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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

32 Pieces Vintage Halloween Decorations Posters Embossed Pieces

This lot achieved a lofty ending price even though the condition of most of the lot’s elements was only fair. The key driver was almost certainly the Dennison JOL-headed traffic officer. First produced in 1930 right when the first effects of what would become The Great Depression were being felt, relatively few were produced. (I have a good friend who has been searching for one in collectible condition for years.) The dancing witch poster is a mystery. I’ve never seen it before.

Vintage Halloween Skeleton Jack o lantern Owl Cats Lot

I sure wish I could have been at that estate sale and snatched these items right up! The buyer almost surely got a tremendous bargain. Not only are the 1930-1 Beistle lanterns a key find, but the assortment of German diecuts is quite nice. Don’t let the small bat escape your notice. The lot has already been bid up to $356. It has a lot of room to run.

Vintage Original Beistle / H.E. Luhrs Halloween Decorations Tabletop decor, Hang

There are so many wonderful things in this lot that the seller did themselves a real disservice by lumping everything together. The table top Beistle witch with the black honeycomb skirt is exceedingly rare. I think this may be only the second time I’ve seen one. In my opinion, that alone would have gotten close to the ending price for the lot if it had been offered separately.

Antique, Vintage 1930’s -1940’s Lot of Holiday Halloween Decorations, Mask Games

This seller seemingly put a jumble of items in poor condition together and hoped for the best. Sharp-eyed collectors would have noticed the glint of true gold amidst the mica flakes. Lurking at the very top unheralded is a rare Beistle band hat. It is rare enough that I don’t recall seeing the design before. Whomever bought the lot could burn everything but the band hat and still make out just fine.

Vintage Halloween Decorations From Early 1900’s

I’ve received a lot of emails about this listing, with many writers curious as to why it brought such a high price. Well, at least two sharp-eyed bidders saw the treasure in this lot and were willing to go high to mine it. The primo item is the exceedingly rare Dennison diecut of the witch and skeleton in a hot air balloon. (The one in the collection is shown on page 144.) The seller provided low-end, haphazard photographs. One of the underbidders asked for, and received, better photographs and detailed descriptions of the diecuts that really mattered: the aforementioned hot air balloon, the green cat and purple and yellow owl. All of these were made by Dennison around 1930. Dennison material, including small paper, from this period is exceedingly rare and highly desirable. I’m not surprised this odd lotting brought what it did.

HALLOWEEN PARTY FAVORS 1940's LOT of 7

The stars of this lot are the two nut cups at the bottom made by Dennison. The complete set has four pieces, all of which can be seen at the bottom of page 260. These first appeared in their 1929 Price List pamphlet.