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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Antique Vintage Halloween Waving Skeleton Standup Diecut Decoration Mystery Item

As this seller now knows, the mystery of this item was simply solved. It is one component of a set made by the Pan Candy Company of Chicago for one year only - 1926. The set was given to confectionery retailers if they purchased Pan’s case assortment for that year. Although pieces from this set surface once in a great while, a complete set is a true rarity. I was blessed to acquire what I feel is the sole complete set in existence in September 2020. It was offered on eBay in a confusing listing that failed to attract interest, allowing me to acquire the set for $911, including shipping. It is now valued at many multiples of the purchase price. Not shown from the set in the second photo below is a broomed witch diecut, the pictorial packing sheet and mailing envelope. (I have them all.) This was one of my best acquisitions in many years.

04/11 Update: This sold for $152.50.

Vintage Halloween Skull Candle by Penn, 1950's, in original box

One of the few remaining affordable niches of the vintage Halloween market is candles. Most were produced by the wax kings, Gurley, but some of the smaller manufacturers, like Emkay and Penn, produced great designs. Look at this almost regal skull candle produced by Penn in the early 1950s. To find original packaging for candles is unusual. That, along with the candle’s condition make this an enticing lot. It’ll be fun to see what it fetches.

VTG LOT 12 Beistle Halloween Die Cut Out Decorations Cat Witch Pumpkin Skeleton

This interesting Beistle lot brought a good sum. The most interesting items are the four with the JOL bottoms. The complete set is comprised of six designs. (You can see others to this set on page 218.) Beistle produced them in an enveloped set during the early 1920s. These have been reproduced on a glossy stock, so be cautious when contemplating a purchase. The three rockers shown were part of a set of six designs produced in 1930-31.

Vintage Kirchhof Halloween Noise Maker Tin Litho 1940s

Kirchhof produced many, many tin litho Halloween designs. I’ve always liked this one as it seems to me that the designer was having fun doing the job. The lively borders, the central pan image and most of all, the potbellied devil frolicking in the flames add up to one eye-catching, pleasing noisemaker. This lot is in nice condition and certainly is worth no less than the opening bid.

RARE! VINTAGE BEISTLE HALLOWEEN MECHANICAL NUT CUP - BLACK CAT!

It is so nice to finally see some quality items appearing on eBay. With their lack of differentiation of holiday categories and time periods, one has to wade through so much garbage. This mechanical fold-up nut cup was produced by Beistle for a single season in 1938. Four comprise a full set. I was lucky enough to buy multiples of each design in 2015, so this may have once been part of that collection out of Massachusetts. The seller is stellar, so bid with great confidence.

Antique Halloween, Circa 1920's Mechanical Dancing JOL Automaton

Wow! What a nice item. I’ve seen a lot of problematic mechanicals offered on this and other forums, but feel confident even without a personal examination that this is the real deal and not either a Frankensteined piece or a full-on reproduction. I like the autumn vest. Very snazzy! It is nice to see some nice items appearing on eBay after a long drought.

Rare Antique German Halloween Diecut Vintage Decoration

This exceedingly rare German diecut fence was produced in 1935. There is a remarkable consistency when these are seen that the leftmost figure, the mate to the plump JOL figure, is missing. I chalk it up to more than coincidence. I believe the full four-figure fence was made for a very short period of time before a decision was made to eliminate the leftmost figure. Could it have been to save on shipping? I don’t know. I may be completely off-base in even speculating that any decision was made, but the consistency of the observation is compelling. I finally added a full four-figure example to the collection a few years ago.

Second Copy of 1909 Dennison Bogie Book Discovered!

I want to share some exciting news: A second copy of Dennison’s inaugural Bogie Book from 1909 has been discovered! Previously, the sole known copy resided in the collection. Even Dennison did not have a copy.
(This inaugural effort was far from a success. At the time, Dennison didn’t have a clear idea of what they wanted to achieve by publishing what they called The Dennison Bogie Book. With such a lack of focus, the effort yielded very little. Dennison may have printed up to 25,000 copies, but that is uncertain. I believe many were destroyed, as there are now only two copies known to exist. I speculate…They didn’t even try again until 1912, when Dennison published a Bogie Book with a sharper marketing purpose aimed at end-users. This effort was so successful that near-annual issues were produced from that year through the early 1930s with differing names and formats.)
This second copy, which I have definitively confirmed as authentic, was discovered within the last 45 days at an antiques show in New England. It was purchased by the new owner’s husband as a gift. Little did he know the rarity of that gift! An image of this new discovery appears below, so you can get a sense of the stellar overall condition.
It pays to browse antiques and collectible shows!

ANTIQUE c. 1900 DRESDEN EMBOSSED CARDBOARD CAT CHRISTMAS or HALLOWEEN ORNAMENT

It has become startling to see such a nice item listed on the junkyard that eBay has become. These Halloween-themed Dresden ornaments are really something. It’ll be fun to see what this fetches!

01/26 Update: This fine item fetched $877.77. I talked to one collector who was surprised it didn’t bring more, but considering the time of year, I felt the price realized was solid.

Antique Halloween Jack O' Lantern Germany 1920s 4" Red Lips Orig Insert Handle

I wrote as part of an update on the Gibson owl game below that I love sellers who offer concise descriptions. This seller is a stellar example of what I feel buyers need and appreciate. Just read his description of the German JOL that sold for a higher-than-expected price. I’m positive that it was due to his reputation in our hobby plus his way with words. Kudos!