It irritates me that so many of these have been popping up on Ebay with sellers claiming they are vintage parade lanterns. These are not vintage! They were made about 7 years ago by Bethany Lowe. I have one in my seasonal displays. Please, readers, contact this seller and educate her. However, if the past is any guide, the seller will remain blissfully wrapped tightly in their ignorance.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Halloween BAT with WINGS 1940s
Here is another listing from the same seller with the winged ghost decoration. This devil bat was made by Beistle only from 1925-1931. Given its six season production run, these are extraordinarily difficult to find complete. Typically, the wings are ripped and/or the feet are missing. Often, the horns are long gone. I love just how evil this diecut is! The manufacturers made party decorations for adults back then, and this design exemplifies this fact. In my view, this is one of the VERY best examples of this incredibly desirable Beistle masterpiece. If you don't own one, bid on this one for sure!
09/25 Update: Items from Beistle's Golden Age have been white-hot for many years and keep setting record prices. Here is another record: This superb example sold for $1,025.
Halloween Ghoul with Wings 1940s cardboard/crepe paper decoration
Although there are condition issues with this winged ghost decoration Beistle issued only in 1925, they are easy to overlook given just how unusual it is to see complete examples. Yes, the top knots are hanging on by a thread and there is unfortunate discoloring to the area around that face that only a mother could love, but importantly for me, the base is intact. As I write on page 228, "Weirdly, both ends of the base are generally also missing." With well over five days to go, this iconic Beistle masterpiece has already been bid up to nearly $225. It'll be fun to see where it ends.
Halloween Candy Containers Veggie Men Germany 5 different original box
The seller states that, "Opinion is divided as to whether these are old, new, fakes, etc." There is not a single advanced collector I know that believes these things have any age to them. From the perspective of those that have been in the hobby for decades, opinion is united that these are fakes. There is zero documentary evidence of their existence prior to the great avalanche of fakes from Germany that began at the Atlantic City show in 1995. The seller offers a wide-ranging theory trying to justify why she believes these are the real deal. I applaud her creativity but wish she'd simply remove the listing (and several other of her listings of dubious age). It is well-known that the importers faking Halloween beginning in the mid-1990s used truly vintage boxes to house their newly made forgettables. Let's not conflate the age of the boxes with the age of the housed items.
Two Vintage Halloween DENNISON party placecard HAUNTED HOUSES, WITCH, MOON, JOLs
This desirable and hard-to-find place card was issued by Dennison in the late 1920s and was called Night Scene. I was able to buy several of these about one year ago and still have some mint, unused stock left. They are $52.00 each, postage included.
Vintage Halloween 1917 Dennison Bogie Book Hardcover
This ex-library, hardcover, Dennison Bogie Book from 1917 was once part of my collection. I owned it for many years before I sold it to the current owner (and seller) in my May 2012 auction. You can see it on page 97 of my second edition.
Vintage antique U.S.A. Halloween owl lantern - large
It is nice to see this owl lantern get some loving. Years ago these commanded high prices, but as eBay upended the market's assumptions as to what was rare and what truly wasn't, prices for this lantern, as well as its cat mate, began to fall. When Beistle reproduced this lantern a couple of years ago (doing it the right way by making the new ones MUCH smaller than the vintage ones and ensuring these new items were well marked), prices continued to fall. To illustrate, in my 2007 second edition, this is valued at $70, whereas in the new third edition the value is given as $55. Now, whether this auction result is an anomaly or the start of a trend will have to await more data.
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.
VINTAGE HALLOWEEN BEISTLE WALKING WITCH WITH JOL DIE CUT EARLY HARD TO FIND!
The prevailing bidder did not get a good deal for the money. As I point out on page 145, "A cache of these was found in ~2009, greatly lessening rarity." I reduced the RSIN to a "4" and chronicle the sustainable guide value at $275. Interestingly, the vast majority of this found cache has been peddled by this dealer.
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.
Beach & Arthur Halloween Witch, Moon & Bats 8" Paper Plates 1930s In Cello
I've noticed that the sub-sub-genre of Beach & Arthur plates has been on fire these last two months for reasons I don't quite understand. Does anyone have thoughts on the matter? The buyer spent $225 plus shipping for four plates, for an average of $58 per plate, a valuation that seems excessive.
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.
