For you newer collectors, this design, along with seven other designs, suddenly began appearing for sale at shows in the middle 1990s. Although possibly made in Germany, these otherwise have no history prior to that time and are known as fantasy items. They have no collectible value. Unfortunately, lots of collectors have bought these faux items. They have percolated into many collections throughout the country.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
VINTAGE DENNISON BEISTLE ? DIECUT CARDBOARD CUTOUT HALLOWEEN WITCH MINT
I don't agree with the seller that this diecut might very well have been made by Beistle. Although Beistle did produce a remarkably similar diecut in the 1960s, this one for sale has little of its predecessor's charm or detail. I suspect this diecut was made by a local manufacturer in the 1960s with little marketing or distribution muscle to widely disperse the design.
09/04 Update: As I now know from a listing now active on Ebay, this rather plain diecut was produced in the early 1960s in Japan and packaged as an offering by Favorline, a small firm out of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
UNIQUE VINTAGE HALLOWEEN CUTOUTS
Although I've seen small diecuts surface quite often over the years, I have never seen them fetch such a high price. I would have thought they should have brought no more than about $40 each on a very good day. Congratulations to the seller!
Vintage Halloween Ephemera Black Cat Place Cards Deco Lady Nut Cup Candy Holder
Note that the three black cat place cards (made by Gibson with a stock number of 1889) are all missing the small flower tassel at the end of the hat. Although this great seller most assuredly does not have a complete example to which to refer, keep these missing tassels in mind when deciding on the amount of your bid. A photo of a complete place card can be found on page 213.
11 Antique Die Cut Halloween Jack O'Lantern Pumpkin Cardboard Cut-Outs w/ String
These are JOLs issued by Beistle in the early 1920s. There was at least one packaging iteration. Beistle sold these dual-sided JOLs five to an envelope with a stock number of 592.
VINTAGE / ANTIQUE BEISTLE HALLOWEEN HAT W/ HONEYCOMB CREPE PAPER TOP - FAIRIES
It is heartening to see some rarer items popping up on Ebay of late. This hat with a fairy motif was made by Beistle in the 1920s. It is one of a set of 6 that were packaged together in a very colorful envelope. I have only seen the envelope surface twice and have never been able to obtain one for the collection. Others from the set can be found on page 203. The prices for these hats have increased fairly substantially since 2007. I would expect this hat, which appears to be in excellent condition, to fetch in excess of $200.
08/14 Update: The hat brought a remarkably strong $260, showcasing just how hot early and rare Beistle items remain.
Antique Halloween large Beistle lantern ICONIC!! 1930-31 STUNNING!
Wow, I love this listing for so many reasons! First off, this is an awesome piece. Second, the seller, someone who I am quite impressed with and whom I will add to my list of endorsed dealers tonight is selling this the right way - with an itty-bitty opening price, no reserve and with an auction format willing to entertain zero behind the curtain BIN offers. Third, this great seller details the imperfections minutely, even though the imperfections are, in fact, minute. (As an aside, this has to be one of the finest such examples of this lantern that has come up for sale in this venue in years. Oh if it was the smaller version!!) Lastly, I appreciate the care he is showing toward this piece in explaining that it will be shipped as is so as not to "...stress the old cardboard any more than I have to." Sir, you have provided me with quite a spark indeed. Collectors, if you don't have this item in your collection, now is the time to pony up.
08/14 Update: The final gavel price for this simply superb lantern was $1,613.00, which according to my records is a record price with the next lower selling price significantly below this level. I think the lessons here are several: near-mint items carry a huge premium, the auction format works if engaged properly and being a seller with a good reputation is a strong factor. Congratulations!
VNTG DIE-CUT halloween decorations 2 Jack-o-lanterns w/ HATs excellent Condition
These two small diecuts were made by Beistle in the early 1950s. They are two to a set of eight. The JOL witch face is one of the harder to find pieces to the set. The smoking JOL is my favorite simply due to the fact that depictions of smoking in such genres is exceptionally rare. The complete set can be seen on page 140.
