Blog

Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Antique 1940s Halloween Party Invitation Black Cats Pumpkin Unused 4.5x 3” VTG

Whitney was an organization that seemingly didn’t prioritize organization. They manufactured boxes for both place cards and invitations designed to hold ten items plus their envelopes. The contents of any box, though, was a crapshoot. Like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, a buyer never knew what they were actually buying. Whitney would load each box with whatever was at hand. Sometimes all ten invitations would be identical, sometimes the box contained an assortment. The assortment would be truly that - sometimes there would be cats and sometimes witches. I’ve seen MANY complete boxes of Whitney place cards and invitations and seldom, if ever, were the contents consistent. What I have noticed is that their place cards and invitations featuring witches are far less common than the ones featuring cats. This penchant for running their business so loosely may have contributed to their demise. Whitney was toast by 1942.

Vintage Halloween Place Cards Four Cats On Fences - Rare Great Condition

This set of place cards was produced by Whitney during the 1930s. The full set of six is shown on page 273. This seller shows the rare glassine envelope. The information from the envelope indicates that Whitney sold two sets of these place cards in one envelope. They probably sold these as one set in one envelope early one, then switched to greater quantities per envelope as the design aged. I’m speculating but that would be consistent with practices by other producers.

Vintage Halloween Placecards Cats on Fences Rare!

These five colorful place cards were produced by Whitney during the 1930s and were sold only as a complete set of six in glassine envelopes. The one missing shows an arched-back cat similar to the one at the lower right, only facing right. The complete set can be seen on page 273.

09/18 Update: This incomplete set brought $187.50.

Whitney Vintage Halloween House of Fate Ghost Fortune Telling Card

No better illustration exists of the crapshoot nature of eBay than this result. So many collectors, including me, were asleep at the switch when this listing ended, surely thinking it will go to the nosebleed levels cards from this series have been bringing, that we missed out on an opportunity to acquire an example at a reasonable price. Hence, it ended at $125.95 surely to the pure delight of the buyer and the consternation of the seller.

Vintage Whitney House of Fate Witch Fortune Telling Card Halloween Decor

Any of the House of Fate cards are desirable and very rarely surface. It was exciting to see this listing. This card comes from a series manufactured by Whitney in the early 1930s that they called The House of Fate. The cards are superbly designed with pull-away roofs containing the printed fortune. I believe that nine constitute the complete set, although that is just a guess. At first glance, the differing base designs look similar. However, when you closely examine the cards, there are always very minute differences present. I'm puzzled as to why Whitney would have introduced these subtle differences. It doesn’t seem cost effective. Perhaps we'll never know. Whitney went out of business in 1942. (Check out the eight examples on page 278.) The last one on eBay sold in September 2018 for $550, a truly out-there result. What will happen with this listing?

06/22 Update: This sold for $535. Wow! I’ll sell all of mine in one fell swoop for $500 each. Contact me.

HALLOWEEN INVITATIONS/ W BOX

This seems to be a nice collection of unused Whitney invitations, with a box included. Whitney, which permanently shuttered in 1942, didn’t have a methodology for filling their boxes. It seems they would randomly fill each box with 10 invitations. Sometimes the contents were identical, sometimes there were two of each design, sometimes three of each design plus a kicker - you never knew. I’ve seen many such boxes over the years. I will see five of any of the cat designs to one of any of the witch designs, meaning the Whitney witch invitations are much harder to find than any of the cats.

01/28 Update: This sold for $145.50.

*1930s Halloween Party Invitation Card Tri Fold witch black cat jack-o-lantern 1

This is a tough invitation to find. Whitney produced it during the late 1920s. The seller has two of them up for a BIN of $60 each. Even though the interior is full of writing, for those for whom this isn’t a bother the price is a solid bargain, as these typically trade for $125 and up.

12/15 Update: Both were snapped up within a short time after publication of my post.

NEAR MINT RARE Vintage Halloween House of Fate Fortune Paper Card, Whitney 1930s

I love the House of Fate fortunes issued by Whitney during the early 1930s. What I’ve discovered about these little design treasures is that every single one I’ve ever examined is subtly (sometimes very subtly) different than any other. If you compare the one being offered for sale by this wonderful seller by the ones shown on page 278, you may think it is identical to the one shown at middle left or bottom right. You’d be wrong. For reasons I don’t understand, the lines comprising the windows are subtly different as are the lines and shapes of the lowest roof border. (Take out a magnifying glass and see for yourself.) Now, in terms of value and desirability, I acknowledge this is a distinction without a difference, but isn’t it a mystery? Why would Whitney have printed so many meaningless variations? That said, these are VERY desirable items. It’ll be fun to see what this brings.

07/30 Update: This brought the near-record price of $385.22!

WHITNEY 1920's PUMPKIN CAR DRIVEN BY WITCH INVITATION unused HALLOWEEN

I can’t say enough good things about this seller. I’ve had the pleasure of doing business with him for years and he is fantastic. I appreciate the care with which he describes his items and the many excellent photos that accompany his listings. (How I wish all eBay sellers would follow his lead!)
This awesome Whitney invitation is one of three designs that comprise a full set. Produced during the early 1920s, each is very hard to find, lending credence to the notion they were made for a single season. I hope this brings strong dollars.

04/28 Update: This sold for a very strong $425.

Vintage Halloween Labels Witch Design Original Box

The seller left a tidy sum on the proverbial table by offering this rare boxed set of Whitney seals as a BIN for $32. Surprisingly, the listing lasted ~2.5 hours before some knowledgeable soul snapped the set up. These green-boxed Whitney seal sets have become quite desirable.

Antique Whitney's Halloween Novelty Spinning Place Cards w/ Fortune BOX ONLY

This box is that rare Whitney non-postcard item actually marked. Even though this box is empty, it makes a great display piece. As I write on page 273, “The contents are fairly plain, consisting of twelve place cards, twelve wood spindles and two sheets with six fortunes per sheet.” The box is in nice shape with a single break along one long edge and no distressed corners. This is worth acquiring.

VTG 1930's? HALLOWEEN PARTY INVITATION OPENS DIE CUT DOOR CAT WITCH UNUSED

This incredible invitation is part of a set of at least three produced by Whitney during the early 1920s. (One shows a cat on the stoop, while the other has an owl on the stoop. This one is the most populated and, in my opinion, the very best.) As I forecast some time ago, small paper has become a white-hot market segment. This same seller sold another one of these in September of 2018 for $495. Most collectors I know have decidedly moved on from lanterns and many candy containers to concentrate on small paper (invitations, place cards, tallies and nut cups) made by a wide variety of manufacturers and diecuts made by Dennison, Gibson and Beistle. As the first generation of serious collectors leave the stage, defined as those who began collecting in earnest during the 1960s, the market will see a relatively large influx of lanterns and candy containers become available. Few first, second or even third generation collectors concentrated on paper goods, so few collections richly featuring such items will be coming to market in the near to medium-term. My analysis routinely indicates that certain market segments will slacken while others grow even more competitive. The small paper market segment, for one, will continue to see price increases that will outstrip, maybe far outstrip, price increases seen elsewhere.