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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Unusual Veggie Person Anthropomorphic Die Cut Beistle?

Beistle issued this “male” version of its Hallowe’en Elf design between 1923 and 1932. The difference between the male and female is the male design is larger and has an additional layer of foliage directly beneath the abdomen. (See page 125 for both designs plus the elusive but ever-so-desirable envelope.) A prominent collector asked my opinion of how much this should go for given its rough condition. I estimated it would bring between $250-275, so the buyer paid a substantial premium.

1920 DENNISON'S HALLOWEEN Spook w/Pumpkins Seals Stickers Box

What a wonderfully weird design. I have never seen these seals before - and certainly never a box. Given the stock number, H513, I estimate Dennison issued this design in 1919, and surely for only a single season. So, what wasn’t a big seller back then now fetches $109.16 in 2020 for an empty box - and a well-used one at that.

Vintage J Chein Halloween Tambourine

Here’s the steal of the week! The seller listed this with a BIN of $75, about one-quarter what this tambourine would have brought given its superb condition. Some lucky buyer scooped this up within 4 minutes of the listing going live.

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.