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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Scarce c.1920 Vintage Beistle Halloween Lantern - Made in Germany-Witch-Cat-Bat

I've never seen this lantern before. I am curious about the seller's statement that it was made in Germany for Beistle. In looking at the lantern, I don't see any markings to that effect. (I wonder if the seller simply lifted the verbiage from one of my books?) In any event, this is a rare one, snapped up for a song. This listing demonstrates the peril of using a BIN. I would have been a bidder at a level significantly above $125. (The same seller sold an identical lantern a bit earlier for $110 using BIN.)

Antique Vintage BEISTLE ? Halloween Die Cut Cats Rolling a Pumpkin

I bought one of these diecuts from this seller about one year ago. They sent it in a mailing envelope with no protection, hence it arrived damaged with creasing where the creases on this one are. (I suspect this is the very one I sent back.) They were wholly unresponsive to my concerns until I was compelled to get eBay involved. Once that happened, they were argumentative and unpleasant. I will never do business with them again. 

Halloween Skeleton Skull Chalk Ware Ashtray Tip Tray ~ Odd Fellows Memorabilia

Over the last ~18 months, a small avalanche of items supposedly from Odd Fellows' lodges has cascaded down from Mount Fakery. The vast majority of these have been figural skeleton heads/upper torsos. Now, these ashtrays have appeared for the first time. I believe these are an extension of this new area of peril. Although these, truly old or brand new, are not really Halloween items in any event, I wouldn't buy them as anything more than poorly made decorative items. 

OLD HALLOWEEN Jack O Lantern Pumpkin JOL Container Lid & Saucer RARE Vintage

These great items sold almost precisely at their sustainable guide values. Neither the lidded sugar nor the saucer was marked, so one has to be on alert that the sugar wasn't actually made in Japan, thereby considerably lessening its value. (The Japanese never marked these Halloween porcelain wares, whereas the Germans more often than not did mark these wares.) The Japanese didn't make saucers, so the only question is whether the lidded sugar is German or Japanese. It is definitely the former based on its finish. The 3.25" saucer is devilishly difficult to find. 

Vintage Beistle Jointed Skairo Cat Halloween 1930's

It is great to finally see some truly vintage Beistle items being offered for sale. This Skairo cat jointed diecut is being offered by close friends, Tammy and Barry, who contributed numerous items to be photographed for my third edition, including a vast array of coveted celluloid items. I appreciate their many photos clearly showing the condition of this desirable and hard-to-find Beistle treasure. I also appreciate they trust in the auction system, starting this off at $9.99 with no silly reserve. Bid often!!

BEISTLE WUMPUS HALLOWEEN DIECUT~THE HALLOWE'EN DEVIL~1931

This jagged-edged, large diecut was made by Beistle for one season only, 1931. Because of its complicated structure, these are almost never found in the condition this one is described as having. In my view, this is an instance where the premium over sustainable guide value is warranted. I'd encourage anyone who has been wanting to acquire a near-mint example of one of these lightning creatures to snap this up pronto. 

BEISTLE HALLOWEEN DIECUT LANTERN~IDENTICAL DUAL-SIDED~UNUSED~1930-31

This somewhat harder-to-find 8" version of the iconic Beistle lantern seems to be in remarkable shape. I take it that the slot and tab top separator bar is missing. I'd also love to see how the honeycomb sides look from two side shots. This is arguably the finest lantern design Beistle ever issued. The seller is a long-time, knowledgeable collector. After verifying the missing top bar and seeing some side pics, this may be the time to scoop this up. 

09/15 Update: This awesome, iconic Beistle lantern fetched a strong $1,269.66. This design has such a strong presence that it becomes the center of any display. Wow!

One Vintage Halloween 1930s GIBSON 4-Sided Lamp Shade Lantern SPOOK HOUSE WITCH

I've noticed that many good items over the last few weeks have been selling for prices that I'd characterize as "soft." (A major exception would be prices for small paper like invitations, tallies and plates. That sub-genre seems over-heated.) This hard-to-find Gibson shade had some creasing, but I still think it should have brought more than the paltry $49.50 it did. Although I can understand the slow sales over this holiday weekend, I wonder if collectors are saving their dollars for what may come up for sale over these next few weeks. 

vintage Halloween JOL pumpkin/squash?. Germany. 40's or 50's.

It is too bad that these well-known reproductions still fool collectors. This seller had a number of auctions end this day with all of the German JOLs having been made no earlier than ~1995. These have decorative value only, nothing approaching what some poor soul paid for this. Do your research!

09/07 Update: The seller contacted me seeking more information as to whether these were truly made beginning in the mid-1990s. After several email exchanges, convinced, she is moving to pro-actively refund the purchasers for this and all the other newish lanterns she sold. I sure wish there were more honest, involved sellers like hoobster1. Brava!!

Morphy Auction September 10

At one time Morphy used to include wondrous Halloween lots in their auctions, but pickings have gotten slim these last few years. They have an auction starting on September 10 that includes a few lots of Halloween-related material. I have questions on a few of these lots. 
Lot 323 is composed of one item, the devil horn, that is certainly not vintage and another that is probably not vintage. 
Lot 324 has four noisemakers fanned at the top of the photo that are not vintage. 
Lot 326 consists of three items. The middle item, the JOL-headed girl, has an undisclosed hairline crack to the front as well as to the back according to intrepid collector Cindy, who went to Morphy this very day to examine every lot in question. Her summary: "I was not terribly impressed." 
Lots 327 and 328 feature mechanical items. Too many mechanical items have been appearing too often. Not a one of the advanced collectors I know feel that these many mechanicals haven't been "frankensteined" together or tinkered with in some way. If you are inclined to bid on these lots, ask detailed, probing questions as to the consignor and any evidence of their provenance. 
I wish that Morphy would hire a reputable collector with no financial stake in the auction's outcome to vet their Halloween lots. Offering these kinds of items detracts from their reputation. 

 

Iconic Halloween Honeycomb Witch Centerpiece

Although this is not a vintage item, it is worth your attention. Beistle made a similar witch table decoration in 1930-1931 that had an easel and arms jointed at the shoulders and elbows. The honeycomb skirt came in orange, black, green, yellow, orange and green and yellow and black. They recycled their Horrible Witch art first used in the mid-1920s. I've been collecting for nearly 30 years and have only seen the vintage witch table decoration exactly once, and I bought that for the collection. (It is shown on page 224.) This seller decided to see if he could make something similar - and he has succeeded! I came into possession of one of his creations with a yellow and black skirt and it is a true eye-catcher. I have woven it in to my displays and am VERY pleased with it. The sturdy honeycomb forms a full circle enabling it to stand without an easel. I sure wish I had this seller's artistic talent. He is a long-time knowledgeable collector. My understanding is that he has made only a few of these. The starting bid price of $5 is startlingly low. Do yourself a favor and snatch up one of these superb creations. I'm confident you'll be extremely pleased too. 

09/15 Update: I was glad to see the market recognized how special this newly created artisan item was with a closing price of $78. Congrats, Chris!