Whomever bought this lot bought one truly vintage item, one reproduction and one fantasy item. Can you tell which are which? Let me help...The JOL on the right with the green eyes is the real deal. The middle JOL with the yellow eyes is the reproduction. Notice the differences in the surface texture between this one and the vintage JOL. The white JOL is a fantasy item. Note that the problematic items have bales, an element never present on the pulp nut cup JOLs. Also, the paper nut cup itself is present on the vintage item, whereas the openings on the others seem too big for the crenelated paper cup. The buyer should be unhappy spending what they did on this mixed lot. Buyer, if you are reading this, get your money back.
Blog
Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
VINTAGE HALLOWEEN NOISE MAKER, SEALS, OIL LAMP COVERS, MISC
Here is a fresh example of a seller throwing a lot onto eBay with a BIN, seemingly ignorant of the worth of the individual pieces. Some clear-eyed buyer swooped in about 23 minutes (yes, only 23 minutes!) after the listing appeared, purchasing this nice lot with a sure smile on their face. The two shades from the 1916 Peggy's Halloween Party Set, the two Gibson shades, the box of Dennison seals and the two boxes of the harder-to-find Gibson seals were the stars of the lot. Just one box of Gibson seals may have brought what the entire lot fetched. The seller left money on the table.
German Vintage DieCut Halloween Pumpkin Lady Collectible
The buyer of this desirable diecut got a bargain. This heavily embossed item was made in Germany during the 1920s. This design typically changs hands for $135 or more. Too often sellers deprive themselves of better dollars by listing things as a BIN without any real idea of what they are doing. They would very likely have received more by offering this through an auction format with a modest starting price.
Vtg Lot 6 Halloween Tin Noisemakers, Paper Mache & Jack O' Lantern Witches, Cat
This seller is an incredible optimist! They are offering this lot of six items - none even close to perfect - for only $995! The sum of the parts here is maybe $225 on a good day. Each of these items is common, with the best piece of the lot being the "putty knife" clanger showing a broomed witch. That was made by T. Cohn in the 1930s and typically sells for $60.
7 Old 1930's Halloween Party Place Card Candy Nut Cups w Original Box - Whitney
I was fortunate to get mint examples of these superb 1920s Whitney nut cups from this seller a couple of months ago when he was selling individual items for $40 each.(Some also double as place cards.) These are exceedingly rare. I've not seen most of these ever before, so I was thrilled to get them. Whitney designs tend to be rather static overall, so these are a welcome departure from the norm. Whitney was out of business by 1942.
Witch Cardboard Halloween Decoration with Broom Wand with a Cat Head Bat & Moon
I have long searched for this diecut, but have been foiled over the years by the same issue dogging this listing - poor condition. Beistle made a set of three witch diecuts in the late 1950s. (All are shown on page 159.) Each witch looks decidedly grumpy. Each is depicted with odd touches: one has green shoes, one has a humped back and one, this one, has shoes that need to be re-soled. Interestingly, if you look closely at each in the set, what appears to be the artist's initials can be discerned.
01/04 Update: This diecut sold for $92, less than one third it surely would have fetched had the condition been near-perfect.
VTG Halloween Tin Shaker 1930's Black Cat & Cow, JOL and Scarecrow
I've long appreciated the odd imagery of this noisemaker. On the other side is a nervous cow wearing a bell by a scary tree. If you look on page 207, I have placed an image of this noisemaker next to an image of a tin bell. I believe both were made by the same, unknown manufacturer.
GERMAN JOL HALLOWEEN COMPOSITION PAPER MACHE MAN FIGURE OLD CREEPY PUMPKIN HEAD
This is an obvious married item, meaning in this case that the head was not originally manufactured with the body. The top does appear to be a vintage lithoed paper over cardboard JOL head, probably off of a wood clacker. The body is an amateurish glob, not at all consistent with anything commercially produced.
Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!
Well, it is that time of the year when my attention is taken up with many other activities outside of my vintage Halloween collecting addiction. I like to take this period of the year to recharge my batteries.
