Gibson was the little brother (or sister) to two much larger siblings, Beistle and Dennison, so it had to try harder to break through to score retail space in the many five & dime stores that represented the easiest way for wholesalers to reach the public at that time. Gibson tried to hold their own against those two better capitalized firms with a wider nationwide reach by designing items with an edginess that its rivals often eschewed. (The slanted exclamation point Gibson often used added that oomph and immediacy that certainly helped their sales.) Sadly, their economic reality at that time meant that the overall numbers of each produced design were relatively smaller, making today’s quests by collectors just that much harder. The result is that even items with significant condition issues fetch very strong dollars!!
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
