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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Scarce 1920s Halloween Black face Jack O Lantern JOL Made in Germany embossed

It is nice to see a rare item of quality on eBay. Sadly, that forum has largely been a shit-show since they inexplicably compressed the holiday categories about one year ago. This smaller version of this JOL design is one that just doesn’t surface much. Made in Germany during the early 1930s, it will win hands-down in a staring contest. (I now feel this design and related ones were made during the early 1930s. The book’s errata has been updated to reflect this new view.)

Vintage Luhrs (Beistle) Halloween Paper/Honeycomb Party Hat Witch/Moon 1940s

Beistle produced this design, as well as the additional three designs comprising a complete set, from 1946-1954. The prices for these designs have been largely moribund for years, but lately this has changed. I sold two designs in my recent auction that fetched well above the average selling prices established over the last few years. You can see all four designs on page 243.

VERY RARE 1930s Vintage Halloween BEISTLE Sunflower TALLY CARD Honeycomb Tutu

This Beistle tutu tally was produced during the 1930-1931 interval. There were two designs sold as a set. The odd thing is that when one of the two is offered for sale, which doesn’t happen often, it is invariably this sunflower design, not the other design. (You can see the other design on page 223.) Weird, huh? This example being offered for auction is pretty darn nice. The seller is too!

03/24 Update: This sold for $311.

RARE 1920s Vintage Halloween DENNISON? GIBSON? Diecut "Faux Stained Glass"

I think the set of four, of which this is one, is unusual, calming and extremely hard to find in collectible condition. Even with the flaws the seller so carefully called out, this fetched a pretty penny! I feel the flaws were overshadowed by the still-bright colors. I had read another listing for an item from this set that claimed the set was produced by Dennison. Although that is surely possible, I can find no evidence that this set was produced by Dennison. Stylistically, it doesn’t seem to fit, either.

Vintage Jack O Lantern Halloween Hanging Decorations Die Cut~ 7 5/8"

Beistle issued this JOL and corn shock design as part of an enveloped set of six designs during the early 1920s. (You can see this set at the bottom of page 218.) None of the designs come to market that often. This offering is hobbled by its poor condition and the very poor photos provided by the seller. Given how good cameras are these days, why would any seller post such photos?

VINTAGE 1930's HALLOWEEN Noisemaker SCREECH OWL SIREN HORN With Metal Top

This horn has long been one of my favorites due to its strong graphics. It doesn’t come available much especially in this stellar condition. (The seller is stellar, too!) This was produced by an unknown firm during the 1930s. I’ve often wondered whether Marks Brothers of Boston was the producer, but they were so diligent about marking their output that the lack of any such mark accounts for my uncertainty. The Germans produced a tin horn around the same time that they called a Screech-Owl horn (notice the subtle distinction), but their graphics are nowhere near as memorable as this US design. (You can see the German horn on page 193.) I hope this brings strong dollars.

02/24 Update: This great horn fetched $270.51.

RARE 1970 Vintage UNOPENED 2 Jointed Skeleton Cats BEISTLE Halloween Decorations

I haven’t seen this skeleton cat packaging for some time, so the seller is correct. (I enjoyed reading the thorough description accompanying the listing.) Beistle was manufacturing great quantities of their designs by 1970, so this jointed diecut would still have an RSIN of 4. However, a still-sealed package is no more than a 3 on the same scale. Beistle issued two designs of the skeleton cats or skelecats. The predominantly green and white design is also quite good.

***RARE*** Vintage Halloween Witch With Fire & Broom Celluloid Viscoloid

One of my wishes relative to eBay is that they would choose to become more transparent about what items fetch when a “Best Offer” is involved. This listing shows a celluloid piece in less than pristine condition with what I thought was an offer price that would never be attained. Although the asking price of $2999.99 wasn’t gotten, what was the actual price at which the witch changed hands?

1950s Halloween FANNY FARMER Flying CHOCOLATE WITCH Candy Box Vintage Container

This is being offered in an auction setting with a minimum opening bid of $225. Really? This is a great example of sellers offering items with an inflated, wide-eyed view of what items will bring. I can see this pleasing example of Halloween ephemera selling for $75-95. Remember, this is the box only. The seller has listed the witch container in a separate listing with an opening price of $105.

SCARCE Vintage Halloween Porcelain Jack o' Lantern Tea Set Cup Germany 1914-32!!

This wonderful seller is right - collectors who have discovered the visual allure of the Halloween tea set line produced in Germany from 1908 through 1932 buy and hold. Pieces, especially the cups without handles, once surfaced with some regularity, but like someone without enough roughage, that regularity is now missing! When you see these, especially solid examples offered by trust-worthy sellers, both of which we have here, snap them up.

Awesome US ZONE GERMANY Halloween Composition JOL Pumpkin Head Clown

This listing yields at least two interesting things. I guess some Veggie figurals were produced post-WWII. Looking at the figural’s paint and the circular paper bottom there is nothing to differentiate it from others produced up to 2+ decades before. The other is the labels themselves. Look at how small and impermanent they are. If they were to be removed - and it would be so easy to remove them - there would be nothing to guide you from concluding it was produced as early as the 1920s. It doesn’t appear as if there is a stamped ink mark on the bottom. Interesting…

Vintage Halloween tin TAMBOURINE NOISEMAKER bat cat moon metal fabric paper skin

OK, this is a mash-up. This tin tambourine design was only produced with a decorated rim and plain taut paper front. The bit of crepe paper showing a broomed witch was added by some industrious person post-purchase no doubt wanting to make what is a plain front more visually interesting.

02/10 Update: This sold for $61.88, higher than I would have thought for an object that’s purely decorative.