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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Vintage HALLOWEEN Greeting STANDEE Cards SET OF FIVE 5 Different HALLOWE'EN

I have never seen these Whitney designs before. Typically, they are on a circular base with rats running around the perimeter and stand with the help of a wire-backed prop. This standee form is unusual and rare. (Basically, at this stage I feel that anything I haven't seen before is rare! :)) I would have liked to see the reverse of each. I know that many Whitney designs were recycled during the 1990s. Although I feel these are older, seeing the backs would have helped. Whitney was pretty good about marking their postcards, but were awful about marking much else. Were these marked in any way? 

Vintage Halloween Invitation Fold-Open Pumpkins, Witch Scary Cat, Owls, Bats

I haven't seen this invitation offered for quite some time. This was produced by Whitney during the later 1920s. It is one of their stronger designs. Dennison produced many tri-fold designs, but it was atypical for Whitney to do so. The art is compelling and I like the use of color. (The green bat - yes green - is a truly nice touch!) Small paper has been a very hot sub-genre for about 18 months - and I expect it not only to continue to be so but to get even hotter. These small artistic gems are finally getting the recognition due them. 

This brought an incredibly strong, albeit unsustainable, $90.15. 

Vintage Halloween Invitation, Haunted Pumpkin House, Scary Cat, Ghost, Bats

This awesome invitation was issued by Whitney in the early 1920s. I have never seen it before. I love the 3-D effect given by the protruding steps and the open door. The hatch work at the window can be seen in other fantastic Whitney products - namely the highly desirable and oh-so-hard to find "House of Fate" fortune cards. Eight examples of the latter can be found on page 278. Another thing that makes this listing special is the seller. She has long been associated with vintage Halloween items and is very knowledgeable ... friendly and honest too!

02/14 Update: The small paper item sub-genre is on fire! Who would have ever projected this would end up fetching $222.50 with multiple bidders near that level? Maybe it is time I part with my House of Fate cards! 

1940's Halloween Black Cats on Stockade Fence Cut Outs Stand-Ups Interlocking

These fence table decorations, largely made by Whitney, are nearly impossible to find in mint condition. This complete set of four pieces was made during the late 1920s and sold with stock number 2348. This set has the typical weakness to the section hooks, plus appears to have some color toning issues. Still, overall this is a very desirable decoration that has a SGV of $275. What makes it more desirable than some others is that each section is different. To save money, Whitney often produced fences with either identical sides or with only two different designs per four-piece set. The seller has started this low with no reserve. This augurs well for ending at or above SGV. 

02/08 Update: The listing ended well below SGV - $209.50. 

Group of 6 Different Antique Halloween Placards with Moon and Black Cat

This well-designed complete set of six place cards was made by Whitney during the 1930s. I have long appreciated the differences in each one of the six including the different expressions of the moon. In order to make it easy for each to stand on a table, the sides of each card bend inward - a nice touch. This set used to surface more regularly than now. It is a tough set to find with no extraneous markings or missing pieces. Sustainable guide value is $185 for the set. 

01/17 Update: The set brought $227.50, a nearly 23% premium to SGV. One hasn't surfaced in some time, so if another were to come up for sale in the same condition, I would expect the price to normalize to the $185 SGV. 

Vtg Halloween Flying Witch Seals Stickers In Tiny Box Like Dennison Fabulous!

This small box of seals was produced by Whitney during the 1920s. The market leader for such boxed seals was Dennison by a wide margin, followed by Gibson and their simpler yet somewhat quirkier designs. Whitney was definitely out of their element in making these sets. The art is flat and uninteresting. They rarely marked these boxes, whether out of shame or expediency I cannot say. Dennison boxed sets were produced in relatively high numbers and had a national distribution. Gibson less so and Whitney even less so. Although hard to find, especially complete, these typically change hands for around $100 per box, so the buyer paid a premium here. 

