This primitive set of mechanical invitations is arguably among the earliest Halloween items Beistle offered on a retail basis. If you look at the last photo this seller includes, you’ll see what I wrote about the set in my third edition. Every example I’ve seen of this envelope - and I have seen ~30 examples - has the same handwritten strikeout over the printed quantity with the same number, 5, handwritten on the envelope. I don’t know why this was done, although my theory is that the quality of these early offerings caused Beistle senior management to get rid of excess inventory as quickly as possible without the added expense of reprinting the envelopes. I speculate…
07/23 Update: Surprisingly, this didn’t bring strong dollars - $72.
