Prices for this particular book have escalated dramatically in the past year. The interior is pedestrian so the allure must be the awesome cover illustrations and detailed endpapers. One in much better condition sold last year in the neighborhood of $450.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
"VINTAGE HALLOWEEN JOL1908-1932~GERMANY~CHILD'S JACK-O-LANTERN PORCELAIN TEA SET
I'm surprised this listing lasted as long as it did -and even then it was only a handful of hours. I was preparing to comment that someone should snap this up asap when the listing changed mid-post to indicate that someone had bought it. Kudos! This medium-sized tea cup is a just a tad harder to find than the smallest size, even though both are assigned a Relative Scarcity Index number of "3." The guide price, though, illustrates that difference. If you want to see the finest array of pieces from the various sized tea sets the Germans made early in the last century shown in any reference, pick up a copy of my newly revised and greatly enhanced third edition of Vintage Halloween Collectibles.
Halloween Cardboard Witch And Black Cat Candy Container
This 1950s cardboard candy holder was made by Alberts Display and Novelty Company of New York. As I write on page 58, "This is made from heavy cardboard. Although having the chimney as the repository for candy is a pretty cool concept, the remaining graphics are decidedly ho-hum. These surface fairly regularly and typically trade for ~$50 in perfect condition.
vintage Halloween set of 8 Black musical cats
Whomever the buyer was got a fantastic bargain on this BIN offering of a complete set of the H.E. Luhrs' black cat band. (Why am I never on the site when such things surface?) :)
"VINTAGE HALLOWEEN 1923 HALLOWE'EN PARTY SET~BEISTLE~DECORATIONS FOR FOUR"
This long-produced and well-designed party set was offered by Beistle in 1923 in three iterations: a booklet with either orange or white pages, an enveloped set and a boxed set. The booklet is the most common but seldom surfaces in this condition. This nearly perfect item is being offered right at guide value. Snap it up from this awesome seller!
"VINTAGE HALLOWEEN~ EARLY 4-SECTION FENCE~2 WITCHES, 2 WRAITHS~WHITNEY~1930'S"
I only have seen this compelling fence centerpiece made by Whitney in the 1930s a handful of times since beginning collecting in 1988. Whitney sometimes produced the strangest imagery. Who would have thought of incorporating imagery of snakes escaping being boiled alive in a cauldron? This top-notch seller got top price for this fence.
Vintage Beistle Squirrel and Owl Die-cut, Rare Foil Embossed Halloween, USA
Beistle made a set of twelve diecuts beginning in 1932 and continuing through the early 1950s. Each was made very early in the run with this unusual color variation, rather than the more common versions with their coloration heavily represented with green. These early iterations are hard to find. The seller, different from so many on Ebay these days, actually has a reasonable opening price, so this may be a good time to acquire one of this variants for your collection.
Vintage 1920's 30's Dennison Halloween Cutouts in original box carrot with face
This set of six anthropomorphic carrots is one of the more coveted of those issued by Dennison. They make their first appearance in Dennison's 1928 Price List pamphlet and weren't made for many seasons. It took me many years to find the one in the collection. These typically trade for $325.
Vintage Style 1930s Flaming-Red Devil Halloween Lantern (Composition)
I am amazed at how much artistic skill others have! Why was I so shorted? :) I rarely comment on newly made items in this space, but I am impressed with this wonderful devil head lantern. It's obvious that it is well-made and would be able to hold its own amongst many vintage items. I don't know the artist but wish him/her much success.
Vintage Halloween Attic Find
I wish I would have seen this lot offered at the extremely low BIN price of $159. Kudos to the fast mover. The two shades intrigue me. They look like Whitney, but I haven't seen other shades manufactured by Whitney, so they are surely Gibson.
Vintage Relpo Witch & Jack O'Lantern Cauldron Halloween Candle Holder/Planter
I wonder if this is a record-setting price at auction for one of these whimsical planters?
"VINTAGE HALLOWEEN CREPE PAPER~OWL HOLDS SMILING JOL IN HIS CLAW~1930 DENNISON"
Crepe paper has been a hot sub-genre over the last few years. With designs like the one this fine seller offered, I can see why! One superb way to display crepe designs is to frame them. My good friends, Tammy and Barry, will have several eye-catching crepe paper designs framed and ready to sell at the American Folk Art Festival at the Madonna Estate Winery in Napa, CA on Saturday, September 6th from 10-3. There will be several people selling an assortment of vintage Halloween: Bobbie Lasky, Kimberlee Edgar, the aforementioned Tammy and Barry, as well as yours truly. (I have quite a lot of great vintage items I'll be selling, plus copies of my new book - so come on by!)
Antique 1920-30s German Painted Paper Mache DEVIL Head Halloween Candy Container
This is one of the better known fantasy pieces out there. The poor seller, in his description, sounds so excited to have found FOUR ALL AT ONCE! The person who sold them to him was probably happy to unload them. These began appearing in about 1995 and have wormed their way into many, many collections. (I see it taking up space in a distressingly high percentage of collections to which I am lucky to have access.) I, myself was fooled. A holiday dealer in business back then was Jenny Tarrant. She sold me one then refused to refund my money. That was a valuable lesson on several levels. Deal only with sellers who will guarantee authenticity forever. In any event, this is a purely decorative item with zero collectible value. Don't be fooled.
VINTAGE METAL HALLOWEEN TAMBOURINE - PAPER HEAD - BLACK CATS AND WITCH
This result didn't make sense to me until I looked at the bidding history. These typically trade for around $200. This tambourine would have ended around $175 if it hadn't been for one determined bidder who skyrocketed the price to the maximum the underbidder was prepared to pay in extremis! I don't see this as a sustainable price - but that is the joy of Ebay. It is a true crap shoot. The seller has to be completely delighted.
Vintage Halloween 1920's Gibson Dancing Cat Centerpiece with Original Envelope
You know the season is upon us when great items like this pop up on Ebay. This Gibson interlocking table decoration was made in the later 1920s. Typically, these kinds of items are missing one or more of the "end hooks." This looks to be complete and in awesome condition. These typically trade for around $175.
09/05 Update: It seems that this is the year for pre-1935 Beistle, Dennison and Gibson table decorations and diecuts. Prices have surged this season. This great centerpeice fence fetched $237.50.
