The Germans produced an enormous number of heavily embossed diecuts during the 1920s and early 1930s. (A few were produced from ~1949-1953 as well…) This waving cat draws you right in, so it makes for a strong display element. Pair this with the waving skeleton shown on page 179 and you’ll have a killer diecut display. The condition appears to be near-mint or better. It’ll be fun to see what this friendly feline fetches.
Blog
Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Vintage Halloween Embossed Die Cut Ornament Black Cat in the Moon
Collectors should be cautious about spending more-than-average sums on sub-par items that surface regularly. This cat and crescent moon diecut was produced by Beistle for many years. It is not at all rare or even scarce. Yet, someone offered the seller $90 for it, which that seller probably gleefully accepted. The average selling price for these in better condition is ~$40-50.
Vintage Halloween Die Cut Germany 1930's 1940's Witch Antique Paper Square Htf
I was initially surprised at the high price this German windowpane diecut fetched but then I looked at its condition. The size of the four designs lends itself to bent corners, lots of missing surface paper and lots of crackling, but they are largely missing in this fine example. The diecuts were made in the 1930s. I am very happy the seller, a true collecting ace, received such a strong price. Prices for vintage Halloween on eBay have been on the soft side for a while now, making this result even more satisfying.
vintage Halloween decoration
Beistle produced a set of eight small diecuts during the early 1950s, of which this is one. It is a great set overall although there is one clinker - the maniacal clown. (You can see the full set on page 157.) The smoking JOL, the skull with the racing cap and the witches are truly super designs. Diecuts from this set have been bringing strong dollars for the last few years as collectors wake up to the set’s appeal.
UNCOMMON Antique Vintage Halloween Cat Diecut Decoration Germany, 1920s!!
This is a rare and desirable diecut, indeed. Don’t confuse this with its smaller cousins. This is a honker of a diecut - measuring over 19” high! The immediate tip-off that this is a rare seated cat German diecut is the wide mouth full of what appears to be razor-sharp teeth. This design nearly always includes an easel. It makes an eye-catching display.
VTG RARE Beistle PINK SKELETON W/ JACK-O-LANTERN ON HORSE Diecut HALLOWEEN 1960
I love this diecut - and am surprised I do. (My opinion has changed {matured?} since 2014.) The darker designs with ominous portent are those that appeal to me the most - and this is galaxies away from that design aesthetic. From my anecdotal pulsing of other collectors’ opinions of this design, I find it be divisive. Few are ambivalent. Others either love it or despise it. Beistle released this for the 1960-1962 seasons. I have grown to appreciate the weird colors and out-there design. Beistle produced similar designs during this small window leading me to believe they had hired - and soon parted ways with - an art design manager with an eccentric outlook. Given these don’t turn up that often, I also suspect it wasn’t a strong seller.
08/15 Update: This brought $189.50.
LARGE ANTIQUE VINTAGE BEISTLE PAPER MOON AND WITCH ON BROOM HALLOWEEN DECOR
Halloween values seem to be soft at the moment with exceptions, of course. The mystery here is why this broomed witch diecut, produced by Beistle during the early 1960s, has been bid up to $104.50 with a tad less than two days remaining. The condition is quite bad with more than some rubbing and creasing at the edges. There is a tape remnant in a prominent place and the witch’s hat is missing its pointed end.
I’ve noticed a trend of some sellers over-grading the condition of their wares. Being a collector of Bronze Age DC horror comics as well, I’m sensitive to how paper items should be graded. I almost never use descriptive terms like “mint” or certainly “dead mint.” When a seller uses such terms really peruse the item being sold. If it doesn’t meet that lofty condition threshold, call them out on it. Few truly vintage Halloween items will actually meet that threshold.
RARE VINTAGE HALLOWEEN EMBOSSED JOL WITH HANDS AND FEET GERMANY TABLE DECOR
This rare German diecut has surfaced twice in the last 18 months, in addition to this most recent listing. Both earlier listings ended at multiples of what this one brought. It could be due to overall condition, the fact that the seller started the listing at too high of an opening price, or simply the few collectors who really desired this desirable diecut and were willing to step up have been sated. Although our fun hobby has a larger collector base than ever, those willing to spend in excess of $1000 on any one item is quite small. This is one of the German diecut designs that was produced only in 1935 and shipped to the eastern area of Canada.
Antique Vintage Germany Halloween Diecut Decoration Owl, 1920s, Deeply Embossed
The Germans produced a solid variety of owl diecuts in this large size during the 1920s. Few are in such nice condition as this one. Yes, an area of the hand-painted beak highlights has disappeared, but that’s minor given how battered most of these sized diecuts are after 100 years of existence. The seller is a nice person, too!
VINTAGE HALLOWEEN GERMAN DIE-CUT 8 " TALL BLACK CAT PLAYING TROMBONE
The tip of one ear is definitely missing on this glazed, rather than matte, German diecut. As with almost all of the glazed diecuts from this period of the 1920s, the colors appear strong.
Vintage Devil Halloween Party Invitation
This is actually a diecut. Dennison produced this only for the 1926 and 1927 seasons. They assigned it a stock number of H444 and weirdly classified it as a “large cardboard cut-out,” while also reporting its height as 5”. This design is exceedingly rare and typically trades in the $250-300 range. Sadly, the condition of this example is so bad it will surely struggle to reach 10-15% of that level.
ANTIQUE HALLOWEEN GERMAN DIECUT BLACK CAT VINTAGE
The Germans made three designs of this cat face diecut. This one looks down, one looks to its left and one looks right at the viewer. There are other differences as well, namely teeth shape and hat design. This design is the hardest one to find. Contrary to the seller’s description, this is actually in pretty decent shape!
Vintage Halloween Germany Windowpane Diecut Decoration Owl Antique 1930s HTF
The Germans produced four windowpane designs. If you are going to see one design, chances are it will be this one, the owl. (You can see the others on page 170.) What makes this particular example noteworthy is its condition. It seems to have a minimal amount of surface paper loss and crackling. The seller states that this was produced during the 1930s. Although that cited date is more often than not correct, it isn’t in this case. There is a black circular mark on the reverse of the diecut that indicates it was made during an interval of 1946-1949 in an occupied zone of Germany. This shouldn’t have a material difference on valuation.
06/10 Update: This fetched $732.53.
Vintage Halloween Die Cut Wall Decor WITCH w/ Cat & Pot m/ in U.S.A is 17 " Tall
I wanted to write about this design as it differs from most of Beistle’s output from that time - the mid-1950s through the early-1960s. This diecut was made for many seasons and is common. The design sensibility is not. Most of Beistle’s output at this time was cartoonish as the market swung sharply toward satisfying the nascent tastes of children and their parents’ desire to create a fun, light-hearted decorating environment so consistent with that relatively carefree time. It seems that some Beistle art director reached back in time for the imagery that caused so many units to be sold in stores throughout the United States. The witch and cat are cute but not entirely devoid of some level of menace. (I especially like the witch’s skull top button.) After this time, Beistle sagged into Halloween design obsolescence, not to really emerge with any consistency until they wised up and began re-releasing their 1930s greatest hits 10-15 years ago, with these sufficiently tweaked so that the newly released designs didn’t interfere with the secondary collector’s market.
Vintage Halloween Diecut Small Black Cat face with hat, Germany
I was surprised to see this diecut garner so many bids and dollars. Both ears should have sharp points. The ear on the left as you look at the diecut seems blunted. In any event, the Germans produced at least three versions of this diecut. The hats on each differ. One looks at you (this one…), one looks down and one looks to one side. The one looking down is exceedingly rare. I’ve only seen it once - when I purchased it.
