Blog

Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

1920 - TWO VINTAGE BEISTLE HALLOWEEN INVITATIONS - ERIE KANSAS

These Beistle invitations were made only between 1918-1921. As I write on page 218 of my newly available 3rd edition, "You can tell these are early as they are mighty primitive. The printed interiors are crooked and rather sloppy. They seem to have been rushed to market. I believe that it is this poor quality that prevents these from fetching the significant dollars such early Beistle designs typically bring." There were two iterations of the same design, one with a movable part and one without. Four different designs comprise a complete set. 

Vintage Lot of Dennison Halloween Seals in Original Box

Dennison began losing their design prowess relative to their boxed goods in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Most of their efforts from this time are forgettable. However, this boxed set is actually pretty cool. The assorted designs have a minimum of the anodyne imagery Dennison habitually used at this time. I've only seen the skeleton seals in a set that came out of Canada. This may be worth picking up!

3 Vintage U.S. Metal Toy Litho Halloween Horns Noise Maker NOS Sealed in Package

I enjoy seeing things in original packaging as it provides data on what, when and how items were originally offered to the public. Tin litho noisemakers typically had plastic tips beginning in the 1950s and always did into the 1960s. This header card used by U.S. Metal Toy has a zip code, meaning that it was used after July of 1963. The rather banal imagery used on the header card was typical of that time, although the firm didn't alter the actual tin lithography of the horns for decades. This is a great packaged set that doesn't surface often. 

05/31 Update: This package ended up bringing $148.49. 

Halloween Bogie Book by Dennison's-- 1916--Rare--good condition

This is a Dennison Bogie Book edition that rarely is offered for sale. This 1916 copy looks to be in quite good condition. For some reason, every issue from 1916 that I've examined has been in poor to very good condition only. Dennison seemed to have a problem that year ensuring the covers stayed stapled to the pages. On my Relative Scarcity Index, this merits a "2," with a fair market value of $675. 

05/21 Update: Given the condition, I feel the result of $510 is quite strong! 

Scarce early Halloween candy box. NEVER before seen by me!

This small form factor box is quite interesting. I concur with the seller that this box is early, somewhere prior to 1930. I really enjoy this great seller's descriptions. They are no nonsense and to the point. That's why he is listed as one of my trusted sellers. 

05/16 Update: I would have not expected this cool Halloween box to fetch anywhere near what it brought - $305.77. As with all such results, it was due solely to two bidders going to the mat. Look at the bidding history. If you remove the two tenacious bidders, the box would have ended at $50. Congratulations to the seller! 

VINTAGE 1924 BEISTLE HALLOWEEN HONEYCOMB HAT? CENTERPIECE? JOL JACK O LANTERN

Beistle issued a set of four of these fairy-themed party hats in 1923, the singular year of their fairy mania. Every example of this hat I have seen seems to have that top-most bit of the wing missing. The artist was even then pushing the boundaries of Halloween imagery. I suspect these were not produced in the large quantities associated with other Beistle products from this year - like their fairy-themed Halloween Party book - as these hats almost never surface. It will be fun to see what this fetches. 

05/14 Update: This wonderful hat fetched $405, far above what I consider to be the sustainable price of $250. If you look at the bidding history, it rocketed off from about $225.