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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

SCARCE Vintage Halloween Porcelain Jack o' Lantern Tea Set Cup Germany 1914-32!!

This wonderful seller is right - collectors who have discovered the visual allure of the Halloween tea set line produced in Germany from 1908 through 1932 buy and hold. Pieces, especially the cups without handles, once surfaced with some regularity, but like someone without enough roughage, that regularity is now missing! When you see these, especially solid examples offered by trust-worthy sellers, both of which we have here, snap them up.

Halloween Handled Small Tea Cup with Saucer Germany 1908-1932 JOL Face

Over the three decades I’ve been collecting vintage Halloween, various market segments have waxed and waned. Prices for tin have decreased with occasional signs of life. Germany candy containers still bring strong dollars but nothing like they used to bring. ( I suspect this downtrend for such items will continue.) Lanterns by and large have also lost luster. On the other side of the ledger, early Beistle, Dennison and Gibson products have sizzled. Small paper (invitations, place cards and tally cards) has had a phenomenal rise as have German porcelain items. This cup and saucer result is the latest indicator of the health of this market segment. The realized price is near 100% more than it would have been 2-3 years ago. I suspect these same segments will continue to weaken and strengthen as the first generation of collectors, who specialized in what are now the weaker segments, ride off into the sunset.

Antique German JOL Halloween Children's Tea Cup

I don’t believe this item is from any vintage porcelain tea set - German or Japanese. It looks amateurish, especially the teeth. I think this is the result of someone with a modicum of talent copying the features from an authentic cup, perhaps for their own amusement. It doesn’t have collectible value in terms of vintage Halloween.

02/22 Update: I’m glad no one seemed to be fooled by this fake. It sold for $58.00.

ANTIQUE HALLOWEEN - mini JACK-O-LANTERN pumpkin cup & saucer RARE

This is a doubly great item. The diminutive cup has a handle and the saucer is exceedingly rare. Although unmarked, these items are German-made. The Japanese made rather crude reproductions of only the basic items like the teapot, sugar and creamer. The Germans produced a wildly inventive range of these porcelain wares from 1908 through 1932. If I had to pick my top three segments of the vintage market, this segment would be amongst them. SGV for the handled cup is $125. SGV for the saucer is $175. The saucer was also produced with an orange and burnt orange finish. 

07/19 Update: This super combo sold for $344. 

RARE 1933 HALLOWEEN PAPER CUP w handle BEACH & ARTHUR SCARECROW PUMPKINS

Beach & Arthur of Indianapolis, Indiana made some of the most coveted party plates. Collectors love them due to their imaginative art and density of imagery. (To see some nice examples, please refer to pages 298-299.) Less known but just as exquisite are their other paper products like handled party cups. This listing is a good example of their output. 

"VINTAGE HALLOWEEN JOL1908-1932~GERMANY~CHILD'S JACK-O-LANTERN PORCELAIN TEA SET

I'm surprised this listing lasted as long as it did -and even then it was only a handful of hours. I was preparing to comment that someone should snap this up asap when the listing changed mid-post to indicate that someone had bought it. Kudos! This medium-sized tea cup is a just a tad harder to find than the smallest size, even though both are assigned a Relative Scarcity Index number of "3." The guide price, though, illustrates that difference. If you want to see the finest array of pieces from the various sized tea sets the Germans made early in the last century shown in any reference, pick up a copy of my newly revised and greatly enhanced third edition of Vintage Halloween Collectibles.