RARE VINTAGE HALLOWEEN EMBOSSED JOL WITH HANDS AND FEET 12" GERMANY TABLE DECOR

Great stuff is slowly showing up on eBay. Given that this has over 4 days to go, collectors haven’t had trouble finding this listing as the bidding has already reached $2,325. I’ve only seen this diecut twice before seeing this listing, and haven’t had a chance to add it to the collection yet. This example is in the best condition of the three total. These exceedingly rare German diecuts were all produced around 1935 and sent to Canada exclusively.

08/22 Update: This sold for $6699.99, a price level well above what I would have thought reasonable. I received an email from another long-time collector who made a point that resonated with me. She said that prices being what they are today…”I would not ever be able to accumulate very much. And would have a hard time having real love for all those things that cost so much, now. When they cost a pittance, there was such a warmth for them.”

Beistle Fairy Honeycomb band hat, Vintage Halloween Party Hat 1923 6"H x 11.5"W

These band hats surface so rarely that I sat up and took notice when I saw this listing. Beistle produced a small set of fairy hat designs during their fairy mania phase in 1923. Each is playful and whimsical while also subtly including hints of menace. It will be fun to see what this fetches. It has been years since one of this quality has become available.

08/24 Update: This sold for the wild price of $875.

Vintage Halloween Beistle Die Cut 1920’s Witch Over Moon

Beistle sold this non-embossed diecut, a smaller otherwise identical diecut and both small and large non-embossed diecuts of an electrified cat in large envelopes during the early 1920s. Characteristic of so much of Beistle’s early output, the envelope is nearly as good as the contents. It is this kind of rigorous attention to detail that causes so many of us to avidly collect anything Beistle produced prior to 1935.
Given the condition of this diecut, so fully described by the seller, I wouldn’t have expected the price to have exceeded $90-100.

Halloween Vintage Dennison Die Cut Gummed Seals,Cats, Leaves, Acorns, JOLs1920s

I find it amazing that this miscellaneous lot of Dennison seals has already been bid up to $159.80 with about 6 hours to go. The stars of the lot by far are the acorns and leaves.

Vintage Paper Mache Pumpkin Jack O Lantern LARGE 11" Candy Container w Lid rare

It isn’t every day that this rare and desirable pulp item surfaces. I’ve seen these described as cookie jars, too. The closed features, size and extant lid make this a real show piece. I remember some very optimistic seller tried to unsuccessfully sell another example some years back for $10,000. This isn’t in that price league, for sure, although this listing could reach close to $1,000. The market on eBay is strange these days since eBay unilaterally and imprudently changed the way they categorized holiday items. Who really knows what this will bring? I know a broad swath of collectors that have migrated away from eBay. I don’t feel there are as many eyes on these prizes as there were at the beginning of the year.

Vintage Halloween Place Card, JOL Grins Evilly at Two Black Kittens

This fine seller is normally very specific in her listings, so I’m surprised she neglects to mention this place card was produced by Dennison. It first appeared in 1926 and was sold singly with stock number H462. What does “sold singly” mean? Dennison packaged a high percentage of their wares into envelopes or slide boxes. However, a few designs were sold in stationary stores one-by-one. This is one of these designs.

vintage halloween JOL candy container in original packaging

The mark on the bottom of this German JOL indicates it was produced during or after 1949. I’d say it was produced during the interval of 1955-1959.

08/10 Update: This sold for $395, quite a lot for something made post-war.