I am already selecting and photographing items in preparation for my annual May auction. I intend to have somewhere between 70-90 lots up for auction, with a significant minority percentage comprising items from my personal collection that have appeared in my reference guides.
The event is only open to those who have purchased a copy of my third edition of Vintage Halloween Collectibles. Ordering information can be found under the Third Edition Now Available tab of this site.
Stay tuned for further details...
Vintage 1960's Salerno Trick or Treat Halloween Cookies Box haunted house
Although this is a very cool item, with a design strongly reminiscent of the mid-1950s Brach's candy boxes, it is a far inferior design. The Brach's box was intricately designed with many nice touches - a discarded witch's broom and dilapidated shutters just to name two. Time was spent designing that box. This is not as good. The detail is lacking and the colors are unattractive. This seller has this priced much too high. Items from this era, by and large, don't bring significant dollars. I feel fair market value for this item, in this condition, is $75-95.
#66 VINTAGE HALLOWEEN 19.5" DIE CUT 3D STANDING SCARDEY CAT SCREENED PAPER LUHR
Do photos really matter? This seller posted two identical photos that show only a portion of the front and none of the back, yet the bidding is already atop SGV with over seven days to go. I wonder if simply describing an item minimally, and posting no photos, would bring even a better result?
11/24 Update: This item, with incomplete photos, actually fetched $224.50.
1923 Beistle Halloween Christmas Decoration Paper Novelty Catalog Vintage ORIG.
These early Beistle catalogs almost never surface, so for the seller to offer it as BIN with a paltry price of $75 was an error, reinforced by the fact that it sold in less than 75 minutes. These catalogs, different from the Dennison Bogie Books in that they were meant for retailers and not end-user consumers, show the varied items Beistle was offering at the time, some of which were never offered again. For that reason alone, these catalogs are superb research tools. I regret that I didn't see this as it would have had a treasured place in my library.
Rare LARGE German Halloween Pumpkin Candy Container OLD Must See !!!!!!!!!!!
The seller is offering this repainted and painfully poorly repaired JOL candy container for a chuckle-inducing opening bid of $2800. The colored highlights throughout are after-purchase additions. The eyes look like they have been retouched. The repair to the crack in the back is breath-taking in its ineptness. I doubt this container is worth much more than a few hundred dollars, and then that value resides more in the size than anything else.
Happy Halloween!
Well, another season draws to a close. I feel this was a bounteous year for seeing some great vintage Halloween being offered for sale. On the flip side, there were also a number of new fakes, reproductions and fantasy piece worming their way into the marketplace. I think the sub-genre most being faked right now is the clockwork mechanical items. BEWARE OF THIS SUB-GENRE. Virtually every one (maybe all...) I've seen on eBay and being proudly touted on the Vintage Halloween Facebook group has been faked, meaning that although some components may be vintage (like the metal mechanisms), others are not. One of my favorite Canadian collectors calls this bad trend "Frankensteining." I know some otherwise sensible collectors being taken in by dishonest or ignorant dealers. If you have a question as to whether one of these items is authentic, post a photo to the Vintage Halloween FB group and let the many advanced collectors on that forum weigh in. Be ready for bad news. One silly collector posted one of her many faked clockwork items on that forum. When about 10 advanced collectors all weighed in to say she had been duped, she deleted her posting and went to another Facebook group and posted the same garbage. Ignorance must be bliss!
Be vigilant for the new season. Buy only from reputable sources. Check with accessible live resources like me if you have a doubt about something. The hobby has gotten so expensive that doing your homework before any notable purchase only makes sense. If you haven't done so already, for heaven's sake, buy the third edition of my reference work, Vintage Halloween Collectibles.
Start budgeting now for my annual vintage Halloween auction on this site. Lat May I offered 79 lots of awesome items. It takes place in early May and is open only to those collectors who have purchased a copy of my third edition.
In the meantime, enjoy the evening! Happy Halloween!
MBL
Early vintage Halloween standup decoration
You have to laugh at either the ignorance or audacity of some sellers. All this is is a trimmed photo of a lantern with a cardboard backing. To complete the sheer lunacy of this and similar listings, the seller wants over $7 to ship a 6x4" piece of worthless cardboard.
