RARE ANTIQUE GERMAN HALLOWEEN LARGE WHITE GOBLIN JACK-O-LANTERN PUMPKIN LANTERN

WOW! This sure grabbed my attention. What a magnificently designed lantern. I have never prioritized collecting German lanterns but this is one I would love to have in the collection. It is early as the unsettling design was meant for parties thrown by and for adults. The bidding is already active on this lantern with 9 bids placed to nearly $1,300 with more than five days to go. Even though this isn’t the optimal time to sell vintage Halloween, I suspect this will zoom well above its current level. I applaud this seller for employing a spare description style.

10/15 Update: And zoom it did - to a stratospheric $5,179.76!

Antique Extremely Old German Halloween Pumpkin w/hiding place - 2" diameter

This German compo JOL candy container once had a heavy paper green leaf cut-out laid over the top of the JOL. It seems someone forcibly removed it leaving a scar. It would be an easy fix for a proper restorer.

Antique Halloween Jack O' Lantern Germany 1920s 4" Red Lips Orig Insert Handle

I wrote as part of an update on the Gibson owl game below that I love sellers who offer concise descriptions. This seller is a stellar example of what I feel buyers need and appreciate. Just read his description of the German JOL that sold for a higher-than-expected price. I’m positive that it was due to his reputation in our hobby plus his way with words. Kudos!

GERMAN WITCH IN JOL CANDY CONTAINER HEAVY COMPOSITION VINTAGE HALLOWEEN ANTIQUE

The smaller form factor German compo candy containers seem to have the best molding detail. Just look at the contours of the JOL. This is truly a small work of art. There is at least one other design that comprises the set. You can see the devil next to the witch on page 65. The lister, stnick22, has listed ~150 lots, many quite good. There has been a fair amount of higher-quality items this calendar year. Has this unusual abundance pulled too many dollars out of wallets/purses, limiting the chances for things to bring gasp-inducing prices? (I have remarked to several collectors that prices seem soft overall.) I projected that the hobby would see several years of unusual abundance as the first generation of serious collectors dies off. This first generation focused almost exclusively on German lanterns and candy containers, so it follows that is what we’ll be seeing more of. This now-dying or already gone first generation didn’t pay much attention to paper, so we won’t be seeing much of this. I project that paper, especially small paper, has much room to run.

RARE Vintage Halloween Jack o Lantern Diecut Decoration Flipout Base Beistle 30s

It’s hard to know what went wrong here. (You know the market is seriously overheated when an ending price of $705 for a paper Halloween decoration is considered insufficient.) Whether it was the not-insignificant condition issues, the corrected error on size or vintage Halloween fatigue from simply too many solid items being listed too often as too closely spaced intervals, this item should have brought much more. This is one of the items from my reference that is most often inquired about as to my intention to sell it. Another hasn’t come to market in many, many years. I suspect fatigue is the most impactful cause, although the case for fatigue is not airtight. Check out what the same seller realized in auctioning one of the trio of eccentrically-designed 1950s Beistle witches - $1,325.99.
Prices have become such a turn-off that I have actively explored other forums where price sanity is more of the norm. I encourage people to attend the larger antiques shows where there are more chances at finding things reasonably priced. Trading with other collectors is another activity I find to be much more fun than trolling through the eBay detritus to find a few jewels that then typically spiral to too-lofty levels.

vintage halloween paper mache pulp jack o lantern with rare battery holder

It is unusual to see the original battery holder extant with these pulp JOLs. To eliminate the risk of fire due to burning a candle, this manufacturer changed their mold to enable a battery holder with bulb to be attached to the back. This seller obtained this particular pulp JOL through me some years ago. He’s a great guy and a knowledgeable collector.

Vintage 1930s Embossed BEISTLE Die Cut HALLOWEEN Silver Foil PUMPKIN Rats Mice

I love these silvered diecut variants from the long-produced complete set of twelve diecuts from Beistle. They began production in 1932 and continued with some interruptions through the early 1950s. (The variants were made for only a season or two very early in the total run.) When these hard-to-find variants surface, they typically are in poor condition. The ones being offered by this fine seller are in better-than-average condition. It’ll be fun to see what they bring.

ENORMOUS Vintage Halloween Ghost & JOL Store Display Candle Decorations, Gurley!

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!

Vintage Halloween 1930's Tambourine - Kirschhof - NICE condition - RARE

This is an elusive tambourine with at least two variants. The version in the collection has a decorated rim that gives the piece a desirable finished look. This listed version that changed hands for $225 has an undecorated rim. It’s unknown whether the differing versions were made at the same time or even by the same manufacturer. I’d love to know, though!

Rare Antique German Halloween Diecut Paper Pumpkin Pirate with Cats Tiara

Of all the tiara or diadem German diecut designs, this is one of the hardest to find. As mentioned in a post some weeks ago, there was a strong blip up in prices for these tiaras for a short period of time, but that force has dissipated. These will typically now sell in the $700-1000 range. The last one sold for $597, a bargain compared to 18 months ago. I expect this one will fetch a bit more than that. We’ll see…

Vintage Paper Mache Pumpkin Jack O Lantern LARGE 11" Candy Container w Lid rare

It isn’t every day that this rare and desirable pulp item surfaces. I’ve seen these described as cookie jars, too. The closed features, size and extant lid make this a real show piece. I remember some very optimistic seller tried to unsuccessfully sell another example some years back for $10,000. This isn’t in that price league, for sure, although this listing could reach close to $1,000. The market on eBay is strange these days since eBay unilaterally and imprudently changed the way they categorized holiday items. Who really knows what this will bring? I know a broad swath of collectors that have migrated away from eBay. I don’t feel there are as many eyes on these prizes as there were at the beginning of the year.

Vintage Halloween Place Card, JOL Grins Evilly at Two Black Kittens

This fine seller is normally very specific in her listings, so I’m surprised she neglects to mention this place card was produced by Dennison. It first appeared in 1926 and was sold singly with stock number H462. What does “sold singly” mean? Dennison packaged a high percentage of their wares into envelopes or slide boxes. However, a few designs were sold in stationary stores one-by-one. This is one of these designs.

vintage halloween JOL candy container in original packaging

The mark on the bottom of this German JOL indicates it was produced during or after 1949. I’d say it was produced during the interval of 1955-1959.

08/10 Update: This sold for $395, quite a lot for something made post-war.

Vintage Halloween CARDBOARD CAT DRIVING JOL CAR CANDY HOLDER - 1940'S - USA!

The G.M. Company produced a number of slot and tab candy boxes during the 1940s and 1950s. Their most popular and easily found designs were a set of six first produced during the mid-to-late 1940s. This whimsical cat driving a skeptical JOL is one of this set of six. (You can see the others on page 54.) These are not typically found in this superb condition. Even the colors are bright! If you care about doing business with knowledgeable and upstanding sellers, you can’t go wrong with klectibles!

08/02 Update: This brought an astounding $225.35.

Vintage Halloween Plastic Blow Mold Lighted Pumpkin Jack O Lantern Witch Hat

Unfortunately, the site that will typically reveal what the Best Offer selling price was for an item just shows that this sold for $65, although the price was lower than that. Let’s assume that it was $50, a much higher price than I would have expected. Virtually all blow molds are super common and seldom bring meaningful dollars. (There are exceptions, of course. The tall orange or green haunted houses, the slanted orange haunted house and the standing witches with arms outstretched holding some object are some examples.) This design is common, so even $50 would have been a surprise, especially given that it has significant fading and has scuffing and no light. Is this result an outlier or an indication that there has been strengthening in this market segment?