This result is a mystery. Two nut cups with this same design sold recently from this same fine seller: one on 8/2 for $158.50 and one on 8/13 for $139.50. Just a tad over one month later five nut cups plus the envelope sell for a song. (The set was incomplete, but still…) Can we chalk this up to the vagaries of eBay? The buyer of this lot received a true bargain.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
RARE Vintage Halloween Envelope Only for Owl & Bat Diecuts, Beistle Early 1920s!
There are at least three iterations of this envelope. The earliest one, dating from the early 1920s, is white and has no markings indicating it was produced by Beistle. This iteration, made from a medium-weight cardboard, is the rarest, and in my opinion, the most desirable. I upgraded from the one shown on page 145 in 2009 to this first variant. I haven’t seen it since. The second iteration is the one shown on page 145, made from orange tissue and having no manufacturer’s marks. The third iteration, being offered on eBay, is also made from orange tissue, but has the diamond mark. This iteration was produced between 1925 and 1931, probably toward the latter part of that range. Beistle produced this packaged duo for many seasons.
08/07 Update: This sold for just $125.50.
VERY RARE VINTAGE 1923 BEISTLE HALLOWEEN FAIRY CLOCK ENVELOPE MADE IN U. S. A.
What treasures are coming to light! It must be that time of the year. Beistle was deservedly known as a firm that often took as much care in their packaging as with the items contained within. Many of their envelopes, like this one for their 1923 fairy clock, are works of art. Few of these envelopes survived, and those that did are typically found in the same condition as this one - rough. Even so, I expect this will do well. I’ll be monitoring…
09/21 Update: This sold for $405, not as well as I had expected.
Vintage 1920’s Halloween Set Of 4 Tally Bridge Cards Cat Witch Owl Bat Rare
These tally cards with the four iconic images were produced by Beistle for too many years and in several packaging iterations. I also suspect they were sold singly in stationary stores. If you are going to see an example of Beistle’s small paper output, chances are very high you will see one of these four designs. They almost always have the now-pink ribbons. Frankly, the most interesting part of this listing is the envelope. I wish it was in better shape.
Vintage Halloween Tally Cards original pack of 5, bat, owl, witch, etc. 1950's ?
I hadn’t seen this particular packaging before viewing this listing. Beistle produced their tallies for many years in at least two sizes - and in several kinds of packaging, but this small windowed envelope was a new variant. I feel this nice set is from the later 1920s as the packaging is quite similar to a stunt game shown on page 17.
HALLOWEEN BEISTLE FLAMING HALLOWE'EN FORTUNE GAME EARLY READ RARE $379.99
This is the first time I’ve seen a cardboard envelope associated with this classic Beistle game. Whenever I’ve seen this game’s envelope, it is made from glassine. As with so many of Beistle’s envelopes, it is beautifully rendered and functional. The game itself was produced no later than 1931 and had two variants - one with six flaming fortunes and the other with twelve flaming fortunes.
Vintage Halloween Scratch Jointed Black Cat Beistle Original Envelope c1920s
If you ever have a chance to acquire an early Beistle envelope like this one, jump on it. By the ending price, it is evident that at least two people understood just how rare and desirable early envelopes are. This isn’t even one of Beistle’s masterpieces. Take a look at the Hallowe’en Elf envelope on page 125 to see what is arguably the pinnacle of their artistic care of something truly meant to be disposable.
Vintage Halloween Rare Beistle "Who's a Dumbskull?" Game and Envelop
This is a rare chance for someone to acquire not only the harder-to-find version of this Beistle “I’m A Dumbskull Stunt Game” but the envelope as well. I’ve seen about 10 such envelopes in 32 years and this is one of the best. Yes, there is toning to the front and a small tear, but considering it was used to house a game made in 1930-1931, the condition is super. There were two versions of the game made - the differences are detailed on page 17. The seller is a long-time, knowledgeable collector with whom you should feel very comfortable doing business.
09/03 Update: This brought $212.49.
1925 SET OF 3 Beistle Nut Cups Honeycomb Favors Baskets RARE VTG Halloween
I feel $1200 is an enormous sum to pay for this trio of favor baskets. Beistle produced four designs of this size from 1927 through 1931. The best design, the witch wearing a dress decorated with skulls, is not amongst this trio. Even at $300 each, the envelope isn’t worth the remaining $300. It might be if it was something to look at, but being a plain glassine envelope limits its appeal and brings the “wow” factor down to nothing.
Beistle Halloween Hallowe'en Place Cards Witch Broom Decoration Envelope 1920s
Beistle issued at least two packaging variations containing these place cards meant to be suspended from the edge of a glass. Both have the same stock number, 584, but one enveloped set contained six place cards whereas this one contained ten place cards. However, both should contain an assortment, whereas the set on offer here contains all witches. A proper assortment would contain three designs - a witch, a black cat and a ghost.
Vintage Early 1930's Dennison's Halloween Envelope for Pumpkin Heads (0) Pumpkin
The seller must be ecstatic with this result. Although Beistle enveloped goods are hard to come by, $152.50 for an empty envelope seems excessive.
Vintage Orig. 1923 "Halloween Party Decorations" 30 Pcs. Beistle Co. Org. Env.
Beistle made three iterations of their 1923 party set: boxed, enveloped and in a booklet form. (The latter was produced with both orange pages and white pages. The color of the pages doesn't seem to impact value.) The boxed and enveloped sets are quite a bit harder to find than the booklet form. The envelopes of the enveloped set are nearly always in poor shape, as was this example. Still, it nearly reached SGV of $400.
Vintage Halloween Catalog "Dennison's Bogie Book" 1915 w/Mailing Envelope
This listing featuring both the 1915 Dennison Bogie Book itself plus the exceedingly rare 1915 enclosure is the third time this has surfaced within about seven months. Guide value for the duo is $775. The duo listed in July 2016 fetched ~$838. The duo listed in August 2016 fetched ~$810. Comparing condition of the two from last year to this one, this is in third place, the least best. Both the envelope and the Bogie Book have much more wear showing. SGV is $775, but the condition here may work against this listing from achieving that sustainable level. It'll be fun to see where this ends.
03/14 Update: As I suspected, this set in fair condition ended well below SGV - at $556.99. Condition is so important that there was almost a 33% decline in the money this brought compared to the only previous two examples sold on eBay.
Old Vintage BEISTLE - HALLOWEEN HATS - Envelope/Wrapper - Halloween Party
Lavishly decorated envelopes like this one was one way that Beistle differentiated themselves from their competitors in the marketplace. Nice as these envelopes were, most end-consumers tossed them after liberating the contents, hence the rarity of finding one for sale. Even though this one survived through the decades, it wasn't like it looked like Dorian Gray after the journey. This one was, as the seller aptly described it, in poor condition and the ending price reflected that. If one in perfect condition was to surface, I have no doubt it would have brought up to 10 times what this one did.
Antique Original 1915 Dennison's Bogie Book Halloween Decorations w/ Envelope
When it rains it pours! Funny how things work. When I bought the one in the collection 3-4 years ago I had never seen one before in any reference or in any collection. One was listed a few weeks ago and now this third one has surfaced. The set that ended recently sold for a reasonable $838 but the enclosure was in arguably lesser condition.
09/18 Update: This sold for $809.99. The sustainable value tracks closely with guide value of $775 for both items - the Bogie Book itself and the exceedingly rare enclosure.