German Composition Halloween goblin witch candy container
OK, the dearth of quality items on Ebay recently has been dispiriting, but does that explain this astounding result? Whomever the buyer was on this rather common German composition candy container will not soon be able to recoup the purchase price, which was about triple what this candy container typically brings. Another jaw-dropping aspect of this auction was that the condition of this diminutive witch was far from perfect given it was chipped and quite dirty. Who would actually drop that kind of money on this kind of item?
Early vtg Halloween German paper litho JOL Pumpkins Horn w/crepe paper TALL
It is amazing that this horn brought $80 with two significant condition issues: a missing wood mouth piece and a hole. This horn is hard-to-find and came in several sizes. The largest such horn I have seen is ~19".
1940's Beistle Co Die Cut Halloween Black Cat Mouse Swiss Cheese
This seller has been flogging this and other diecuts from this uninspired Beistle set for over a year with no takers for one primary reason - her BIN prices are insane. For instance, she has slapped a $449.00 BIN price on this particular one when its value is perhaps $50-60 on a very good day. She has done this for over a year. Get a clue that no one wants this at that price level and sell it using the auction format starting at $9.99. My repeated questions to her as to where she gets the idea that these diecuts are worth anywhere close to the laugh-inducing values she places on them have been answered with a deafening silence.
Old Halloween Candy Container Scary Lamppost w/ Cotton Mouse
Although the bottom of the slide box where the stamped mark is typically found is missing, this candy container has all the characteristics of candy containers made in Japan in the early 1930s. The typical craftsmanship of Japanese candy containers from this period was quite poor relative to the those exported from Germany. The look is primitive, the materials typically low-grade (especially the "pebbled paper" the Japanese used - a strong indication of country of manufacture) and the overall impact, "meh." I have not made a point of collecting candy containers from Japan for these reasons, always shunting my dollars toward the finer, more interesting German wares. The marketplace agrees with me as the price differential between Japanese and German candy containers has always been great.
1925 Dennison's, Dennison, Halloween Bogie Book, Decorations, Costumes, Etc.
As readers of my books know, hard cover Dennison Bogie Books are hard-to-find and desirable. The most desirable of all are those hard cover editions that were never processed through a library system. These "ex-libraries" tend not to bring top dollar because of the processing defacements sustained in the book. I estimate that if this same edition was not an "ex-library" copy, the ending price would have been between $300-400 given its overall condition.
RARE, LARGE Vintage Halloween Cat with Trombone Diecut Decoration, Germany 1930s
This is, indeed, an extraordinarily difficult diecut to find in this condition. This is one of the larger diecuts of this ilk that the Germans made - although not the largest. It has long been one of my favorites for the energy it exudes and for being representative of the riotous party fun that once was had by Halloween party-going adults in the 1920s. The seller, an esteemed colleague and riotously fun herself, is correct in pointing out that the simple solution to this diecut's "restless leg" syndrome would not impact the value in any appreciable way.
What this seller does is trust in Ebay's auction system. She lists things with a low starting price and almost always realizes very strong results. This approach, in my view, is much more preferable to those sellers who slap a "fully valued" starting or BIN price on an item while at the same time extolling the virtues of Ebay in a saccharine way. Don't you agree? Comments welcome...
early vintage German Halloween Black Cat Papier Mache Nodder in Clown Suit
Although this vendor typically sells quality, "right" items, I suspect that this is a married piece - meaning that two separate items have been incorrectly joined together to form one whole piece. I have seen the clown body many times and have never seen it joined with a cat's head. The bold black of the head contrasts with the muted white and pink of the body in a very jarring way, reinforcing my belief that this is a married piece. These two data points, along with the fact that the head is loose, makes the conclusion of it being married and unworthy of being in anyone's collection seem inescapable to me.
