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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

!!! EXCEEDINGLY RARE !!! 1920s Halloween Cymbals Gotham Stamping & Die N.Y. 5.5"

This exceedingly rare set of cymbals was made by the Gotham Stamping and Die Corporation of New York, NY in the later 1920s. These are big, eye-catching items that display remarkably well. I have seen only around twenty sets surface in 32+ years of collecting. I know the seller. He is an honest and knowledgeable guy, mainly a collector who sells on the side, like me. I like how he started the auction at nearly zero rather than beginning the auction with an opening price that already reflects full market value. The proper strategy for establishing the opening bid price on eBay is a tricky proposition, but too many default to picking any high price out of the ether and crossing their fingers.

HALLOWEEN INVITATIONS/ W BOX

This seems to be a nice collection of unused Whitney invitations, with a box included. Whitney, which permanently shuttered in 1942, didn’t have a methodology for filling their boxes. It seems they would randomly fill each box with 10 invitations. Sometimes the contents were identical, sometimes there were two of each design, sometimes three of each design plus a kicker - you never knew. I’ve seen many such boxes over the years. I will see five of any of the cat designs to one of any of the witch designs, meaning the Whitney witch invitations are much harder to find than any of the cats.

01/28 Update: This sold for $145.50.

Early Vintage Witch & Bat T. Conn Inc. Wooden Ball / Tin Halloween Noisemaker

T. Cohn produced two designs of what I call putty knife clangers during the 1930s. Neither comes up for sale or auction often. (In fact, I can’t recall the last time I saw this one come available.) It looks to be in excellent condition. The tin litho market segment has been cold for many years, but there have been signs of thawing. The more unusual designs and pretty much any item in near-mint or better condition have been bringing solid dollars.

01/24 Update: This sold for $110.50, solid dollars, indeed.

Vintage Halloween Collectibles

It is exciting to see listings of this quality amongst all of the dreck currently littering the Vintage Halloween category on eBay. (This seller has three of the four designs comprising a full set up for auction right now, each listed separately.) Turn to page 118 to see all four designs of these faux stained glass diecuts. They were produced in the 1920s by an unknown manufacturer. Each is rare enough that I’ve seen only two of the four designs offered in 32+ years of collecting. Other than when I bought the complete set in the collection, this is the first time I’ve seen this cat design being offered. The witch is the other design seen only the one other time. Sadly, that is the one design not being offered. I consulted with this fine seller some months ago about the proper time and way to list these treasures. The trio she has up seemingly have retained their strong colors, except the referenced fading of the black, clearly seen in the photos. Collectors who treasure paper should want all of these. Of the three being offered, this cat is the strongest design, followed by the kid holding a JOL and the house set in a valley. It will be great fun to see what these wonderful items fetch!

01/21 Update: The three designs brought strong prices, although the best design brought the least. I find that interesting. The cat brought $811, the boy holding the JOL brought $905 and the house brought $995.

Vintage Halloween Owl on Branch Germany Embossed Cardboard 1940s - 1960s RARE

This great perched owl diecut was produced in Germany during the 1920s. The preponderance of German diecuts were produced during the 1920s. The most popular designs like the walking witch, many of the black cats - dressed and not - and the perched owls were produced for many seasons spanning most of the 1920s and into the early 1930s. There is a subset of German diecuts made for export to Canada in 1935 that tend to be the most coveted, rare and the most expensive. Then there was a handful of German diecut designs made from 1946 through 1949. These tend to bear stamps indicating “Made in USSR Zone” and the like. Once 1950 dawned and thereafter there were few, if any, heavily embossed German diecuts produced in Germany.

Vintage Tin Halloween Noisemaker Bugle Made USA VG condition black cat and witch

Bugle Toy’s tin litho Halloween noisemakers always have zest to them. The designs are less staid and more in-your-face than those from their much larger competitors, like Kirchhof, US Metal Toy and T. Cohn. I have long coveted their designs. This seems to be in better-than-average condition for a Bugle tin item. As I slowly type this out, the bidding is only up to $33. Smart money says it has much further to run. We’ll see.

12/31 Update: This brought $86.

Vintage Mechanical Halloween Witch & Pumpkin Q&A Die-Cut Card

Gibson produced a line of these witch fortune place cards during the mid-1920s. There are two designs. One shows a witch standing holding a pumpkin, like this one, while the other design shows a witch stirring a cauldron. The latter is more involved and harder to find. The buyer got a bargain on this, as they typically change hands in the $65-85 range.

Vintage 1950s Merri Lei Cardboard 10.5” Witch Halloween Die Cut Wall Hanger

I was surprised to see that this sold for what it did. This non-embossed diecut produced by Merri-Lei is common. It is part of a packaged set that typically includes a black cat, a JOL and a skull. None have the design aesthetic that elicits a “wow!” (That is a polite way of saying they are uninteresting.) This particular example has water-staining and some speckling, yet it brought nearly $50. They generally trade in the $18-25 range, so the buyer paid a premium.

*1930s Halloween Party Invitation Card Tri Fold witch black cat jack-o-lantern 1

This is a tough invitation to find. Whitney produced it during the late 1920s. The seller has two of them up for a BIN of $60 each. Even though the interior is full of writing, for those for whom this isn’t a bother the price is a solid bargain, as these typically trade for $125 and up.

12/15 Update: Both were snapped up within a short time after publication of my post.

Vintage Halloween Party Favors Table decorations Tie-on Decor NOS Unopened

One of the fun challenges of curating Halloween items is to discover a specific name attached to the myriad regional producers of Halloween goods. We all know the big names, but for every big name there would be several lesser known producers, few very adept at publicizing themselves. In listings like this one another piece of the extensive mosaic falls into place. I had seen references to The K Line before (…and I’m not talking about the long-time Detroit Tigers phenom…), but never more than that. Whenever I see listings of items in original packaging I hope that there will be something worth learning. This listing delivered. The K Line was produced by the Kuepper Favor Company of Peru, Indiana. This old dog learned something new today.