I concur with this fine and knowledgeable seller that the humorous graphics are among the best in all of Halloween tin litho. Bugle strove to be in the vanguard of tin litho design. The bikini-clad woman juxtaposed with the crone on the other side of the fence is clever. The bug-eyed cat seems to agree!
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
VINTAGE! UNUSUAL HALLOWEEN GERMAN TIN RATCHET NOISEMAKER - DEVIL, WITCH & CROW!
When I was browsing the listings I saw this and thought, “I haven’t seen this Japanese ratchet design in some time.” When I took a closer look and realized it was actually produced in Germany, my eyebrows raised in pleasant surprise. Seeing this design from Japan is good, but seeing the much rarer (and I feel, more desirable…) German version is a true treat. The added kicker are the sellers. You’d be hard-pressed to interact with two nicer people.
Kirchhof Tin Halloween Noisemaker Witch Riding Broom Angry Black Cat Face Bats +
This has to be the cleanest example of this rare Kirchhof ratchet I’ve seen.
10/10 Update: This sold for $610.51.
Vintage Unusual Halloween Occult Party Dancers Round Ratchet Tin Noisemaker
Don’t overlook this little gem produced by Chein during the 1920s. The choice of colors is odd given that they don’t connote anything to indicate it is a Halloween scene, but if you look closely the conclusion is unavoidable.
Vintage Halloween Ratchet Noisemaker Tin Nice Witch MAKE OFFER
The buyer made a solid purchase scooping up this rare variant of a T.Cohn tin litho ratchet for a mere $18. I don't know if I've ever seen this design with its very pleasing inclusion of green. I love it and will keep an eye out for one for the collection.
Vintage Halloween Theme Party Noise Maker, early 1950's
Chein produced this hard-to-find noisemaker during the 1920s, patterned directly after their party scene tambourine. There are subtle differences between the two aside from coloration. Because blue and yellow are not colors traditionally associated with Halloween, collectors sometime overlook this little gem. This particular one is in rough condition, so hold off for a better one. The seller may have found it in a box with a 1950s date, but this was produced ~25 years earlier.
Vintage Halloween Wooden Handle Ratchet Tin Noisemaker Made In USA
This ratchet was produced by Bugle Toy of Providence, Rhode Island. Item for item, Bugle made the most interesting, avant-garde designs of the major manufacturers. The overall number of their tin designs was small but collectors covet them, so prices have been firm, very different from most tin litho noisemakers that have seen sharp price declines. Sometimes Bugle had the wood handle at the witch's hat, as in this example, and sometimes at the base of the JOL. Placement is not material to value.
Halloween Antique: JACK-O-LANTERN GERMAN WOODEN RATCHET NOISEMAKER, 1910's-20's
Exercise much caution when purchasing these decorated German wood ratchets. The plain ratchets themselves were made in huge quantities, and many remain extant. What some dealers do is marry a plain, vintage wood ratchet with a vintage, but otherwise not connected, Halloween decoration and sell the resulting union as an original. Now, I don't believe that was done for the item shown here that sold for $189, but this marrying frenzy is something to keep in mind when you are shopping for items in this genre.
Vintage Art Deco Halloween Tin Litho Noisemaker Ratchet Bugle
The seller offered this great Bugle Toy tin litho ratchet for $19.90 via a BIN option. Bugle made some of the most out-there or avant-garde designs of all the major tin litho toy producers. Some of their imagery is wacky, while others, like this ratchet, are highly stylized. These typically trade in a band of $50-70.
Vintage ANTIQUE Made In Germany Halloween Man In The Moon METAL Noisemaker
Can you imagine a mainline toy manufacturer making something with this image today? Times sure have changed - and for the better! This odd design occupies one side of a thin tin ratchet made in Germany during the early 1930s.
VINTAGE TIN LITHO HALLOWEEN NOISE MAKER WITCH/JACK O LANTERN/BAT WOODEN HANDLE
Piece for piece, I think Bugle Toy of Providence, Rhode Island made the quirkiest tin litho items around. The firm's design sensibility seems off-kilter, no doubt helping to make their tin litho items as collectibles as they are today. Bugle also produced lithoed paper over cardboard noisemakers, but these seem to have been produced by a wholly different firm as these items are devoid of creativity, bland and eminently forgettable.
Vintage Tin Metal Noise Maker Toy.....'Witch & Pumpkin'
I think this was a bargain for $12.72. As I write about such items in my third edition: "These scrap items were typically made at the end of a shift using whatever could be salvaged from the leftover tin litho. They were then sold as irregulars, garnering at least a little money for the manufacturer from what otherwise would have simply gone to waste."
1910-1930’s WOOD CARVED HALLOWEEN STANDING CAT GERMAN RATCHET CLICKER TOY
The seller made a mistake when listing this as an item from the 1910s through the 1930s. I think he/she meant to say that it was made off-shore, probably in China, in 2014.
Vintage HALLOWEEN Toy Black Cat Noisemaker Clacker Composition Pa Dutch German
These primitive ratchets are abundant, especially this kind where there is a minimum of composition and an otherwise undistinguished wood ratchet. Given the plainness of this ratchet and the damage to the ear, the seller is surely dreaming asking $650 as a BIN price. In my opinion, the value is merely the opening bid of $75.
