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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

May Auction Approaching

The annual May auction is approaching. The preview period will begin Sunday, May 3rd. The auction itself will begin on Sunday, May 10th. It will end at 9:00 PM, California time, on Sunday, May 17th.

There will be 114 lots this year of wonderful memorabilia!

Remember - only those who have purchased a copy of my 3rd edition of Vintage Halloween Collectibles from me are able to participate in the auction.

Stay tuned for more details.

Don’t you agree that we need some fun during this unprecedented time?

Rare 1915 Vintage Halloween Dennison Bogie Book Costume Catalog & Crepe Napkin

This listing was up for an hour at most before it was snapped up. These early Dennison Bogie Books are becoming increasingly hard to find in any condition. Although the listing showed it sold for $189.99, the buyer is a long-time reader who passed on that she bought it for $100, a good deal. (The napkin bundled as part of the lot is just a bonus.) The first Bogie Book was published in 1909. There is only one known copy. The next was published in 1912 and new editions were published without a miss until 1918. Editions prior to 1922 are rightly the most coveted as they have the most information. Dennison targeted these books to the end consumer so the annual editions tend to show all items newly available for that year plus some old stock. Collectors interested in such things, like me, can roughly chart when items were first introduced and for how many seasons an item was available. The 1913 edition is so hard to find that I still don’t own a copy.

Antique Halloween German JOL Head Lady Candy Container Jack O Lantern Fab!

The Germans were able to portray such emotion in their moldings. One can almost feel the anticipation and joy this JOL-headed woman exudes through the skillful rendering of the body. This would certainly be a show-stopper in any display. The seller is a long-time collector who did the hobby a very great service with her publication in the 1990s of The Boo News, an informative, well-written newsletter with a diverse offering of articles. I own virtually every copy Dawn Kroma ever published, and cherish them for their information. If she has any copies left, I hope she’ll offer them up for auction. They are very much worth having as part of any collector’s reference library.

Vintage Halloween Nut Cup... Rare

This is a superbly designed item - one that I had never seen before. The art looks very similar to some of the Gibson shades you can find on page 44. I appreciate when an artist endeavors to cram as much detail into something with such a small form factor. I’m surprised it didn’t bring stronger dollars.

HALLOWEEN KITTY CARD GAME BEISTLE 1927 BOX DIRECTIONS 30 CARDS

I haven’t seen this game offered for many years. This boxed game from Beistle was copyrighted in 1927 but wasn’t released until 1928. My reference has assigned an RSIN of 3 to this great item, but I am changing this to 2. I like that the example up for auction is complete with instructions. The box itself looks intact and unmarred. If you don’t own this yet, you may not have another opportunity for quite some time. It’ll be fun to see what this brings. As I write this, bidding is already at $138.49.

03/10 Update: This great item sold for a strong $445.

Vintage 1925 HALLOWEEN Large Die-Cut Accordion Crepe WITCH & Fiery Caldron

This cauldron decoration was produced by Beistle from 1928-1932. I believe it was originally part of their Rustic Fireplace due to the streamers at the bottom meant to simulate flames. See page 127 for more information. The seller needs to include more and higher resolution photos. It is hard to tell whether the arch has been repaired. It appears as if it has been restored in some fashion.

03/10 Update: I feel the lack of good photos hampered this item from bringing the dollars it deserved. It sold for only $162.50.