Dennison boxed items are one of my favorite collecting genres. I haven't really seen too many of these little gems listed this season. This box is early and quite desirable. Dennison was well into its adventure into boxed holiday items and was finding it to be a lucrative business. This set is one of the first of their large form factor designs, quite detailed and a bit saucy. Their place cards lost this innocence during most of the 1920s and regained it briefly from 1928-1931.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Vintage Lot of Dennison Halloween Seals in Original Box
Dennison began losing their design prowess relative to their boxed goods in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Most of their efforts from this time are forgettable. However, this boxed set is actually pretty cool. The assorted designs have a minimum of the anodyne imagery Dennison habitually used at this time. I've only seen the skeleton seals in a set that came out of Canada. This may be worth picking up!
Vintage 1916 Peggy's Halloween Party Box Holiday Decorations!!! Collectible!!!
Now, here is a boxed set one doesn't see too often. As I write in my book on page 114:
"This is the earliest boxed Halloween party set produced, and it wasn’t done by any of the big names. Barse and Hopkins Publishers of 28 West 23rd Street in New York City produced this wondrous set of fifty-two pieces in 1916, all contained within a box with a lid instantly captivating and oh-so-memorable. This complete set consists of four lamp shades, eight doilies, eight bon-bon dishes, eight invitations, eight place cards, eight consequence cards and eight suggestions/note folders. The extant directions/advertising sheet reveals a number of interesting facts. Barse and Hopkins created six different Peggy boxed sets: Pansy Party Box, Blue Bird Party Box, Thanksgiving Party Box, Card Party Box, Children’s Party Box and, of course, this Hallowe’en Party Box. The designs were all “newly drawn and copyrighted.” Pieces were not sold separately. I believe this accounts for how hard it is to find even a piece or two from this set for sale. I feel this set was available for one season with a very limited sales distribution. Barse and Hopkins was primarily a book publisher, so these party boxes were certainly a sideline business, and a short-lived one at that. Interestingly, Beistle issued their first boxed Halloween set in 1918, a set that seems to be heavily inspired by this Peggy’s set. How formally inspired Beistle was is not known, but the Beistle designers had to have seen a Peggy’s Halloween Party Box given the number of similarities. If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Beistle could hardly have flattered more strenuously."
Be aware that many of the pieces shown in this listing were never part of the set, so please bid accordingly. The last time a complete set in FAR better condition was sold on Ebay it fetched ~$2300. I expect this to go for much, much less.
10/20 Update: It fetched $293.88 showing just how important condition and completeness matters.
