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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

HALLOWEEN ORNAMENT, GHOST SCARING DO WITH JACK'O'LANTERN

This exceedingly rare diecut was issued by Beistle in the 1940s and was packaged in varying assortments for a solid decade. Yet, it rarely surfaces - an oddity I've noted with other Beistle diecuts like the elusive "skeleton in the graveyard" that I discuss on page 137. I am not surprised that it fetched such strong dollars even in its less than mint condition. I like the energy the scene conveys! 

Vintage Antique Plaster Composite Halloween Devil Man Figurine SIGNED Germany

This looks to be a vintage candy container in quite nice condition, aside form the few paint flecks to the side of a horn. The Germans made a set of these figures all standing on a stump. (To see a Veggie man example, see the lower right of page 77.) The devil head was also molded in the same way but to a different body. (To see this, turn to page 63.) The seller gets the date of manufacture wrong. These candy containers date to the 1920s. I feel the BIN price reflects full value plus for this item. 

Vintage Halloween Double Sided Cardboard Witch Lantern Paper Face USA 1940s

This lantern's ending price far exceeded what it typically fetches, probably due to its seemingly near-mint condition. As I write on page 30 of my new 3rd edition, "This lantern is devilishly difficult to find in near-mint condition. The mystery manufacturer didn't have a solid grasp on coloration as I have seen examples where the faces range from a bright green to a deep olive." 

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!