This listing was up for an hour at most before it was snapped up. These early Dennison Bogie Books are becoming increasingly hard to find in any condition. Although the listing showed it sold for $189.99, the buyer is a long-time reader who passed on that she bought it for $100, a good deal. (The napkin bundled as part of the lot is just a bonus.) The first Bogie Book was published in 1909. There is only one known copy. The next was published in 1912 and new editions were published without a miss until 1918. Editions prior to 1922 are rightly the most coveted as they have the most information. Dennison targeted these books to the end consumer so the annual editions tend to show all items newly available for that year plus some old stock. Collectors interested in such things, like me, can roughly chart when items were first introduced and for how many seasons an item was available. The 1913 edition is so hard to find that I still don’t own a copy.
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Vintage Halloween Catalog "Dennison's Bogie Book" 1915 w/Mailing Envelope
This listing featuring both the 1915 Dennison Bogie Book itself plus the exceedingly rare 1915 enclosure is the third time this has surfaced within about seven months. Guide value for the duo is $775. The duo listed in July 2016 fetched ~$838. The duo listed in August 2016 fetched ~$810. Comparing condition of the two from last year to this one, this is in third place, the least best. Both the envelope and the Bogie Book have much more wear showing. SGV is $775, but the condition here may work against this listing from achieving that sustainable level. It'll be fun to see where this ends.
03/14 Update: As I suspected, this set in fair condition ended well below SGV - at $556.99. Condition is so important that there was almost a 33% decline in the money this brought compared to the only previous two examples sold on eBay.
Great Original 1915 Dennison's Bogie Book Halloween Decorations w/ Envelope
OK, WOW! For avid Halloween paper ephemera collectors, seeing this listing should cause your hearts to race and your sphincters to seize. Seeing this quality listing amongst so much eBay dreck made my day. This is certainly the best listing I've seen come along in well over a year.
Completing a set of customized Dennison Bogie Book envelopes or enclosures is high on my list. They surface so rarely they warrant an RSIN of 1, except for the 1919 enclosure that has been assigned a 2. (I am proud to own enclosures for 1909, 1914, 1915, 1917 and 1919. I have never seen enclosures for any of the other years Dennison Bogie Books were produced so cannot even be sure they exist. You can see these extant enclosures in my third edition.) From the ones I do own, this 1915 enclosure is the most cleverly designed and memorable of all the others put together. This is the ONE to own. Less interesting by comparison is the actual 1915 Bogie Book itself. This issue is not easy to find and the condition seems to be acceptable. I'm glad the seller included a shot of the Bogie inside its enclosure to show the cleverness with which this was produced. The guide value for the enclosure alone is $500, but there was only a single data point to support that specific valuation. In my view, the sky's the limit, so I'll be buckled in watching where this listing ends.
08/23 Update: The air wasn't too choppy. Guide value for both items is $775 and it ended at $838. I feel the buyer got a very good deal overall considering the rarity of the enclosure.