What a wonderful item! As this top-notch seller points out, this enormous candle was almost certainly a store display. (How I wish I could turn the clock back and browse the old “five and dime” stores’ Halloween displays!) I have never seen this before, nor have I seen any other candle store displays. It will be fun to see what this fetches.
05/05 Update: This magnificent piece is headed to Georgia for $338.33. The buyer has a great eye. I’m sure it will be a real eye-catcher in his collection!
Skeleton diecuts can be so boring, but this design has always made me smile. The figure may be waving while saying, “Welcome to your new home!” The seller states this may have been produced by Beistle. It wasn’t. This was produced in Germany for export along with a large number of other diecut designs, primarily pumped out from ~1920 through 1935. The waving skeleton was once seen more often - a statement that could be made for almost any vintage Halloween item. Prices are all over the board lately, so who knows what this will fetch.
It is nice to see a great item like this pop up on what has become a severely denuded forum for quality vintage Halloween material. Beistle produced this fan during the early 1920s with both black and orange honeycomb centers. (The orange center seems to be slightly harder to find.) It has been quite some time since I’ve seen one for sale, so if you are Beistle collector - and few Halloween collectors with taste aren’t - this may be your chance to acquire this exceedingly rare item. If this ends for anything less than $450, the buyer will have gotten a true bargain. Good luck!
04/26 Update: Whomever the buyer was got a solid deal in that the selling price was a mere $281.87. I am surprised by this result.
Beistle made three sizes of their iconic cauldrons from 1928-1932. This appears to be the middle size, measuring ~7.5” across. Although there is wear on this item, it is noticeably absent from the arch, which alone is compelling. The seller’s unusual spelling and Hemingway-esque description may limit “watchers,” so a bargain may be in the offing. (My mention of it may obviate these seller-imposed disadvantages.)
The full set of these German windowpane diecuts comprises four designs. The owl typically lags the other designs in terms of value, all else being equal. I feel this reality is driven by the static and uninspired imagery, especially compared with the other three designs, which can all be seen on page 170. These large diecuts typically have significant edge wear and cracking of the surface paper. The wonderful seller seems to place too much emphasis on WorthPoint. This design has come available quite a number of times over the last few years on eBay alone. I’ve even offered two in my annual auctions since 2015. The ending price for this listing is in rough parity with what these have been fetching.
This is an elusive tambourine with at least two variants. The version in the collection has a decorated rim that gives the piece a desirable finished look. This listed version that changed hands for $225 has an undecorated rim. It’s unknown whether the differing versions were made at the same time or even by the same manufacturer. I’d love to know, though!
I watched this listing with great interest. For a long time I referred to these kinds of items as skittles based on information given to me long, long ago by Paul Schofield and Mary Lou Holt. That information was incorrect. These kinds of items were really table pieces that could act as a place card holder. (Many of the wood bottoms had grooves to hold a place card. Others didn’t, so I suppose a place card could have just leaned against it.) There were apparently two sets made. An example of the more common set is shown in this listing’s final photo. Others can be seen on page 26. The larger item, which sold for $405, is part of a set that truly is not often seen. Another from this set can be seen on page 26. I’ve long coveted examples from this latter set, but don’t own a single one. The date on this, if correct, confirms my hunch that this rarer set was made after the more common set. I suspect the rarer set was produced for a single season. I know I have a photo of many of the items from the rarer set somewhere. If I find it, I’ll post it here.
This devil Lightning Wumpus seems to be in very nice condition, indeed. Typically, these are pretty well thrashed given their size, fragility and many pointed edges. I haven’t seen one in this stellar condition in some time. The partially extant glassine envelope (The seller incorrectly describes it as plastic.) is seldom seen and should act as a minor accelerant to the ending price. Beistle produced this design, as well as three others, during the interval of 1929-1931. (You can see the others on page 146.)
04/12/Update: This sold for a strong $1,009.
This is a candy box that I’ve not seen before. (This wonderful seller, who has been offering some great paper items, is one that I recommend.) It is sizable and surely would make a statement in any display. A new collector who I’ve come to respect has relayed to me that he feels it was made by Ann-Dee Specialties of Bayside, NY. (Look on page 56 for a JOL candy box produced by them.) Although that may very well be the case, I feel it more probable that it was produced by Merri-Lei, a firm known for their many creations using the striated glossy paper stock found with this listing. Whichever firm produced it doesn’t change the fact that this is something rare.
04/12 Update: This sold for an astonishing $454!
This Gibson fortune game is mammoth relative to virtually all other games. (Gibson had a penchant for size. Their Whoo’s Whoo? and Remember I’ve 9 Lives drawing games, which you can see on page 22, are huge, too.) I appreciate the fun-factor of this game as well as Gibson’s cleverness in finding ways to re-use previously made artwork. (I feel the Wise Up! diecut shown on page 168 was an adaptation of the fortune game.) As I wrote in very early 2016, I’ve seen this game precious few times. I was lucky to acquire a complete example in near-perfect condition in February 2016. Any others I have seen were in problematic condition. The condition of this example is the best I’ve seen save for the one now in the collection. Although this one is far from perfect as detailed by the great seller, it may be the best that someone could acquire for years. A significant drawback is the fact that this is framed. I recommended that the framing be dispensed with but the consignor resisted that suggestion. If I were a prospective buyer, I would want to examine the reverse and be assured that it could be removed from the framing without further damage. The seller sagely helped lessen the framing issue by offering free shipping, a not inconsiderable concession. It will be fun and interesting to see what this fetches!
04/07 Update: I was surprised this sold for a relative song - $469. The buyer, a long-time, discerning collector, got a rare bargain in these times of typically over-heated results. I feel the fact it was framed really crimped the bidding.
Bugle Toy of Providence, Rhode Island produced some of the quirkiest and most memorable tin litho noisemaker designs, far eclipsing their contemporaries in pushing that mythical envelope. If I could only have one of their designs, I’d surely choose this one. This was produced during the 1930s.
04/07 Update: This great item sold for $185.
This candlestick candy container is a derivative of the one produced by the Germans from ~1916-1921. Although the dimensions seem to be nearly identical, the grace notes between the two are obvious. The German version has a more richly decorated and colored base. The German version’s handle is larger and more appropriately sized than the item produced in Japan. The surely after-market addition of the forgettable cat is unfortunate. If this was produced in Germany I would expect it to fetch no less than $2500. The item up for auction should fetch one-third of that figure in a normal market, which the one we are experiencing right now is most definitely not.
04/07 Update: This sold for a mere $312, far less than I would have thought.
OK, this result blew my mind. (Another from this set of at least six, with broomed witches, sold a day earlier for a hair over $1,700.) These are very cool and rare items, but c’mon. If any one buyer wishes to own four of the six satchels, shown on page 137 from my personal collection, they can be yours for $7,000.
A long-time collector kindly shared a previously unknown design from his private collection, folded to be used as a hat rather than a satchel - expanding the known designs from four to five. You’ll find this below.
Another collector kindly shared a previously unknown design from her private collection, folded to be used as a hat rather than a satchel - expanding the known designs from five to six. You’ll find this below.
There have been a number of results that have caused me to raise my eyebrows in disbelief, this being one of them. The three Beistle diecuts that comprise a full set are arguably the result of a last creative gasp from an organization that had been running on fumes for too long by the time these were released during the late 1950s. The trio is stunning! The condition of this example is so problematic that I question why it would have brought nearly $430.
This is simply a non-descript metal holder that someone slapped a forgettable Halloween seal on at some point. It’s true connection to Halloween is tenuous. Sadly, the seller keeps listing and relisting it.
