I was surprised by this result. I am thrilled for the fine seller who through her photographic and descriptive efforts attained top (TOP) dollar for her consignor. I feel this is simply the result of some long-ago end-user imaginatively taking a table card (We know now that this is a hard-to-find design.) and using glue to attach it to a generic match box. It would then be placed on a table as a useful prize or souvenir of a Halloween party. This is known as a married piece. A common example of married piece components is when an end-user would glue a small German compo item to an otherwise unremarkable wood ratchet to create something with more eye-appeal and oomph.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Vintage HALLOWEEN c1950 OWL NOISEMAKER Rachet.
I feel this is a married item. The heavily embossed owl diecut would typically be found on both sides of a clapper noisemaker as shown on page 196. I’ve not seen this combination before, leading me to think that someone just attached it to a generic ratchet. The marketplace seems to have shared my doubts as it only fetched $49.
GERMAN JOL HALLOWEEN COMPOSITION PAPER MACHE MAN FIGURE OLD CREEPY PUMPKIN HEAD
This is an obvious married item, meaning in this case that the head was not originally manufactured with the body. The top does appear to be a vintage lithoed paper over cardboard JOL head, probably off of a wood clacker. The body is an amateurish glob, not at all consistent with anything commercially produced.
early vintage German Halloween Black Cat Papier Mache Nodder in Clown Suit
Although this vendor typically sells quality, "right" items, I suspect that this is a married piece - meaning that two separate items have been incorrectly joined together to form one whole piece. I have seen the clown body many times and have never seen it joined with a cat's head. The bold black of the head contrasts with the muted white and pink of the body in a very jarring way, reinforcing my belief that this is a married piece. These two data points, along with the fact that the head is loose, makes the conclusion of it being married and unworthy of being in anyone's collection seem inescapable to me.
