with paper hair

I feel this was a tremendous amount to pay for such a damaged hat. This band hat was produced by Beistle from 1930-1931 only, so it is rare. Beistle material from their Golden Age has done very well this year. This result continues that trend line. The ending result would have been more understandable as a one-off had the condition been near-mint or better. Given the hat's unfortunate condition, the buyer did pay dearly. 

HALLOWEEN antique PAPER cardboard LANTERN rare SILHOUETTE

This is a very rare and very large German lantern made during the 1920s. Except for the one witch panel, it is remarkably good condition. The missing bottom connector is identical to the top connector, so if you are enterprising and creative, replicating one shouldn't be too big of a deal and wouldn't detract from its showiness. Perhaps 12 of these were found at a flea market in southern California in the 1980s. Perhaps this is one of those originally found then. (The seller is from that part of the world.) In any event, this may be an opportunity to acquire one of these eye-catchers for a reasonable price. The one in the collection is shown in my Inner Sanctum section on page 118. I acquired mine from a southern California dealer in ~1991. (She was the person who found the flea market cache.) By the way, this is the time of the year when good items seem to go more cheaply than normal on eBay. By this time, most casual collectors have spent their annual acquisitions budget, so it'll be fun to see what this brings.

10/31 Update: No bargain here. This sold for an astonishing $1,425.07. 

graphic old Halloween black cat string sign decoration

This is one from a set of twelve that Beistle first released in 1932 and made for many, many seasons thereafter. However, the typical versions are a combination of orange, black, green and white. Very early in the run, Beistle issued each design in these unusual color variations that remind me of foil. These variants are difficult to locate. Please refer to pages 151-152 to see others from the set. 

Vintage Early 1930's Dennison's Halloween Envelope for Pumpkin Heads (0) Pumpkin

The seller must be ecstatic with this result. Although Beistle enveloped goods are hard to come by, $152.50 for an empty envelope seems excessive. 

Vintage 1950's Beistle Hanging Bat 22" Wingspan

This flying bat decoration was made by Gibson during the late 1930s, not by Beistle during the 1950s. 

Antique Dennison,"Hallo' Inn" Die Cut

The crop this season of rare vintage items has been smaller overall than in many years past, so it is nice to see such a coveted and elusive diecut surface. As with many firms, Dennison was hard hit by the Great Depression. Their overall output was significantly lessened by the time this wonderful item was produced from 1930-1932. Not many were made and not many have survived the long journey through time. I know of VERY few collectors that own one of these. I do not. I struggle with whether to buy rare items with condition issue, and this falls in the "what should I do" zone. The SGV is $325, but since one of these hasn't surfaced in any venue I know of for nearly a decade, the sky's the limit.

10/26 Update: The stratosphere was reached with this rare diecut fetching $938.88.  

Vintage Halloween Score Cards PRINTED IN GERMANY

These beautiful and exceedingly rare German place cards brought about what I thought they would. (I felt they would bring $200 each and they brought ~$186.) I've tried to obtain cards from this set for years to no avail. I find them strangely compelling. Congratulations to both the buyer and seller! 

VINTAGE RARE TIN HALLOWEEN NOISEMAKER WITCH BLACK CAT CLAPPER

This is a rare tin litho noisemaker, made by an unknown manufacturer during the late 1920s. The graphics are great. The handle and the noise making mechanism are rendered rather primitively. The first time I saw one I immediately bought it for the collection. The ornateness of the disks contrasted with the plainness of the handle caused me to wonder if it was incomplete. However, during the last two-plus decades I've seen this 3-4 times. They all have the strangely plain handle and guts, so one should bid on this with confidence. It is actually in very nice condition. 

10/22 Update: This sold for the stratospheric price of $442, well in excess of SGV of $275. 

Vintage Halloween Cardboard & Honeycomb Party Hat - Black Cat

This plain, almost forlornly so, hat was produced by Beistle during the 1950s. By this time, Beistle's artistic creativity was nearing a bottom. (Compare this design to any of their designs produced during the 1920s and 1930s and you'll immediately see what I mean.) There isn't much demand for this hat. The seller has it starting right at SGV. 

10/31 Update: It sold with one bid at $24.99. 

Halloween Jam Pot with Leaf Lid, Germany Tea Set 1908-1932

WOW! This little gem brought a pretty penny. There are enough data points for me to say the market for these German porcelain items has moved sharply upward since publication of my third edition of Vintage Halloween Collectibles. I will have to analyse and revise the SGV for the rarer items. 

Antique Vintage Halloween Black Cat Seals in Box Gibson Art Company c1920s

This beautiful box of seals was produced by Gibson during the 1920s. Gibson's output was significantly less than their arch-competitor, Dennison, and, sadly, their distribution network was similarly circumscribed. Hence, today it is difficult to find Gibson boxed sets - and even more difficult to find such a clean and nearly complete box. My operating theory is that vintage Halloween paper (aside from napkins, table cloths and the like) will continue its rapid ascent, so if you like this genre, snap this one up. If you wish to see an extensive array of Gibson boxed sets, please refer to pages 264-265. 

10/22 Update: This fetched a strong $150.50. 

Antique Vintage Germany Halloween Black Cat Head Lantern

Whenever you come across a lantern or candy container with the mark, Container Made in Germany, know that the item was made after WWII. In this case, this pleasing lantern was manufactured during the early 1950s. Prices for post-war lanterns are a good deal less than for those made prior to the war. 

Vintage 1920s German Halloween Candy Container Witch Riding on Black Cat

The photos are poor enough that I cannot be sure, but this appears to be a standard 1920s German composition candy container rather than bisque. I have not seen rubber tails used on German candy containers. They are typically metal springs. The tail has almost certainly been replaced. 

OLD HALLOWEEN CAT ON ROOF DECORATION-WE THINK FROM A BUSINESS-VINTAGE HALLOWEEN

I don't know what to make of this diecut. The message is so cryptic that it makes me wonder if something is missing from it. Readers, any thoughts? 

10/12 Update: Thanks to those who wrote in! The expression "Get Hot" could mean a number of things: encouraging someone to dance faster, do better or simply make themselves comfortable. Thinking that it might tie in to a product endorsement, I wondered if this diecut was incomplete. I feel now it is complete. 

10/22 Update: A second one sold on 10/20 for $107.92.