After wading through the tiresome lingerie listings by the seller, iiniim, that eBay somehow allows to clutter up what should be a stand-alone Vintage Halloween category, it was oh-so-nice to see this listing for a set that is truly exceedingly rare. Beistle produced this lightly embossed complete set of four place card designs during the 1930 and 1931 seasons. I don’t think they actually produced many. Remember that the tentacles of the Great Depression were infiltrating all economic sections of the global economy at that time, so virtually all firms were under great pressure. I think Beistle took a flyer on these, as they differ so much from their usual fare. I haven’t seen a complete set offered publicly for many years. (I did hear of a private transaction where a collector shelled out $3,500 for a truly mint set maybe 2-4 years ago.) It will be instructive to see what this set fetches.
08/24 Update: This complete set of four fetched $2,650. I feel that’s the right price for a complete set these days. $3,500 should be considered the high-water mark, with waters that will almost surely not crest that high again. I expect to see more of these surface now.
