What a wonderful item! As this top-notch seller points out, this enormous candle was almost certainly a store display. (How I wish I could turn the clock back and browse the old “five and dime” stores’ Halloween displays!) I have never seen this before, nor have I seen any other candle store displays. It will be fun to see what this fetches.
05/05 Update: This magnificent piece is headed to Georgia for $338.33. The buyer has a great eye. I’m sure it will be a real eye-catcher in his collection!
This is certainly one of the better of Gurley’s small form factor candles, but I’m surprised that it fetched $45. These typically change hands at sub-$20.
Candles are an excellent genre for those starting out in our fun hobby as they were typically nicely molded and remain affordable. The buyer of this lot got a solid deal as they were able to acquire a dozen nice candles and its unusual box for only $150. I say the box is unusual primarily because it represents goods sold in Canada. I am not sure if I've seen this particular iteration before. There were a good number of holiday candle manufacturers. Gurley was arguably the most skilled purveyor of these now-vintage candles as their designs were numerous and often inventive.
Vintage candles are a great entry genre for new collectors. There are many different ones, all with invitingly low price points. In this lot, the black cat at the left and the larger witch are the best of the bunch, alone justifying the price at which the entire lot changed hands. Be careful when storing these. Some friends were unhappy to discover their candles had congealed into one multi-colored pool from being stored in an outdoor shed in a plastic tub.
Candles are a genre that hasn't caught fire (bad pun...I know...) over these many years, lagging the overall market like common tin litho noisemakers. This sale price for arguably one of the better Gurley designs is surprising. These typically bring $18-20, so to have one bring in more than double is unusual. I feel that candles, tin litho noisemakers and the more common pulp JOLs are great entry points for new collectors. They are plentiful, cheap and low-risk relative to getting stuck with a fake. (As I point out on page 87, the Gurley name was resurrected in 2006 and the new firm began producing candles using new molds.) Look to pay guide values for items within this genre. This result was great for the seller, but the buyer could have waited and gotten it at half the cost.
