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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Vintage Beistle Halloween Black Cat Favor Basket Nut Cup

Beistle produced four designs of what they called favor baskets between 1927 and 1931. This particular example from a stellar seller looks fresh - almost as if someone bought it, never folded it open and left it in an envelope. The colors look bright and the honeycomb perfect.

09/28 Update: This item in exceptional condition brought an exceptional price of $481.99.

Auctions - 123 of them - by stnick22

Almost every year at this time, the seller stnick22 unveils a panoply of mouth-watering vintage Halloween goodies offered at auction with very low opening bids and no reserve - exactly the way it should be. The sellers are long-time holiday collectors with exquisite taste oozing from every pore. It doesn’t hurt that they are kind souls who are a credit to our fun hobby.
I’ve reviewed all of their lots and am amazed at the breadth. There are truly things for every level of collector, irrespective of their specific interests as virtually every market segment is represented. Do you want a very high-end candy container? You have many to choose from! Do you want one of the ultra-rare table-top lanterns like the parade lantern shown on page 129? You have arguably the finest one that exists today to bid on! Diecuts? Check. Noisemakers? Check. Lanterns? Check.
On top of all this, as mentioned before - T and D are nice. They are worthy of your bids, anchors of trustworthiness in this time of peril for newer collectors. I have my eye on a few lots. It’ll be fun to see what this collection brings.

09/28 Update: As expected, most of the lots almost surely surpassed the sellers’ expectations. Such enthusiasm! I know our fun hobby has been quickly growing with eager new collectors diving right in. These many lots represented so many market segments with items for everyone. I would have liked to have acquired the skeleton band member diecut, but others were more aggressive in its pursuit. Overall, it was fun watching what the listings brought. I expect a lull now as many of the more casual collectors have spent their budget. Word on the street is that Bertoia will be offering high-quality vintage Halloween consignments from Bob Merck in November. I have personally spoken with many collectors who have mentioned they are saving up for that event. Count me in!

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Vtg Halloween Hallmark Diecut Place card Cat Owl JOL Moon H83 - Unused, Rare!

The apogee of Hallmark’s design aesthetic was reached with the intricately colored items from this set issued in the late 1920s. There is a tally of the image with the cat and owl playing cards that is quite a bit larger than the identical image on this place card. There is an even more intricate invitation from this same set. Prior to my acquiring one recently, I had never seen this place card before. I have come to appreciate Hallmark’s output from this narrow range of years. If you appreciate the best of small paper, this card is one you must acquire.

LARGE vintage Dennison's "Singing Cat & Witch" diecut! Rare & near mint. 1928!

This fantastic diecut is in remarkable condition. In fact, it may be in the best condition I’ve seen. It seems as if Dennison printed this in 1928, a buyer came along then tucked it gently into a drawer never opening it again until it was liberated for this listing. I think the buyer is right - the songbook being held was almost certainly meant to serve another purpose. I can imagine this hung on a wall at a long-ago party with “FOOD” and an arrow contained within the perimeter of the songbook. Awesome! It will be fun to see what this brings.

Vintage Halloween Cardboard Tab & Slot Candy Container Nut Cup Witch Cat Gibson

What a magnificent item! I had never seen this Gibson nut cup design before seeing this listing. I appreciate the detailed rendering of the scene and the colors chosen by the designer. Gibson produced some of the most interesting and avant-garde products. I’ve collected their output (small paper, seals and diecuts) many years. The seller is a long-time, knowledgeable member of the Halloween collecting community. I love doing business with her!

German HALLOWEEN Dual Face JOL LANTERN - 1928- BEISTLE - FANTASTIC - 8" X 8 1/2"

Beistle had a short-lived, but apparently fruitful, relationship with German artisans. The common lantern seen on page 37 and this precursor to their iconic 1930 are two solid examples of this alliance. This lantern was produced in two sizes with this one being the smaller. It comes available less frequently than the larger version. This seems to be in quite nice condition having both the original bottom and the very-often-missing top connector.

Vintage Dennison Halloween Jol- Headed Traffic Officer Diecut Decoration

Here is one of the most elusive and coveted of Dennison diecuts. This Halloween policeman diecut first appeared in their 1930 Price List pamphlet and made an appearance on the cover of the 1931 Hallowe’en Suggestions magazine. Collectors sometimes pair this diecut with the equally elusive and coveted Hallo’ Inn diecut, which you can see on page 142. These were produced on thin yellow paper stock. They almost will always have condition issues, like this one. The seller is awesome - a long-time, knowledgeable collector with a great eye and true artistic talent. (You should see how expert he is when working with honeycomb paper!) Deal with him with confidence.

09/18 Update: This brought a strong $456!

Vintage Halloween germany windowpane owl diecut

The Germans produced four designs of these windowpane embossed diecuts. These are large and really make a statement in a display. This owl diecut seems to be in significantly better condition than what is typically seen. I know the seller, too. He is knowledgeable and honest. Bid high and bid often - but vote just once.

09/18 Update: This fetched $586.77.

Vintage Dennison HalloweenDiecut, Running Skeleton with Toothy Grin, 1929

This is a fantastic and VERY LARGE diecut first produced by Dennison for the 1929 season. Their chief artistic designer at the time had an awesome Deco-ish aesthetic that permeated their products from seals to diecuts. Some argue this is the apotheosis of that aesthetic. This is an exceedingly rare diecut to acquire - especially in complete condition. It seems to be quite faded. The seller is a long-time, very knowledgeable and eminently honest person. She and I used to ferociously compete in the early eBay days! I am eager to see what this fetches!

09/13 Update: This fetched a strong $1,035.

Antique Halloween Moon, Bat, Witch, Cat, Pumpkin Hat

Sadly, this hat seems to have its original honeycomb replaced with what looks like orange waxed paper. Beistle made these “New Moon” hats only from 1933-1937. Four designs comprise the full set. Look at page 239 to see how these hats were originally sold.

09/13: This brought a strong $637.