Vintage HALLOWEEN Eureka Bat Ghost Cat Cardboard Die Cut USA Jack O Lantern 16"

I’ve been tracking selling prices for the variety of diecuts produced in the later 1950s and into the early 1960s by Eureka for about two years now. I feel it is an emerging market segment unto itself. There was a time not long ago when you could hardly give them away. Several years ago I offered ~8 Eureka designs in one of my annual auctions. Each brought a then-record price. I feel there is great likelihood of continued increasing valuations associated with this market segment, so if you like Eureka’s gentle and sentimental take on Halloween, begin buying these diecuts right now.

vintage halloween decorations pre1960

This seller has several interesting assorted lots up for auction. The star of this lot is the gourd-shaped Beistle diecut, which seems to be intact and in collectible condition. Bear in mind that there are material issues with several items: the three-sided Gibson JOL shade is missing its black top-piece that serves to hold the lantern together, the Beistle walking witch diecut has no legs and the bottom ends of the large Beistle diecut of a cat with a smiling moon behind have been trimmed. I’d advise bidding accordingly.

07/29 Update: This sold for much more than I would have expected - $710!

Vintage Halloween CARDBOARD CAT DRIVING JOL CAR CANDY HOLDER - 1940'S - USA!

The G.M. Company produced a number of slot and tab candy boxes during the 1940s and 1950s. Their most popular and easily found designs were a set of six first produced during the mid-to-late 1940s. This whimsical cat driving a skeptical JOL is one of this set of six. (You can see the others on page 54.) These are not typically found in this superb condition. Even the colors are bright! If you care about doing business with knowledgeable and upstanding sellers, you can’t go wrong with klectibles!

08/02 Update: This brought an astounding $225.35.

New Additions to the Acquisitions Page

Be sure to check out the items I just added to the Acquisitions page. If you haven’t explored that page yet, it now shows a great representation of items I’ve purchased from 2014 through October 2018. As I have time, I’ll continue adding a sampling of items purchased from October 2018 up to the present.

Vintage Halloween Plastic Blow Mold Lighted Pumpkin Jack O Lantern Witch Hat

Unfortunately, the site that will typically reveal what the Best Offer selling price was for an item just shows that this sold for $65, although the price was lower than that. Let’s assume that it was $50, a much higher price than I would have expected. Virtually all blow molds are super common and seldom bring meaningful dollars. (There are exceptions, of course. The tall orange or green haunted houses, the slanted orange haunted house and the standing witches with arms outstretched holding some object are some examples.) This design is common, so even $50 would have been a surprise, especially given that it has significant fading and has scuffing and no light. Is this result an outlier or an indication that there has been strengthening in this market segment?

Antique Vintage Halloween Pumpkin Creamer GERMANY

Whenever an unmarked basic tea set item is offered for sale, collectors should assess whether it is of German or Japanese manufacture. The latter were derivative of the former, tend to be more goofy looking, have less finished detailing and have a clunky feel to them. Many are overly knobby. Japanese tea set pieces bring ~50% or less of those tea set items made in Germany. (Refer to page 119 for more information.) This creamer is certainly a German-made item. This market segment has been hotter than many, so I’d expect the ending price to be significantly higher than the $61 level currently bid.

07/27 Update: This sold for $270.01.

Vintage Halloween Diecut Full Moon Witch on Broom USA 12" tall cardboad

After wading through several screens of eBay garbage, I was stopped short by this great design. Although this example seems to be in poor condition, I haven’t seen this Beistle creation offered for sale for a long while. It was issued in the very early 1960s. Later in that decade, Beistle reissued a double-sided version. I would change its RSIN from “3” to “2.” Given its condition, a bid at the opening price of $35 surprised me some.

07/27 Update: This sold for $51.

I've Been Away

Hello Faithful Readers,
I’ve been away in the wilds of Montana doing little and having a great time doing little! I haven’t been too motivated to post given the amount of garbage listings that one must wade through now, but I will try to post more often. I’ll be adding items to the Acquisitions section of the site over the next few weeks. It is a good resource to see what seldom-seen items I’ve added to the collection since the 3rd (and final) edition was published. The For Sale page is well on its way to being depleted. I have a great line-up building for next year’s auction, but not too much yet to significantly add to my For Sale page. (That can change at any time as I am given opportunities to acquire collections.) Relative to next year’s auction, my plan is to have one in March, as that time frame works better for me. Stay tuned for more details as that time draws nearer.