DEAD MINT UNused Vintage Halloween Paper Party Invitation, Dennison, circa 1920!

I love this seller and am happy that she got such a strong price!

OK, that said, this result just makes me shake my head. Who is spending such insane money on these small paper items? Granted, if it wasn’t for two determined bidders, this would have sold in the mid $200s, but c’mon. I fear these kinds of results will dampen the enthusiasm required for new collectors to join what I feel is a hobby with too many overheated segments. (Some collectors always consider ROI when making a purchase. Some collect just for the love of collecting. At this price, there won’t be any ROI. And for the latter camp, deep pockets and carefree spending are sadly, now seemingly required.)

BTW, any collector who has purchased my third edition from me can acquire my identical invitation - also in mint condition - for $615, shipping included.

Vintage Dennison Halloween Acorn Face Stickers Seals H732

I haven’t seen a complete box of these really well-designed anthropomorphic acorns available for quite some time. This is one of my favorite Dennison designs. They were first sold in 1926. Even though the box looks a bit tired, the contents seem unfaded. Given the prices seen lately for small paper, this deserves to hit or exceed $200.

RARE VINTAGE EARLY BEISTLE HALLOWEEN JOL JACK O LANTERN BANNER GARLAND

This Beistle garland is incomplete. They made two versions - one with 10 JOLs and one with 13 JOLs. Given that the complete garland was held together with easily bent rivets, garland remnants, like this one, surface more often than complete garlands.

RARE ANTIQUE 1900’s Toledo, Ohio, Jack O’Lantern Tin Halloween Parade Lantern

Doesn’t this result beggar belief? It seems that this errant result is a result between two bidders with more dollars than sense. The seller has to be ecstatic with this windfall. I’ve received many emails on this result with the theme being this: “What craziness has overtaken the hobby?”

Vintage Witch Halloween Die Cut Paper Seasonal Decorations

The seller, unclebooboo7, made a big boo boo indeed, listing this desirable Beistle Horrible Witch jointed decoration for a BIN of $35. It lasted all of 5 minutes before some lucky collector got a fantastic deal at the expense of a clueless seller. The decoration seems to be in quite nice condition. If the seller had let it run at auction, they would have surely received no less than 10 times what they did get.

1910 -1917 “Sacred Be Ye Fire O Halloween” RARE Early Mechanical Decoration

An unknown manufacturer produced four mechanical Halloween designs pre-WWI. Two are interesting but not too out there, whereas the other two are quite eccentric. (You can see the foursome on page 284.) I’ve seen this mechanical witch at cauldron decoration a good 12-15 times and in every case the cat’s tail is missing. This seller obliquely states they have one with a complete tail. I invite this seller to send me a photo. I’d love to see a complete example. If I get it, I’ll post it.

08/29 Update: The seller took me up on my offer and sent the two photos below. She made it clear that it isn’t for sale. This is the first time I’ve ever seen one of these mechanical decorations complete with a cat’s tail. Quite nice.

1935 DENNISON'S HALLOWE'EN PARTIES BOOK / DECORATIONS FAVORS GAMES & STUNTS

This issue was the end of the line for Dennison’s nearly-annual Halloween publications. The 1930s was a tough decade due to the Great Depression. I’m surprised Dennison continued issuing these through 1935. (They did not publish one for 1932.) I’ve seen a fair number of these larger-format publications from 1927 on. Their issues from 1931 and 1933-5 seem to be especially hard to find in decent shape. This example up for auction may be in the best condition I’ve seen in many years. Most are folded, missing pages, have loose covers and other travesties. Not this one. I’ll be following what this fetches.

09/01 Update: This sold for a strong $193.50.

Vintage Dennison COME IN Halloween Sign with Jack O Lantern & Black Cats

Dennison issued at least four door hanger designs. Two are pretty common, two aren’t. This is one of the latter. I can’t recall seeing one for sale in decades. Given how thin the paper Dennison used at this time was, few of their products have traversed the decades well. The damage this piece has sustained is minimal. I am not surprised this door hanger fetched such dollars - as did its 1930 mate offered by the same lucky seller.

Vintage Haloween Tin Litho Kirchhof Metal Toy Party Horn Noisemaker

This seller, wildzombie, is far poorer than they could have been had they offered this very desirable tin litho horn produced by Kirchhof as an auction rather than the ill-advised BIN offering of $27.60. These have changed hands for upwards of $400. The colors and overall condition are exceptional with this example. Someone got a VERY good deal. I hope the seller realized their error when the listing concluded in 14 minutes.

Vintage 1930s Made in USA Light Cardboard Jack O Lantern Halloween Banner

This is a very desirable JOL garland produced by Beistle during the 1920s. Another reference cites this as being produced later but the generous use of primitive rivets or joiners throughout makes this unlikely. I have a complete, near-mint+ example in the collection, which appears on page 145. The seller is right - it originally was complete with 13 JOLs with rectangular block ends. This is only the second time I’ve seen this garland. I would encourage the seller to be more precise in her description relative to the 2 JOLs that fell off. Are they still extant? If so, making the garland whole is a small task, indeed, given how primitively the sections are joined. If complete, this garland is a must-have for serious collectors.

DEAD MINT UNused Vintage Halloween Paper Party Invitation, Dennison, circa 1920!

One of the aspects I most enjoy about this particular, well-rendered Dennison invitation is the sense of humor the designer imparted. Contrast it with the more somber, similarly-themed invitation Dennison produced in 1916. (You can see the latter on page 261.) If this seller says it is “dead-mint,” it is. She is wonderful. Given how prices for small paper have become unhinged these last 12 months, it’ll be interesting to see if this breaks the record for this piece set at my May 2017 auction when the book example sold for $311.

Rare Halloween Beistle 1930’s Party Place card Witch Black Cat JOL Antique

Beistle produced this place card with a flip-out base during the interval 1931-1932. This is one of four designs that constitute a complete set. I’ve never seen packaging for this set so they may have been sold singly. You can see all four designs on page 223. In my opinion, this is the tamest of the designs. It was rare for Beistle to produce place cards with any embossing, so this set is near-unique in that respect. Prior to this current bubble in small paper pricing, a mint complete set sold ~2007 for $900, an anomalous price at that time. God only knows what such a set would bring today. This item up for auction is in fair condition. It will be instructive to see what it fetches in this time when many collectors seem to have lost their minds in valuing small paper.

08/25 Update: This fetched $112.50.

Vintage Halloween Paper Mache Cat Candy Container

This seller must be an optimist. They are offering this relatively common pulp cat with damage at the bargain price of $250, with no chance to make an offer. Only on eBay. This late 1940s pulp cat in this condition seldom breaks $100.

Vintage German Halloween 1920's Twelve Panel Lantern Mint

The seller has to be ecstatic to have gotten this record-shattering price for one of the most common lanterns from this period. These 12-panels were printed in Germany (and are so marked) but at Beistle’s direction. These were produced in huge quantities for several seasons and then were wholesaled for many more. These typically trade in the $150-200 range.

Prices for vintage Halloween have largely gone crazy, a long-term negative for the growth of the hobby. How will newer collectors afford to enter the hobby when such common items sell for boobish prices?

RARE! ANTIQUE 1930’s Hanging PUMPKIN 62” Garland Double Sided Halloween

Beistle produced at least two versions of this garland during the early 1920s. One measured ~60” while the other measured 72”. The 10-JOL version was produced earlier than the 13-JOL version. Most of these were one-sided. In any event, this seller is the very embodiment of the word optimist. They are asking $1,450 with an option to make an offer. Even in this day of overheated prices, it is worth at best $450 given the overall condition.