This candy box, produced during the middle-late 1940s by G.M. Company, is in rough condition. Not only are tabs missing, as pointed out by the seller, but it is quite faded. The greens and blues have faded away to yellow.
12/13 Update: This brought $67, a good deal for the seller.
Someone paid dearly for what is essentially a remnant. The front looks good, but when the sold item is flipped over the back is flat because the “Toy Packs” box that should be attached is missing. (The second photo showing the back is one I took of the same item in the collection. It appears on page 56.) The candy box was produced during the 1950s by Candy Crafters Inc. of Lansdowne, PA. The price paid, coupled with the indefensible shipping charge of $15.79, makes its acquisition far from a bargain. The buyer should return it.
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all your kind inquiries wondering why I haven’t posted anything for a month. I wasn’t hit by a truck, nor did I fall down a crevasse. COVID hasn’t (yet…) wrapped its scaly fingers around my lungs. I simply like to take a month away from the tyranny of the blog during a year.
However, it is now December 1st and I am eager to post. The problem is that eBay has truly been an unending cavalcade of crap for weeks. (I chose a great month to step away.) There have been few exciting lots on that forum. There was one, though. Did you see the Beistle witch table-top decoration with an exceedingly rare multi-colored skirt (see page 224 for the one in the collection with an orange skirt…) that zoomed to $1,725 in the last few moments? Both the prevailing bidder and the underbidder are collectors with discerning eyes. Although I knew the color combination existed in theory, I had never seen one surface before. Bravo to the acquirer!
Bertoia held a spectacular auction featuring many Halloween items from Bob Merck’s collection in early November. I watched the bidding, made some half-hearted bidding attempts, and marveled that collectors would actually dish out $15,000 for a German scary tree candy container or near that amount for a lettuce leaf lantern. Those figures don’t even include the steep buyer’s premium or shipping costs. Buyer’s premiums are a real brake on my acquisition urges. Seeing these prices make me even more grateful I started collecting so long ago.
I’ve been busy preparing for my next auction. I’ve already photographed 50 lots. I am pleased with the strong line-up for next year’s auction, open only to those who have purchased a copy of my third edition from me. By the way, be sure to acquire your copy of my third edition before the price hike. The price per copy will rise from $65 to $77 shortly.
Let’s hope some worthwhile lots surface on eBay soon.
Hello Readers,
This sure has been a memorable year with Covid warping the “normal” process of acquiring vintage Halloween goods. Shows and flea markets were largely cancelled, and many antiques malls and smaller shops were closed for months, but collectors marooned at home itched to acquire something - anything. Consequently, it seems that dollars that would have been spent on air fare, lodging and other travel-related expenditures were shunted to on-line auctions. We saw unsustainably high prices paid for most everything much to the delight of many sellers. These high prices flushed out many great items from collections. I suspect we’ll see a small avalanche of candy containers, figurals and lanterns brought to market as the first generation of collectors either sell before the Grim Reaper visits or as a result of such a visit. For the medium-term I suspect that such market segments will soften, as the market can only absorb so much at any time. So, keep this in mind as such collections present themselves.
I’ve been saying for some time that the paper market segments are the ones that will deliver scorching returns if you are into that sort of collecting calculation. (Although that shouldn’t be THE primary consideration, it should be a consideration.) The first generation of collectors largely shunned these segments so there is a true shortage of paper items in collectible condition. (What I specifically mean are tallies, invitations, place cards, Dennison and Gibson boxed sets prior to 1932, anything Beistle produced prior to 1932, 1912-1917 Bogie Books, and Dennison and Gibson diecuts. I might have missed a few things but you should get the general idea.) In my view, it is these segments that will remain white hot for years as there simply is so little of it out there.
Interestingly, post cards don’t make my list as there are simply too many of them floating around. Ones from Tuck or ones featuring art by Clapsaddle, Winsch and the like have been frosty lately. The ones bringing solid dollars are from the lesser printers like Rose. That said, Halloween postcards in near-mint or better condition are worth a look as there are few meeting that condition threshold.
It’ll be fun and instructive to see what this next season brings.
Thanks for being such faithful readers. My site analytics have never seen the kind of traffic that has been recorded these last 6-9 months. My 2020 book sales have significantly outpaced the sales from 2018 and 2019, even with a stiff price hike. For those wanting copies either for the first time or to replace copies worn out from use, now is the time to order. The overall number of copies I have available is low and I will not be reprinting. Nor will I invest the time to produce another edition. Another stiff price hike is coming soon, so again, now is the time to order a copy.
Happy Halloween!
MBL
I believe that all of these great small diecuts were produced by Hallmark sometime during the late 1920s through the early 1930s. The buyer got a solid deal here.
All of these place cards were produced by Hallmark, almost certainly during the 1930s.
Although this looks festive and fun, someone painted this after market, meaning it wasn’t produced this way. Given the paint “damage,” I wouldn’t expect this to fetch much.
10/27 Update: Inexplicably, this sold for $277.
Here’s another aberrant result for small paper, all too common this crazy season. If it wasn’t for two apparently wealthy bidders this would have ended around where it should have - $100. It is a box of Gibson seals with only ~half of its contents!
Beistle issued a set of two Tutu Tallies in 1930-1931, sold as a set. For some reason, this one comes up for sale/auction far less frequently than the other. (You can see the other on page 223.) I haven’t seen this one for several years, so am not surprised by the ending price.
This great seller often has wonderful items up for auction. This very hard-to-find diecut of a grimly determined broomed witch is one of a set of three large witch diecuts Beistle issued in the late 1950s. In my view, the set represents the last gasp of Beistle’s creativity for many years. These diecuts are often found in poor condition given their size and the thin paper stock Beistle used.
The vintage Halloween market is certainly not a static one. Market segments fall in and out of favor. Candles used to be as cold as the Arctic, now they are warm. Small paper used to be an affordable niche. There is little affordable about that segment now. These Japanese porcelain items used to be so cold you could more profitably use them for skeet practice. Now look at what even examples in less-than-perfect condition bring. Collect what you love and hope those segments increase in value, but don’t count on it.
Here’s something that doesn’t pop up often. This highly stylized combination nut cup and place card was issued by Dennison in 1929. There were four designs to the complete set - and the four designs were only sold as a set. The stock number was H466. As I write on page 260, “The fantastical imagery of these items is consistent with Dennison’s design focus during the narrow window of 1929-1931.”
Here’s yet another example of a seller putting something up for sale they know little about. This rare Dennison invitation first appeared in their 1922 Bogie Book. It has been years since the last one of these was offered. Given today’s nonsensical prices for many examples of small paper, this seller left a lot of money on the table. This was grabbed up in an instant for a laughable $6 with free shipping. If this seller had been smart and let it run as an auction it would have fetched perhaps 40 times that amount and maybe more. (Shaking my head as I type…)
This desirable horn was produced during the 1930s. As I write on page 208, “The carboard bodies of this genre of horn were almost always re-purposed textile factory spindles. Their labels are often found affixed to the interiors.”
Here is another example of an impatient, under-informed seller who left gobs of money on the proverbial table. This listing lasted all of 8 minutes before some lucky soul snapped it up for a laughable $30 plus postage. The crow diecut alone should bring $250-400.
