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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Exceedingly Rare Early 1920’s Vintage Beistle Halloween Tissue Paper Fan

I think this is an interesting Beistle design. I am certain the firm produced this for no longer than two seasons as they simply don’t come available often. I have seen fewer than ten examples in 34 years of collecting. The slight creasing at the grommets this great seller points out is always seen with these fans and shouldn’t be a concern to collectors. (In order to open the fan, that area will always be bent. It is simply part of the design.) The extraneous numerals in black are irksome but essentially not a big deal either. I suspect this will bring strong dollars. Be sure to check out the other items Chris is selling. They are all worthy of your attention.

halloween decorations vintage antique Witch And Cat Fan

It is nice to see a great item like this pop up on what has become a severely denuded forum for quality vintage Halloween material. Beistle produced this fan during the early 1920s with both black and orange honeycomb centers. (The orange center seems to be slightly harder to find.) It has been quite some time since I’ve seen one for sale, so if you are Beistle collector - and few Halloween collectors with taste aren’t - this may be your chance to acquire this exceedingly rare item. If this ends for anything less than $450, the buyer will have gotten a true bargain. Good luck!

04/26 Update: Whomever the buyer was got a solid deal in that the selling price was a mere $281.87. I am surprised by this result.

1920's Halloween Fan Black Cats Witches Made by Beistle of Shippensburg PA.

The pickings have been slim on eBay overall, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this exceedingly rare Beistle honeycomb fan up for auction. I have seen this fan only 3-4 times in nearly 30 years. The crease seen near the bottom is a result of the fan being used, unavoidable based on how it was designed. This is an early Beistle item. They made two iterations, one with a black honeycomb interior and one in orange, like this one. Both are valued equally. It has been a long while since one of these has surfaced, so it will be exciting to see what it fetches. Guide value is $450. 

4/11 Update: I don't understand this result, as this great and rare Beistle item only fetched $128.30.