2 RARE VFINE Vintage Halloween Diecut Decorations Silver Highlights, Witch, Owl!

Hallmark produced few Halloween diecuts relative to their overall Halloween output during the pivotal ten-year period beginning in the mid-1920s. I don’t know why this is so, but my guess is that their overall diecut output was so uninspired vis-à-vis their competitors (especially the Holy Trinity of Beistle, Dennison and Gibson) that sales were scant - so the firm poured more efforts/resources into their small paper items: invitations, place cards and tallies. Hallmark small paper items from this period are generally outstanding in terms of humor, an eccentric design ethos and the use of a subtle, complicated color palette. I covet these hard-to-find items and have assembled a respectable collection.
The description of their diecuts as uninspired doesn’t apply to these two beauties. The direct gaze of the witch is arresting, and is the stronger design of the two. (This design was also sold as a gummed silhouette around 1925. These were sold in enveloped sets of ten. An example is on page 287.) I like the use of brown with the owl. There are two Hallmark diecuts shown on page 165. The date attribution of these two diecuts as being from the early 1950s is wrong and has been corrected in the Errata. They were both produced in the mid-1920s, the same as with these two diecuts sold as a lot. I feel the skull and crossbones is the best design of the four and the rarest. I think I’ve seen it only the one time I acquired it. It’s great to see these rare treasures get the secondary market respect they deserve. Congrats to the buyer for their good taste!