I don’t feel this is a vintage item. Without the benefit of personal examination I can’t be sure, but nothing seems right about this item. I’ve never seen the JOL face. All of the ones I’ve seen have a ghost face that can be seen on page 62. The wear patterns seem off. The bottom opening is too small. Remember these items were attached to feet on a round wood base via a spring. The point would be to have them “dance” when tapped, so the opening at the bottom was all the way to the hem, not simply a rough hole like this one possesses.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Antique Early 1900’s GHOST DANCER Halloween Bobble Toy German Scarce Halloween
This has a strangely lumpish look to it. The detailing present in other similar items I’ve seen is absent in this item. This is especially noticeable with the feet. All unquestionably vintage such items I’ve seen have slightly pointed heads, rather than the smooth one this item has. Overall, the molding looks primitive. Ask the seller lots of questions.
06/12 Update: This questionable items was included as part of a two-item lot. That lot sold for $125. I remain unconvinced as to its vintage nature.
08/25 Update: The same seller sold another one of these ghost dancers as part of a three-item lot on August 22 for $381, strengthening my belief that the dancer is not a vintage item.
Vintage Beistle Halloween Jack-O-Lantern Man--Honeycomb Arms & Legs! Excellent!
This rare Beistle dancer was made between 1925 and 1931. The seller sold this at the wrong time of the year. Sold during the prime selling season of May through September, this would almost surely have realized between $350-450.
Old Halloween Honeycomb Hallowe'en Dancing Witch 7-24 inch Stretch Org. Package
Beistle made this design for many seasons (1928-1937) so they come up for sale with some regularity. They typically change hands for $60 so the ending price here is puzzling. Yes, the presence of the near-plain glassine envelope is unusual but does it justify the huge premium seen in the ending price? I don't think so, but two determined bidders felt differently. I wonder if the underbidder is more relieved than unhappy? I know I'd be.
08/31 Update: The underbidder contacted me to say that she was indeed relieved not to have been the prevailing bidder. She bid her max amount never thinking someone would come in anywhere near that figure.
But here is the view of the buyer who is quite happy with the purchase - and isn't that what collecting is all about? "Your recent blog post, regarding the witch dancer and its original glassine envelope, has prompted my response. I was the prevailing bidder in this auction.
This is the earliest packaging I've seen-in all probability 1927-1929. Later output was housed in plain, unprinted glassine envelopes. Dull as it may be it is quite extraordinary to view nonetheless in its near mint condition. The glassine envelope is void of tears and crumpling -it's apparently perfect-which in my opinion is remarkable in and of itself.
This uniquely rare packaging variant in conjunction with a mint, unused, witch dancer certainly justifies the price realized. In my opinion this was a steal. In fact, if the underbidder hadn't been active, the prevailing bid would have been $71.99 -chump change."
