The overall market for tin litho has been the slowest to strengthen these last ten years, although with the famous Bernanke “green shoots” sprouting here and there, hope springs eternal that this market segment will finally get some momentum. One of the green shoots has been the two “putty knife” designs T. Cohn produced during the 1930s. (You can see the other on page 201.) When either of the designs come to market, they routinely bring strong results. With nearly five days left on this listing, the price is already at $217. What will be the ending price?
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Antique Vintage Germany Halloween Diecut Decoration Owl, 1920s, Deeply Embossed
The Germans produced a solid variety of owl diecuts in this large size during the 1920s. Few are in such nice condition as this one. Yes, an area of the hand-painted beak highlights has disappeared, but that’s minor given how battered most of these sized diecuts are after 100 years of existence. The seller is a nice person, too!
NEAR MINT Antique Vintage Dennison Bogie Book Halloween Thanksgiving Décor, 1925
Dennison produced many annual issues of their Bogie Books. The first one, from 1909, is represented by only one known copy. Those produced from 1912-1917 are devilishly difficult to find. Those produced from 1919-1926 are more common. What differentiates this 1925 edition is condition. Dennison smartly published and distributed these Bogie Books to end-users, not to retailers. The typical person interested in decorating for the season would page through these staple-bound references with nary a thought for keeping it in nice condition. (Most people didn’t think about future value at this time.) So, to find an issue in near-mint or better condition, regardless of the year of issue, is unusual. Given that, and this seller’s reputation and reach, I expect this to do quite well.
Vintage Halloween Dennison Place Card Witch And Cauldron RARE - Near Mint
The ending price for this doesn’t make sense until you look at the bidding history. This Dennison place card, first available in 1922 with a stock number of H-15, surfaces regularly and typically trades far below the value established in this listing. There were two bidders driving the action. The prevailing bidder probably thought the price would never creep as high as it did, but a determined underbidder with little feedback, and presumably little knowledge of the RSIN of this item, placed five bids, driving the price up, surely to the seller’s delight. eBay is a forum where such upside surprises can tickle and delight, but these upside surprises are seldom sustainable.
Vintage Halloween Dennison Place Card Haunted House - MINT
This place card wasn’t produced by Dennison. It was probably produced by a regional manufacturer with a limited marketing reach. Dennison was quite disciplined about marking virtually all of their small paper output.
Vintage Halloween 1920s German Tiara Diadem Diecut Jack O' Lantern Clown RARE
The Germans produced a set of twelve different diadem or tiara designs during the 1920s. The prices for these tiaras blipped up in 2020-21 mainly due to one collector who was determined to complete her set regardless of cost. Prices for virtually all designs went to a consistent range of $1700-2100 during this brief interval. Then, the one buyer driving the market was sated. Collectors rushed their tiaras to market hoping to capitalize on the mania, but once that single-buyer bubble burst, prices very quickly drifted down to what I consider to be a sustainable level, exemplified by the ending price of this listing.
vintage halloween place cards,nut cup, tally miscelleous
Some savvy buyer got a bargain scooping up this lot for a veritable song. (I wish I had seen this lot while it was still active.) The stars of the lot are the Beistle candy tray envelope, the one Beistle candy tray, the cauldron and flames card, the Dennison “Night Scene” place card and the Hallmark place card with a blue-hatted witch. I feel just the envelope alone justifies the price of the entire lot. Congrats to the prevailing bidder!
RARE Antique Vintage Halloween Diecut & Crepe Paper JOL Table Decoration Germany
This micro-segment of the overall market, German crepe and cardboard table top decorations, has really come into its own these last five years. Before that, you could barely give these kinds of things away. The Germans cleverly designed thin lithoed paper appendages and glued them onto a simple orange or black crepe sleeve. Once slapped together, they were sold for pennies. The few I’ve kept around for any length of time stood due to the sleeve bottom being filled with tissue paper or bubble wrap.
Vintage Halloween Dennison Lid & Instructions Centerpiece JOL Witches Fence
I’m surprised that someone would shell out $45 for this tattered remnant of a Dennison Halloween set from 1933.
VINTAGE HALLOWEEN GERMAN DIE-CUT 8 " TALL BLACK CAT PLAYING TROMBONE
The tip of one ear is definitely missing on this glazed, rather than matte, German diecut. As with almost all of the glazed diecuts from this period of the 1920s, the colors appear strong.
Vintage Halloween Decoration Cat Jointed Pull my tail Beistle RARE
What a delightful and grin-inducing item from the good people at Gibson! This is an item I had only ever seen in a Gibson catalog, so the opportunity to acquire one in superb condition was irresistible. Sadly for me, I was an underbidder.
RARE find. 1920s Vintage Halloween Gibson Store Window Advertising Display
It is exciting to see an item I’ve never seen before, especially on the markedly degraded eBay site. Gibson employed some clever designers to produce such a colorful and stunning store or window display as this. Gibson really tried to keep pace with their contemporary competitors, Beistle and Dennison. This would certainly be an example where they outshone these rivals. This is an instance where I was undecided on bidding as the condition was rough enough that I was uncomfortable bidding much even though I’m certain I won’t see another. I struggle sometimes with this balancing act. I felt it would bring more than what it actually brought, so perhaps I should have tossed a bid into the mix. I felt the lucky buyer got a solid deal on a stellar item that certainly enhanced the sloppy one-size-fits-all category that eBay shoehorns items into these days. Bravo!
Vintage Devil Halloween Party Invitation
This is actually a diecut. Dennison produced this only for the 1926 and 1927 seasons. They assigned it a stock number of H444 and weirdly classified it as a “large cardboard cut-out,” while also reporting its height as 5”. This design is exceedingly rare and typically trades in the $250-300 range. Sadly, the condition of this example is so bad it will surely struggle to reach 10-15% of that level.
Vtg Buzza Halloween Die Cut Witch Invitation Card Party
What a great invitation! I’ve gained a new appreciation for Buzza products after purchasing a large small-paper collection. I like how the hand would have been punched open to hold the “fence” open. Where did these companies find such talented designers?
ANTIQUE HALLOWEEN GERMAN DIECUT BLACK CAT VINTAGE
The Germans made three designs of this cat face diecut. This one looks down, one looks to its left and one looks right at the viewer. There are other differences as well, namely teeth shape and hat design. This design is the hardest one to find. Contrary to the seller’s description, this is actually in pretty decent shape!
