If you are planning to bid on this rare box, make sure you realize that the auction is for the box ONLY. According to the seller the contents are missing. At $81 as of this writing for a box, the price seems quite steep to me. That said, this is one set I've never been able to acquire.
05/29 Update: The empty box ended up selling for $119.50. It has to be a record!
This seller, one of the pioneers in collecting vintage Halloween memorabilia, doesn't sell much, but when she does she has a tendency to place stratospheric opening prices on her "auctions." I have never liked this practice. Yes, this Skairo Beistle piece is wonderful and hard-to-find, but $900? Really?
05/26 Update: Yes, really. Someone actually ponied up $900 for this diecut and its glassine envelope. This reconfirms that items are worth what someone is willing to pay for them. Interestingly, virtually nothing else sold, so this seller has re-listed those items with lower, yet still aggressive opening bids.
Here is an excerpt of what my book says of this lantern on page 111: Although the lantern itself is somewhat common, the envelope is not. The latter does shed light on when the lantern was manufactured. Described on the envelope as the "Most Attractive Lantern Made For Decorating Porches, Dining Rooms, and Ball Rooms," it was patented by the Knorpp Candy Company of 56-60 Scholes Street of Brooklyn, New York, on July 11, 1916. The lantern itself only references that a patent has been applied for, so the date on the envelope is significant in expanding our knowledge of this piece...
Ebay has become such a junkyard of late that it warms this man's soul to see one of my favorite sellers listing a mint example of this 1920s flapper girl German diecut! Although this diecut size and design isn't particularly hard to find, condition is what makes this a lot to covet. If you collect pristine things only, how could you pass this up?
This seller epitomizes someone who simply wants far too much for items in sub-standard condition, refusing to accept the overall wisdom of the marketplace. She has listed, re-listed, then listed again this fivesome for what I consider to be a laughable, ask-for-the-moon-and-maybe-I'll-find-a-fool price. Please seller, catch a clue and simply list these in an auction format with a reasonable starting price of $49.99.
The seller states that these are signed Hallmark. This surprises me as these are well-known Gibson designs. I've checked the photos to see where there is the Hallmark hallmark and see nothing. Am I too fussy in taking exception to the description of the trio as being "near-mint?"
The United Novelty Manufacturing Company was just one of many, many wholesalers that existed as the final distribution channel for original manufacturers like Beistle. In fact, Beistle was the primary supplier to the wholesale supply segment relative to holiday decorations. I have examined each of these pages and cannot find a single example of an item made by a firm other than Beistle. This catalog is from ~1958-1963, evidenced by the numeral, 22, right after Chicago in the address line. These short city codes were used at that time as a sort of "proto-zip code" before the formal introduction of zip codes in the summer of 1963. Given the merchandise offered in these pages, I'd more narrowly estimate the catalog was issued in 1959. These catalogs are quite useful in helping date when items were originally produced. Since Beistle did not target the wholesale market as its primary distribution channel, in many cases at least one year went by between the date of an item's original manufacture and when it began appearing for sale by a wholesaler.
This was a major SCORE for some fortunate buyer! This game, produced by Beistle in the mid-1930s, is hard to find in this seemingly impeccable condition. They typically fetch around $180.
I am surprised by this result. The diecut is small, not compelling and manufactured by a decidedly third-tier paper products firm, Eureka. That said, I do know there are motivated collectors of everything Eureka, so perhaps this result is a harbinger of a new collecting sub-genre, vintage Halloween Eureka diecuts from the 1960s. (I am the first to admit that I don't always sufficiently appreciate Halloween items produced after ~1960.)
Even though the condition of this game is not appealing, it is refreshing to see something substantive on Ebay. I feel the listings have been for much too long woefully deficient of anything of interest to anyone collecting things beyond the ordinary. Notice the slats at the bottom of the cat enabling the diecut to fit into the box. Keep these slats in mind if you see this game for sale. More often than not, someone has substituted the far-more-common cat, otherwise identical, without slats. This Beistle game does not surface often.
5/18 Update: I'm glad to see that this game fetched $171.00!
Although I would not recommend that any collector acquire this particular item due to its condition, know that this compelling design was manufactured by Whitney in the 1930s. It is one of a complete set of six, each slightly different. The set is shown on page 216.
I think this exceptionally rare Beistle hat slipped under the radar of many advanced collectors. Contrary to the seller's assertion that this hat is from the 1950s, it was manufactured by Beistle for a single season only, in 1933. Prior to this listing, I had NEVER seen this hat before in person, not in any of the many collections I have had the privilege of perusing, not in any auction catalog, not anywhere. The lone reference to this astoundingly rare hat is from Lavin's 2005 compilation on page 112. Arguably, I think this is the most interesting and involved design Beistle ever issued. Just look at it, look at the many design elements, the action, the color. It is superb! I suspect the same artist responsible for their nearly-as-awesome fairy hats from 1923 was responsible for this masterpiece. I feel that this hat could have easily fetched at least double if more collectors were paying attention.
I would avoid acquiring this very damaged item. As the seller points out, the top of the hat and the cauldron stirrer are missing. Perhaps more importantly, a significant portion of the right side is completely missing. The cat at the right is essentially cut in half.
The seller has made a common error in attributing the maker of the horn to the firm mentioned on the inside label. As I point out on page 179, "The cardboard bodies of this genre of horn were quite often re-used spindles from textile factories. Their labels will be found often affixed to the interiors." This is a great illustration of the maxim, Waste Not, Want Not!
This noisemaker is arguably the best designed noisemaker the U.S. Metal Toy company ever manufactured. It is a large one with excellent lithography. Even though it was produced relatively late in the game - and you can deduce this fact by its always plastic handle - this particular noisemaker is devilishly difficult to locate in acceptable condition. (As one of my favorite Ebay sellers likes to proclaim, "There's no bones about it!") These typically trade in the $175-250 price range, so this fetching $305.00 is a strong result indeed - especially considering one in similar condition sold last November for $$220.50.
