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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Rare Vintage Halloween Party Invitation with JOL and moving bat unused Beistle?

When I first saw this listing I thought, My God! Except for in the pages of Lavin’s book, I have never seen this before. This was produced by Beistle for a single season, 1930. Now, think about what was happening at that time. The big economic story was what we now call The Great Depression. In mid-1930 when this mechanical invitation was produced, those icy fingers of depression were encircling and squeezing businesses as consumer spending plummeted. The plummeting continued as many thousands of workers were laid off. The average person was trying to feed themselves and perhaps a family. They weren’t spending money on such things as invitations to a Halloween party - no matter how cool the invitation was. And those few people that didn't know or care that the economy was crumbling merrily continued spending much as before. It was that person who would have bought this invitation. (This mechanical invitation was sold singly along with a white envelope.) So, what makes this particular invitation so desirable is that so few were made (Beistle didn’t know if it would survive the economic cataclysm, so they smartly made many fewer of their items than normal from 1930 through 1935.) and those that were purchased by the Mamie and Emily Baldwin’s of their day (A sly The Waltons reference…) didn’t waste them! To have one surface at all is so rare that I’ve never seen one before - BUT to have it be unused is the real point of its rarity.
As of this writing, this item has been bid up to $3,800 - primarily by just three bidders. Is it worth this? Well, yes, in that one person has bid that amount and would assumably pay that sum for it. Would I pay that or higher? Sadly, no, even though such items are in the top three of my favorite market segments. I think about what else I could acquire or what extravagant vacation I could underwrite with the money and the allure of owning something that I’d just toss in a display case fades very quickly. It will be fun (…and I mean it…) to see what someone is willing to pay for this rare gem - and I wish them the very best.

RARE Antique Vintage Halloween Beistle Diecut JOL Garland, 65", 1920s

It’s nice to see such a rare item appear on eBay. This garland was made only for a small handful of seasons. The first iteration has connectors that are more primitive than the second and final iteration’s eyelets. This example, complete with all 13 JOLs, is the second iteration. These long garlands are truly hard to find in near-mint or better condition as they were so easily damaged when hanging and unhanging. Except for the surface paper loss on either end, I’m impressed with the overall condition and the brightness of the colors. I wonder at what price will it end?

Vintage Paper Mache Halloween Pumpkin & Black Cat Candy Container 5-3/4" Tall

This candy container is a reproduction made sometime during or after 1995. The lack of detailing is the immediate giveaway. Genuine such containers have excellent, detailed molding. The JOL is also significantly larger. Check out page 69 to view the real deal. This has very modest decorative value only, much less than the current bid of $51.

8/29 Update: Sadly, someone spent $266 on this reproduction.

Rare Vintage Halloween Gibson Wise Up! Owl Diecut Sign Authentic 1930s Funeral

Gibson was the little brother (or sister) to two much larger siblings, Beistle and Dennison, so it had to try harder to break through to score retail space in the many five & dime stores that represented the easiest way for wholesalers to reach the public at that time. Gibson tried to hold their own against those two better capitalized firms with a wider nationwide reach by designing items with an edginess that its rivals often eschewed. (The slanted exclamation point Gibson often used added that oomph and immediacy that certainly helped their sales.) Sadly, their economic reality at that time meant that the overall numbers of each produced design were relatively smaller, making today’s quests by collectors just that much harder. The result is that even items with significant condition issues fetch very strong dollars!!

Antique Vintage Halloween Diecut Banner Black Cat Articulated Tail Garland 1930s

I really enjoy reading this great seller’s descriptions! She nails this wonderful Beistle garland in such a way I want to acquire a second one! :) It has become increasingly uncommon for someone to offer this complete. It is more common to find individual sections offered. So, this is an opportunity to acquire a cleverly designed Beistle treasure in whole with great color and minimal wear given the number of “moving” parts. I hope it brings strong dollars.

Antique Vintage Halloween Witch’s Mystery Answer Game 1933 - 1938 Beistle.

This large game will always make an impressive addition to any vintage Halloween game collection. This orange version is actually the a later iteration of Beistle’s original design in white. The white version was issued for a single season (1931 or 1932) before Beistle opted to reissue it in orange in 1933 for the next several seasons. Any of their “Mystery Answer” games, all shown on page 15, are now exceptionally hard to find. I am comfortable changing the RSIN in each case down a number with this version being a 2 and both white versions being a 1. I was finally able to add the large, white version to the collection ~3 years ago. Even with notable condition issues this listing is currently at $206.50 with nearly five days left. I expect it to garner strong dollars.

8/22 Update: This sold for $1,007.99, significantly higher than I recall this ever selling for. Lots of Beistle items are on a roll!

Very Rare1950s Antique Vintage Halloween Star Molding Box 12 Black Cat Candles

It’s a treat to see items I’ve not seen before. Star Molding Corporation was a family-run firm that seems to have left East Aurora, NY after a fire in 1956. They almost certainly had a regional reach only, far eclipsed by their much more established competitor, Gurley, of Buffalo, NY. I think it is more likely this set is from the late 1940s rather than the 1950s. The graphics, especially the way Halloween is spelled with the apostrophe, lead me to this conclusion. I can see the appeal of this complete set. With the great instruction/advertising card, it would make for a killer display. At what price will it end? Many of us will be watching!

08/04 Update: This sold for $585.

Beistle Co. Cat & Witch Halloween Silhouettes with Envelope – Vintage 1920s-30s

These large Beistle enveloped sets have picked up pricing steam of late. The envelope is the star of the show. (The clasped-back style was used by Beistle during the early 1920s. They then switched to a envelope style with a flap, probably a change driven by their relentless drive to reduce costs.) The larger silhouettes comprising half of the contents of the set of eight are notoriously difficult to locate in near-mint condition. Unlike Whitney whose boxed and enveloped sets were filled with seemingly random designs, Beistle was much more disciplined. I wouldn’t have been surprised to have seen this set garner even stronger dollars.

RARE Antique Vintage Halloween Matchbox Diecut Witch Decoration ca. Teens-1920s

I was surprised by this result. I am thrilled for the fine seller who through her photographic and descriptive efforts attained top (TOP) dollar for her consignor. I feel this is simply the result of some long-ago end-user imaginatively taking a table card (We know now that this is a hard-to-find design.) and using glue to attach it to a generic match box. It would then be placed on a table as a useful prize or souvenir of a Halloween party. This is known as a married piece. A common example of married piece components is when an end-user would glue a small German compo item to an otherwise unremarkable wood ratchet to create something with more eye-appeal and oomph.

4 Antique Vintage Halloween Black Cats on Fence Diecut Cut Out Cardboard Whitney

The various fence table centerpieces that have been sold publicly have brought strong dollars, even examples like this with many condition issues. The #1 producer of these items was Whitney. They had many great designs, all now highly prized. The seller of this fence, or a previous owner, did a nice job replicating the four missing tabs in such a way that the replication is obvious. Missing tabs is the most common flaw with these designs as they just didn’t hook and unhook all that easily. In my view, the best Whitney fence is the one shown at the bottom of page 274. It is much larger than other fences with bright colors and bold graphics.

Summer Break

Hello Readers,
It is that time of the year when outdoor pursuits beckon. My garden needs tending, some property fences need mending and the allure of nearby Folsom Lake is never far from my mind.
So, I will take a break from the more Autumn-oriented world I mentally inhabit when tapping away to update the site.
Enjoy the summer! Best, Mark