Would someone please buy this POS so that the collective community no longer has to see it being offered for sale again and again and again by this clueless seller? Please, buy it and take a very heavy hammer to it. Put it out of our miseries! :) Barry???
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
4 Diecut Circa 1930 Halloween Placecard Table Decorations Black Cats Pumpkins
All of these fine place cards were made by Hallmark. I think they more likely date to the very late 1920s.
Vintage 1920's Grinning Black Cat Halloween Candy Container Germany SCARCE NM
I am humbled by the very kind words the seller has written about me. Thanks! Most importantly, though, is this fine German candy container. I had had it in my personal collection for many years before parting with it. (I have several more similar to it and can't keep everything!) Whomever purchases this will be obtaining a truly scarce container in very collectible condition.
Antique Dennison's Illuminated Silhouettes Black Cat Halloween Box Only Vintage
Whomever bought this threw away their money. Unfortunately, this is a fantasy box. Dennison did not produce such boxes for their illuminated silhouettes, or any of their products for that matter. I noticed these being peddled over the last few years by sellers I feel are best to be avoided - like curiousimp, shadowtown and aboveindustry.
VTG HALLOWEEN DUAL-SIDED JOL LANTERN, GERMANY BEISTLE 1928
It's nice to see such a rare piece amid all the junk that has taken over the vintage Halloween category like kudzu resulting from Ebay not adequately policing the integrity of their own categories. Although not perfect, this Beistle lantern is a good one to have. As stated on page 35, "This lantern tells a great story. It is an example of the short-lived formal association Beistle had in the late 1920s with German artists and producers, hence the "Made in Germany" mark. It also shows the evolution from this curiously flat German design to the robustness of the memorable Beistle-USA lantern from 1930-31. An 8-inch version was also produced."
Comment Added 03/22: Given the condition, I feel whomever the buyer was got a solid deal acquiring this lantern for $495.32. Kudos!!
Vintage German HALLOWEEN Composition Pumpkin Man Nodder Candy Container
The German family this seller claims to have purchased this item from couldn't have had it long since this is a well-known fantasy piece. It has modest decorative value only and belongs no where near a vintage collection.
Halloween decoration "Devil head Candy Container" – Made in Germany
This Ruby Lane seller is wrong in stating, "These decorations were made in Germany beginning in 1920s and 1930s and again distributed at the end of the cold war in 1990." In fact, this devil head container is one of the best known fakes or fantasy pieces that began polluting our hobby in about 1995. There are no vintage counterparts. This has purely decorative value - nowhere near what this seller is offering this POS for. Fair market value on a very good day is about $15. By the way, this seller's handle on Ebay is brendasawa, or something very similar.
Antique Devil Halloween Tobacco Humidor Jar Estate German
I am trying something new here by commenting on an item offered on Ruby Lane. The listings on Ebay these past few months have been woeful garbage by and large, which plays into my theory that Ebay is becoming (has turned into...?) the low-end bazaar it never used to be. Anyway...This devil humidor is rare, but this one isn't complete since it is missing its eyes. If you turn to page 115, you'll see one of only 10 complete sets ever made including this devil head humidor. Now, this doesn't mean that there were only 10 humidors made. In fact, from what I understand, the humidor and the match striker were made in relatively robust quantities over a handful of years. However, a complete set consists also of an ashtray and a serving tray. Only ten of these latter two items were made. Who knows how many actually still exist. Outside of my collection, I have never seen another tray or ashtray.
Original Early 1930's Halloween Composition Veggie Man Figural - Scarce NM Cond
These diminutive figurals (sometimes they were made as candy containers as they would stand atop a small box) came in a wide variety of forms. I have an entire crew of these cavorting in my vintage Halloween house shown in one of my videos. (Check them all out right here on this site...) This particular figural looks to be in great shape. It is also offered by a friend of mine who is on my trusted sellers list. You can't go wrong doing business with Keith!
Vintage 1950s HALLOWEEN SCARECROW CREPE Honeycomb art tissue ARMS SEALED
The original designer and manufacturer of this bizarre winged scarecrow was Beistle. This version, made in Japan, is of a lesser-quality and is worth about half of the original's value. To ensure you are getting a truly old version, look for the "Made in USA" mark printed directly on the decoration. Originals should sell for $20.
Vintage Halloween Decoration~ Witch On Broom Stick w/ Green Face & Bat
Whomever bought this got a true bargain. (Darn it, I wish I had seen it!) I don't know if I have ever even seen this particular diecut before, although it obviously is from the same set Beistle issued in the late 1950s. Another from this set is shown on page 138. The seller was the big loser here as he/she should have gotten $100-125 for it.
Beistle's 1920 Halloween Stickers and Envelope Black Cat Flying Witch Moon
Whomever bought this Beistle Party Helps envelope with incomplete contents got a true bargain. These early enveloped sets are extremely desirable with much of the value residing in the envelope alone. This really should have brought in the neighborhood of $100 as is.
Halloween Flying Witch Noisemaker Rachet Germany German
Please read my post on this German tin litho ratchet from February 6th. The seller wised up and simply allowed an auction to take place, beginning the item at a very low price. Success was achieved in that she thereby received $200 for it, what I consider to be near the top of the value range.
Rare 1940s Beistle Co Die Cut Halloween Black Cat Mouse Swiss Cheese
Beistle was really scraping the bottom of the design barrel when it made this diecut, part of a Halloween diecut set that is equally uninspired. (Another from this forgettable set shows a doughnut by a coffee cup.) These typically don't sell for very much money. Someone should tell the deluded (optimistic?) seller as she has slapped a Buy-It-Now price of $549 on this sad piece.
I Sure Wish...
...there were higher quality offerings on Ebay! The vintage Halloween market suffers from dramatic declines in both the variety and quality of items offered for sale during the first quarter of a year. 2013 has not been an exception! I dislike the trend I see gaining strength where buyers will offer items for sale only as a Buy-It-Now with groan or laugh inducing asking prices - but without a chance to formally make an offer that would at the very least serve to educate the seller. As I've said before, I think Ebay by and large has become a lower-end forum. Although treasures now and again surface, the typical listing is either a reproduction or fantasy item, very common items or less common items in poor condition or only offered with head-shaking starting prices. I think the real action for high-quality vintage Halloween has definitely shifted to auction houses like Morphy's or Bertoia's, or other web-based sites like Ruby Lane or icollect24/7. (From time to time I offer great things directly on this site.) Perhaps my dour mood relative to Ebay will dissipate once this first quarter draws to a close.