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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Rare Vintage Halloween Party Invitation with JOL and moving bat unused Beistle?

When I first saw this listing I thought, My God! Except for in the pages of Lavin’s book, I have never seen this before. This was produced by Beistle for a single season, 1930. Now, think about what was happening at that time. The big economic story was what we now call The Great Depression. In mid-1930 when this mechanical invitation was produced, those icy fingers of depression were encircling and squeezing businesses as consumer spending plummeted. The plummeting continued as many thousands of workers were laid off. The average person was trying to feed themselves and perhaps a family. They weren’t spending money on such things as invitations to a Halloween party - no matter how cool the invitation was. And those few people that didn't know or care that the economy was crumbling merrily continued spending much as before. It was that person who would have bought this invitation. (This mechanical invitation was sold singly along with a white envelope.) So, what makes this particular invitation so desirable is that so few were made (Beistle didn’t know if it would survive the economic cataclysm, so they smartly made many fewer of their items than normal from 1930 through 1935.) and those that were purchased by the Mamie and Emily Baldwin’s of their day (A sly The Waltons reference…) didn’t waste them! To have one surface at all is so rare that I’ve never seen one before - BUT to have it be unused is the real point of its rarity.
As of this writing, this item has been bid up to $4,630 - primarily by just three bidders. Is it worth this? Well, yes, in that one person has bid that amount and would assumably pay that sum for it. Would I pay that or higher? Sadly, no, even though such items are in the top three of my favorite market segments. I think about what else I could acquire or what extravagant vacation I could underwrite with the money and the allure of owning something that I’d just toss in a display case fades very quickly. It will be fun (…and I mean it…) to see what someone is willing to pay for this rare gem - and I wish them the very best.

RARE Antique Vintage Halloween Beistle Diecut JOL Garland, 65", 1920s

It’s nice to see such a rare item appear on eBay. This garland was made only for a small handful of seasons. The first iteration has connectors that are more primitive than the second and final iteration’s eyelets. This example, complete with all 13 JOLs, is the second iteration. These long garlands are truly hard to find in near-mint or better condition as they were so easily damaged when hanging and unhanging. Except for the surface paper loss on either end, I’m impressed with the overall condition and the brightness of the colors. I wonder at what price will it end?

Antique Vintage Halloween Diecut Banner Black Cat Articulated Tail Garland 1930s

I really enjoy reading this great seller’s descriptions! She nails this wonderful Beistle garland in such a way I want to acquire a second one! :) It has become increasingly uncommon for someone to offer this complete. It is more common to find individual sections offered. So, this is an opportunity to acquire a cleverly designed Beistle treasure in whole with great color and minimal wear given the number of “moving” parts. I hope it brings strong dollars.

Antique Vintage Halloween Witch’s Mystery Answer Game 1933 - 1938 Beistle.

This large game will always make an impressive addition to any vintage Halloween game collection. This orange version is actually the a later iteration of Beistle’s original design in white. The white version was issued for a single season (1931 or 1932) before Beistle opted to reissue it in orange in 1933 for the next several seasons. Any of their “Mystery Answer” games, all shown on page 15, are now exceptionally hard to find. I am comfortable changing the RSIN in each case down a number with this version being a 2 and both white versions being a 1. I was finally able to add the large, white version to the collection ~3 years ago. Even with notable condition issues this listing is currently at $206.50 with nearly five days left. I expect it to garner strong dollars.

8/22 Update: This sold for $1,007.99, significantly higher than I recall this ever selling for. Lots of Beistle items are on a roll!

Rare Antique Vintage Beistle Halloween Humpbacked Witch w/Broom & Black Cat

This diecut was produced by Beistle during the late 1950s. There were three designs comprising the full set. (Please refer to page 159.) All have become quite desirable. This example was in relatively poor collecting condition yet two determined collectors bid it up to an ending price well beyond the baseline established by the bulk of bidders of ~$200.

Rare Vintage Halloween Decoration Full Size Skeleton in Original Packaging.

A collecting friend of mine inquired as to my opinion on the price this listing would achieve. I estimated $450-500, yet it fell well short of that. The envelope is the more desirable component. Its condition was problematic and the seller probably could have included more photos. The skeleton, wrapped as it was, typically changes hands for $300 alone. The buyer got a nice item for a decent price.

Vintage Halloween Diecut Black Witch Silhouette on Yellow Honeycomb Moon

This item was produced by Beistle during the 1960-62 seasons. They marketed it as the Flying Sorceress. Considering its fragility, it is in remarkably good condition. I thought it would perhaps bring more. I’ve noticed a definite decline in prices recently. I’m unsure as to the reasons why. Perhaps it is the time of year or a reflection of economic uncertainty.

Vintage Halloween 1930s Beistle Black Cat Band Hat

It’s nice seeing such quality Beistle band hats on eBay, especially at this time of the year when quality offerings are few. Beistle made many, many band hat Halloween designs, too many of which are forgettable. This isn’t one of those. This actually sold for $350, a respectable price for this design in this condition, but I wonder what it would have brought in an auction setting. (I suspect more.) The collecting key for this series of band hats is the artwork on the band. Some of this artwork wasn’t used again, so buying one of these band hats gives you an opportunity to see the full breadth of Beistle’s artistic creativity.

1950s Antique Vintage Beistle Halloween Ghostly Stunt and Fortune Game-Unused

This small game that Beistle produced during the 1950s has gotten hard to find. I had once assigned an RSIN of 3 to it, but feel comfortable changing that to a 2. Because many of these stunt games were meant to be pulled apart, the vast majority are used to some degree, making finding an unused one with bright colors a real coup. I see this fine seller has recently offered a number of Beistle games in nice condition.

Pickings are slim this time of year - so be sure to check out the 103 lots comprising this year’s auction when the Preview Period begins this coming Wednesday morning.

HTF Vtg 1930's HALLOWEEN DIECUT Witch pulling hair of Crescent Moon Centerpiece

Beistle made a plethora of hats - some quite forgettable. This hat falls into the unforgettable category. There are two sets of Beistle hats that are devilishly difficult to complete. One is the fairy hat series of four shown on pages 240-241. The other is the oddly-named New Moon series of four, two of which are shown on page 239. I’ve been collecting seemingly since the dawn of time and I’m still missing one of the four designs. The one up for auction is rough, but most of these designs are found rough. Even so, with over a day to go the bidding is at $137.50. Two of the hats show new moons while the other two show crescent moons. I’m eager to see the ending price.

Vintage Halloween cardboard/crepe paper fold out decorations -Beistle

The buyer received a true bargain here. This roly-poly was produced by Beistle in 1930-31. Beistle produced four designs of nearly the same size and four designs that were about two inches taller. (Turn to pages 226-227 to see some examples.) Of the smaller designs, the witch is arguably the best one - although I am more partial to the welcoming scarecrow. (The owl is forgettable.) These trade WELL above the BIN price of $20 the seller placed on his lot of two items. This was a true score. Congratulations to Matt and Sabrina.