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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

VINTAGE HALLOWEEN CANDY CONTAINER WITCH DRIVING A SHOE G.M. CO RARE

Seeing this reminds me to pass along a warning on a reproduction from this set. As you know, there are six different slot and tab containers from this set made by the General Merchandise Company. (All six are shown on pages 57 and 58.) The container showing a skeleton pulling a wagon has been reproduced. The interior of the reproduction container is black rather than the yellow or gray of authentic containers. So, if it is black, send it back! 

Antique German Oval Jack-O-Lantern Halloween Candy Box! Superb!

I love the pieces to this set, a seemingly ever-expanding one, in that I have never seen this particular container before. Although in super condition, compared to the others made with this same imagery this is rather a Plain Jane container. Given the current price this has been bid up to with over two days yet to go, I would have expected something far more intricate and spectacular.

Rare Antique 1910 Spear's Halloween Ring Toss Game IOB J.W. Spears & Sons

This seller has sold Halloween items that I feel are reproductions, and sometimes these reproductions are crudely done indeed. He has been trying to unload this game for perhaps two years, and I see that he has finally snagged a buyer for it for $700. Although it is difficult to deduce from photos alone, I feel that the pipe and rings are not original and have been crudely fabricated. Although the JOL face appears to be authentic, I have questions about the box. All in all, whomever the buyer is has taken risks in acquiring this game.

RARE 1930s VINTAGE HALLOWEEN TIN NOISEMAKER CLICKER PUMPKIN JOL WORKS GREAT !!

Although the condition on this isn't mint, it is one of the more elusive of the clickers made in the 1930s in Japan. Although much of the Japanese output from this time is derivative of better US and German designs, this particular item doesn't have a counterpart from those countries that has the zest and ability to bring a smile to one's face as this item certainly does. The bidding is already at ~$25.50 with more than 7 days to go. I wonder if it will break through my guesstimate of $45 given its condition once the auction is over? 
UPDATED 01/18: It sure did - breaking through all the way to a very respectable $67! 

vintage Halloween LIGHT STRIPE jack o lantern 1940's German jol pumpkin

This seller has long been a thorn in my side for flogging a line of JOLs, including this one, that he claims were made in the 30s/40s and I maintain were made perhaps as recently as yesterday, In my opinion, these have decorative value only and do not belong in any vintage collection. These first began appearing at the Atlantic City antiques show in the mid-1990s. The typical story heard about these soul-less items when a seller is pressed is that a cache of these were found in an abandoned warehouse in what was East Germany. Please... Everything the Germans actually made prior and immediately after WWII was meant for export. The Germans needed the capital and had no use for these kinds of decorations as they didn't celebrate Halloween. (Know your history...) I have heard the tale of these "warehouse finds" so often and for so long that, if true, the warehouse has to be bigger than the one seen at the very end of the first Indiana Jones film. Don't be fooled. If you wish to add to your vintage Halloween collection, buy vintage items. 

Pre 1920's Heavy Molded Paper Mache Veggie Man Candy Container 5 1/2" tall

What is wrong with this item's face? Smallpox? Chickenpox? One can look at the seller's verbiage in vain for an explanation as to what is wrong with this POS. This kind of pebbly finish became commonplace in the later 1950s on items manufactured in Western Germany. In all my many years of collecting, I have never seen this finish on items purported to be from the era this seller claims. 

Vintage Beistle Halloween Haunted House

This diecut is instructive as to some ways to quickly date when an item was manufactured. Typically, when you see these brighter diecut colors you can assume the item was made no earlier than the mid-1960s. The imagery, not too scary or challenging, is another clue to the item's age and leads one to the same conclusion as to time frame. Lastly, as this is a Beistle item, the mark used is the strongest clue. Beistle used this mark - and uses it to this day - beginning in the 1960s. The market for Halloween items manufactured beginning in the 1960s and forward is in its earliest stages. For those interested in this era of memorabilia, prices should slowly increase as items in collectible condition disappear into collections.