This trio of horns was produced by Bugle Toy of Providence, RI, during the 1940s. The seller notes the textile labels on the interior of what is now a horn noisemaker. The labels provide a clue as to the cost savings emphasis kept front-and-center by Bugle as well as other manufacturers. They would purchase used textile spindles in bulk to use as the basis for which to wrap the spindles in lithoed paper to mark various holidays, like Halloween. One might ask why firms like Bugle wouldn’t remove the labels. Don’t forget that these operations were not high-margin endeavors. These horns originally sold for pennies. Removing the labels would add to production costs without a real benefit, so the labels stayed.
Blog
Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Vintage USA Bugle Toy Tin Lithograph Halloween Ratchet Noisemaker~Rare
I concur with this fine and knowledgeable seller that the humorous graphics are among the best in all of Halloween tin litho. Bugle strove to be in the vanguard of tin litho design. The bikini-clad woman juxtaposed with the crone on the other side of the fence is clever. The bug-eyed cat seems to agree!
RARE Vintage Halloween Tin Noisemaker Cat Witch Bats 1920's
Bugle Toy of Providence, Rhode Island produced some of the quirkiest and most memorable tin litho noisemaker designs, far eclipsing their contemporaries in pushing that mythical envelope. If I could only have one of their designs, I’d surely choose this one. This was produced during the 1930s.
04/07 Update: This great item sold for $185.
Vintage Halloween Wooden Handle Ratchet Tin Noisemaker Made In USA
This ratchet was produced by Bugle Toy of Providence, Rhode Island. Item for item, Bugle made the most interesting, avant-garde designs of the major manufacturers. The overall number of their tin designs was small but collectors covet them, so prices have been firm, very different from most tin litho noisemakers that have seen sharp price declines. Sometimes Bugle had the wood handle at the witch's hat, as in this example, and sometimes at the base of the JOL. Placement is not material to value.
Antique Vtg Bugle Toy Co Halloween Tin Clanger Bell Noisemaker Ghost Wizard Rare
This seller has three pieces of Bugle lithographed tin up on eBay right now. As readers know, I love Bugle's tin output as their designs were quirky, quite a bit different from the not-so-memorable output by the major players. The mistakes this seller make are twofold: They don't adjust their asking prices for condition and their prices are simply too high anyway. By and large, tin items are plentiful. Most designs were made for many seasons and they last. My stance is always buy the best items in the best condition. This goes doubly so with tin.
Vintage Art Deco Halloween Tin Litho Noisemaker Ratchet Bugle
The seller offered this great Bugle Toy tin litho ratchet for $19.90 via a BIN option. Bugle made some of the most out-there or avant-garde designs of all the major tin litho toy producers. Some of their imagery is wacky, while others, like this ratchet, are highly stylized. These typically trade in a band of $50-70.
VINTAGE HALLOWEEN RARE BUGLE TOY CARDBOARD HORN WORKS NICE SHAPE
The mysterious Bugle Toy Company of Providence, Rhode Island produced memorable tin litho Halloween noisemaker designs but seriously faltered in terms of their lithoed paper output. The ho-hum imagery on this horn is representative of their aesthetic. What does make this listing interesting is that this is a marked piece. Whether out of embarrassment or not, it is uncommon for their lithoed paper items to be marked.
