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.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Antique Halloween Moon, Bat, Witch, Cat, Pumpkin Hat
Sadly, this hat seems to have its original honeycomb replaced with what looks like orange waxed paper. Beistle made these “New Moon” hats only from 1933-1937. Four designs comprise the full set. Look at page 239 to see how these hats were originally sold.
09/13: This brought a strong $637.
VERY OLD CARDBOARD STANDEE DECORATION BLACK CAT, PUMPKIN, HONEYCOMB CENTER
eBay has been a desert with nary an oasis for the serious collector in sight for seemingly too many months, but then comes along this rarest of Beistle hats. Although the condition is poor, any member of this set of four hats made by Beistle is impossible to find. Beistle marketed the four collectively as New Moon hats, producing them from 1933-1937. Two prominently feature a black cat and moon while the other two prominently feature a witch and moon. I own only half the set and have been hungrily searching for the other two for years. (YEARS!) Quantities were probably limited by the Great Depression. (Turn to page 239 to see the two in the collection.) It will be instructive to see at what price this ends.
02/14 Update: This sold for $405.
