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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Antique German Halloween candy container Witch on cat TINY!

This great seller rightly states that most such German compo items were cheaply made and cheaply sold so the molding isn’t the finest. That said, some were very finely cast indeed. Those items were expensive then (~1910-1914, then late teens through the mid-30s) and command quite a premium today. For what this is, the result is quite pleasing. The witch looks comfortable as she sits on a sturdy black cat with an enormous spring tail. This would have a home in any respectable collection. I do wonder if the candy box is original to the piece.

02/19 Update: I thought this would bring more than it did - $227.50.

1930 GERMAN HALLOWEEN CARDBOARD TIN HORN WHISTLE NOISEMAKER SCARY FAIRY TALES

I suspect this item is a recently made fantasy piece. The graphics are unknown and don’t correspond to anything I’ve seen on unquestionably genuine German horns. Look at the only photo the seller provided of the horn’s interior. Although the bottom rim is splotchy, the interior is pristine and is constructed differently than any unquestionably genuine German horn I’ve seen. This reeks of a recently made fantasy item.

5 RARE VTG 1930s HALLOWEEN CREPE FAVOR / NUT CUP w/ DIECUT JOL NOS in CELLO

Although I have never much cared for these kinds of party favors, I do like seeing them in their original C.A. Reed packaging. So few of these still exist intact definitively establishing which firm made these inexpensive 1950s party favors. These nut cups typically sell for less than $15 each, so the seller is putting a great value on the intact packaging. I wouldn’t have made the same decision.

02/19 Update: The seller has listed another of these with the same minimum bid of $79.99. It’ll be interesting to see if there are any bids.

03/01 Update: There was one bid, so the second set also sold for $79.99.

Vintage Halloween Clapper Noisemaker Art Deco Flapper Jack O Lantern Retro

Sometimes tin litho manufacturers like the one that produced this clanger, T. Cohn, would allow these seriously misaligned scrap items to be sold as irregulars. They aren’t too common as the producers weren’t looking to be considered anything less than a company issuing first-tier products. Aesthetically, I find these unappealing, but do understand the allure of owning such a novelty item.

1930s German Bisque Figurine Scared Child carrying a Pumpkin excellent 3 1/4"

There were a number of different cold-painted bisque items produced in the early 1930s by the Germans with a Halloween theme. These figurines have become quite popular with Halloween collectors over the last ~5 years. I used to see them with some frequency, but that day has passed. I’ll have two such figurines in my annual auction held in May. One has perfect paint - like it was purchased and immediately stored away. If you’ve purchased my reference book from me directly, please ensure that I have your contact information, so that notifications about the auction can be sent in April. The auction is only open to those who have purchased a copy of the third edition of Vintage Halloween Collectibles from me directly.

01/24 Update: This great item sold for $70.

Antique German JOL Halloween Children's Tea Cup

I don’t believe this item is from any vintage porcelain tea set - German or Japanese. It looks amateurish, especially the teeth. I think this is the result of someone with a modicum of talent copying the features from an authentic cup, perhaps for their own amusement. It doesn’t have collectible value in terms of vintage Halloween.

02/22 Update: I’m glad no one seemed to be fooled by this fake. It sold for $58.00.

RARE Vintage Halloween Composition Devil Head Lantern W/ Orig Insert Formalite ?

I’ve received a number of inquiries as to my opinion of this item. I know the seller to be an ethical and affable person who has long been a collector of vintage Halloween memorabilia. I have much regard for him. That said, I don’t feel this lantern has much age to it. From what I understand, the Formalite process applied to items made from original F.N. Burt molds simply means a gesso-like coating over the typically used pulp, like shown in the second photo. I question why the bottom of the one up for auction is flat. If original molds were used, why wouldn’t the bottom be indented, like the one shown in the third photo? (Notice, too, that the lantern shown in the third photo is marked.) The lantern up for auction seems to be made from composition, not pulp. I suspect it was probably made off-shore sometime in the last 15 years.
My thanks to a long-time blog follower for supplying the second and third photos.

Formalite1.jpg
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Vintage Halloween 1920s-1930s Die-Cut Scary Cat

I purchased a wonderful lot of these small late-1920s diecuts about 18 months ago. I long felt they were probably made by Whitney until I saw an identical image of one of the diecuts on a Hallmark tally card. So, it seems likely this was made by Hallmark. Each of the set of small diecuts has the central image outlined in orange, like this one. That may be a defining characteristic enabling one to attribute any future found such diecuts to Hallmark. I’ll be posting the diecuts now in the collection on the site’s new Acquisitions page at some point. If you haven’t yet perused the Acquisitions page, be my guest.