Vintage Halloween Witch Fortune Telling Card

These fortune place cards rarely come up for sale, especially when unused and complete. Made by Whitney in the 1920s, it would be fair to say that the market currently values these in the $65-70 price range, given that the seller offered five individually and ending within a short time of each other. This somewhat precise valuation for items that rarely appear seldom happens. 

MINT Rare Whitney Halloween 4 Piece Table Decoration JOL Vegetable People Fence

09/09 Update: Unfortunately, this turned out to be a complete fake! The buyer contacted me when he received it, concerned that it didn't seem right. I asked him to ship it to me for my personal examination. I received it today and his concerns were justified. Here is what I wrote to the buyer: 

I received the package this morning containing the fence and its envelope. I just now carefully examined the contents. They are, without a doubt, fake.

The envelope is the clumsiest part of the fake. The forger took pains to make it look old with ersatz staining and portions missing from under the flap. The wear and the missing portions are inconsistent with true age and true usage. The forger is not good – and we should be grateful for that. You can actually see a blue line along the left obverse side like they decided to repurpose some other paper. The weight of the paper is inconsistent with every truly genuine Whitney envelope I possess and have examined. The greater size of the numerals, 77, is inconsistent with every truly genuine Whitney envelope I possess and have examined.

The four fence sections are also poor copies. They are on paper weight that is much too thin. The colors are washed out. There is a lack of the detailing that my authentic set possesses. The trimming done on the fakes is poor and inconsistent with authentic examples.

The fakery is consistent with the garbage I’ve seen two eBay sellers pawn off as genuine on unsuspecting buyers for years now: shadowtown and curiousimp.  

I am distressed that another nice vintage set has been faked! You cannot be too careful these days!

Importantly, I have spoken with the seller who, I completely believe, was duped himself when this item was purchased some years ago. He immediately refunded the buyer's purchase price. He and his wife are long-time generalist antiques collectors who, like the rest of us, can't be expected to know a lot about every collecting genre. I only wish other sellers, when learning they had been duped, were as upstanding and as responsive as this fine seller. 

Vintage Halloween Party Table Decorations - Witches & Black Cats - 8

It was interesting to see what this lot brought. The lot consists of two four-sided light cardboard interlocking centerpieces, one comprised of four different vignettes showing cats on fence sections while the other is comprised of two different sides showing witches. Both were made by Whitney during the 1920s. These four-sided centerpieces seldom surface, and when they do they are invariably damaged in some way, most commonly by missing or creased tabs. Of the two, the cat centerpiece is more desirable and marginally more rare. Guide value for both together is $475, so these brought what I would have expected. 

7 Old 1930's Halloween Party Place Card Candy Nut Cups w Original Box - Whitney

I was fortunate to get mint examples of these superb 1920s Whitney nut cups from this seller a couple of months ago when he was selling individual items for $40 each.(Some also double as place cards.) These are exceedingly rare. I've not seen most of these ever before, so I was thrilled to get them. Whitney designs tend to be rather static overall, so these are a welcome departure from the norm. Whitney was out of business by 1942. 

Original Halloween Multiple Cats On Fence Centerpiece & Envelope

This sub-genre, Whitney fences, is a particular favorite of mine. This was made in the later 1920s out of light-weight cardboard delicate enough that you assemble then disassemble at your peril. Bottom line: Put it together the way you want it and never touch it again except to gently move it to dust underneath. (That is assuming you dust at all!) Different from so many Whitney designs, each of the four sides is completely different. Somewhat later they got lazy and either had 2 and 2 designs or four identical sides. The last thing to look for when buying these fences is that all the tabs are present. This example meets the test. 

Vintage Halloween Deacon Thomas Cat Mechanical Tombstone Card, Cats

This awesome mechanical card made by Whitney rarely surfaces, especially in this condition. Given how they were designed to be used, most were long ago torn and ruined. I wish that I had seen this card with its rare motif, but take comfort from the fact that the buyers are great friends! Given just how cool this is, and considering that much more common plates and napkins are bringing head-shakingly high amounts of cash, I am shocked this didn't sell for a MUCH higher price.