Blog

Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Vintage Halloween Bugle Lithograph Tin Toy Noise Marker Made In USA

Bugle Toy of Providence, RI produced some of the best tin litho designs out there. They generally ran circles around the all-too-staid Kirchhof, and were given an occasional run for the top prize by T. Cohn’s earliest designs. This shaker exemplifies my remarks. Every side shows something different with the litho being simple yet very effective at conveying the spirit of the holiday. I hope this brings strong dollars.

U.S. Metal Toy Mfg. Co. Tin Litho vintage Halloween noise maker

The prevailing bidder on this lot got a bargain, of which there seems to be plenty of these days. (My theory is that too many collectors have deprioritized eBay given how junky it has become. Why eBay doesn’t create more specific categories for holiday collectibles is beyond me.) Relative to this lot, the T. Cohn putty knife noisemaker on the left is worth the price of the entire lot by itself and then some. Cohn produced two putty knife designs that have been in-demand for years even whilst the non-tambourine tin litho market has been coolish.

2 Vintage Halloween Candy Box Lion Specialty Co

I have only seen this item once before. I bought one at the All American collectors’ show held twice annually in Glendale, CA several years back. (The show is nicely curated with items that would appeal to collectors of toys, advertising and holiday at all levels. It is a show I try not to miss. The show’s owner, Jim Maley, is a great guy with deep connections into the comic book and figural advertising markets.) Thankfully, the box at the show was near-mint. I feel this pair would have brought much stronger dollars if not for their condition. The same seller has another one up right now. Its condition is similar.

VINTAGE HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN MAN PULP PAPER MACHE- 1950S MID CENTURY- RARE

This heavily damaged item actually sold for $285, not the $375 that eBay shows. (I wish that eBay would be more transparent on what the actual final prices for fixed price listings and the like are. There are work-arounds involving other sites to sniff out actual final prices but why should collectors wanting to be educated on current prices have to do this?) As to the pulp man, I’m amazed that it sold for as much as it did given its condition.

See You in July!

Hello Readers,
Summer, with all its wonders and all its time-consuming yard-related chores, beckons. I like to take a break from Halloween at least twice annually - right around now and during December.
Enjoy the month. I’ll check back sometime in July.
MBL

Pre 1920 Halloween 3D Card Art Work

Some firm produced four 3-D designs in the teens derived from four post cards published by Bergman. (It may very well have been Bergman itself.) None surface more than maybe once every 5 years, so it was instructive to see what these listings fetched. The highest brought nearly $500. The buyers all got bargains in my opinion.

Antique Halloween “The Fortune Crystal” Spinner Game

Although this game is well-designed and this listing has everything a potential buyer wants to see - clear photos and a straight-forward description uncluttered with a lot of nonsense - I have never classified this fortune game as one made specifically for Halloween. There is no Halloween iconography, no Halloween colors and no mention of Halloween anywhere on the game. It is simply a fortune telling game.

Vintage Halloween Die Cut Germany 1930's 1940's Witch Antique Paper Square Htf

I was initially surprised at the high price this German windowpane diecut fetched but then I looked at its condition. The size of the four designs lends itself to bent corners, lots of missing surface paper and lots of crackling, but they are largely missing in this fine example. The diecuts were made in the 1930s. I am very happy the seller, a true collecting ace, received such a strong price. Prices for vintage Halloween on eBay have been on the soft side for a while now, making this result even more satisfying.

RARE Antique Germany HALLOWEEN BOY w/ Bobblehead on PUMPKIN CANDY CONTAINER

A series of similarly designed German composition candy containers was produced during the early 1920s to which this example belongs. Some incorporated metal strips enabling a head to nod but most didn’t. (Refer to page 85 to see several others.) The blue looks quite bright making me wonder if it may have been repainted, so be sure to ask the seller to comment. I like the seller’s description - to the point without a lot of needless verbiage.

Vintage Halloween SET OF 5 PUMPKIN HEAD CUT-OUTS w/ENVELOPE - BEISTLE VERY RARE!

This is a nice set - and hard to find. As these great sellers have indicated in their listing, their assortment of four designs over five cut-outs mirrors the set in the collection. I have often said that quality control back then, especially with Beistle, wasn’t to the high standard we assume and expect from today’s producers. Interestingly, many of the truly vintage bags Beistle used have the circular Moon Republic Bag Company mark. I’ve not been able to discover anything about this firm. Even though the envelope is not in stellar condition, it would look darn good framed. The sellers are top-notch, so deal with them with confidence. It’ll be instructive to see what this fetches.

05/21 Update: This sold for $467.99.

Rare Antique German Halloween Jack-O-lantern Candleholder Candy Container

It is so refreshing to see such a truly rare item on eBay. I feel it is the most compelling and single “must-have” piece from the relatively large set with the same JOL-based design. (Please refer to pages 58-60 to see other items from the set. The large candlestick in the collection is shown on page 132.) This candlestick candy container was produced in at least two sizes. I was very fortunate to pick up a German example in a smaller size not long ago. (I provided a photo of the two examples to Kovels Antique Trader for their October 2023 issue.) The Japanese made an example, too, which falls WELL below the artisanship of any of the German designs. The seller took a risk by starting the listing with such a high opening amount but quality sometimes dictates abandoning that old strategy of starting things at $9.99. This is an item that should easily command a minimum of ~$4,000 even with the unfortunately visible facial wrinkle.

04/28 Update: I was surprised this only brought $2,500. Perhaps the seller’s strategy of starting it so high worked against a better ending price. Sometimes, high starting prices kill the sense of adventure and a hope for a coveted steal by collectors. That’s almost certainly what happened here.

Tim Ramzyk Does It Again!

Tim Ramzyk, the creative force behind Pulp Novelties, will soon be releasing these three “Spooky Sticks” designs in his Etsy store! He thought it would be fun to offer these smaller decorative elements in addition to his lanterns.
I don’t have the room to acquire much Halloween folk art these days, so unless the art is by true masters like Matthew Kirscht or Tim Ramzyk, I sadly have to overlook it.
Just look at the careful and detailed molding of this initial batch of designs, Red Devil, The Wicked Witch and Mr. Bones. If successful - and how could they not be - designs will be added annually.
They measure 12” long and 2.75” across.
Tim will begin offering these in his Etsy shop on April 30th for $24 each plus shipping.
Get in line now. I suspect they will sell briskly.

Vintage Halloween Black Cat Rattle Noisemaker

Of all the many vintage Halloween market segments, the tin litho noisemaker segment has been moribund for at least two decades, with exceptions for some tambourines and the odd duck example like this listing. This inventive design with the added expense coming from the act of attaching the “ears,” is among the earliest of T. Cohn’s Halloween output. I haven’t seen it much in 35 years of collecting, so when I saw the listing and its condition I knew it would bring strong dollars. And what dollars!