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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Vintage 1920s Halloween Invitation, Pop Up Witch, Cauldron, Cats, Ghouls, Unused

I sure have received a lot of traffic related to the ending price of this well-designed, colorful and very rare invitation. One long-time reader asked me what I thought. Here was my reply: "The sub-genre of small paper has been on fire for the last year or more. I see the trend continuing and strengthening. The high prices may be drawing forth heretofore unseen examples of the sub-genre. The item you mention is one I had never seen before. The lushness of the design and color evoked great interest. The springboard seems to have been at the $165 level. Three committed pursuers escalated the bids to the final level. Do I think that is a sustainable price? No. If others were to surface, I think the price would settle to $250 then be sustainable at $200." 

Thanks to the excellent memory of a long-time reader, I was reminded that two examples of this invitation were sold through Dunbar Gallery in 1997 at the second Hugh Luck auction. 

VTG 1925 BEISTLE HONEYCOMB WITCH & CAT CAULDRON BASKET HALLOWEEN DECORATION

And the pleasurable avalanche of quality Beistle continues...It is great to see such a wealth of vintage Halloween being made available for sale this season. This favor basket, one of four designs of this size, doesn't come up for sale often. Issued by Beistle from 1927-1931, these survivors are hardy specimens as these favor baskets are inherently fragile with their honeycomb bases. Turn to page 225 to see all four to the set. 

10/23 Update: This sold for a surprisingly low price - $170.17. 

Rare Halloween Paper Mechanical Decoration "Sacred Be Ye Fire O Halloween"

This early mechanical was made in the United States by an unidentified firm with an interestingly distinctive design aesthetic. This witch at cauldron mechanical was one of a set of four made between 1910-1917. The seller states he/she has seen an example with an extant cat's tail. I have seen many of this design and have never seen one fully intact. The condition issues identified as pertaining to this example are precisely those most commonly seen. All in all, the buyer got a helluva bargain, scooping this up for $199.95, when the sustainable guide value is more than double that. I think placing such high opening prices deters activity, something that more sellers should take into account when deciding to sell on eBay, using an auction format. The more successful sellers of vintage Halloween items start their auctions at $9.99 or less and typically get very solid results. If you'd like to see the others comprising this set, please see page 284. 

GERMAN HALLOWEEN MINI-DIECUT~1930'S~WITCH COOKS IN CAULDRON~4.25"

This is a true variant to the design that one sees occasionally. The set to which this mini-diecut belongs is one of the most desirable around. (See the set on page 185.) Each of its members typically fetch between $200-$300, as did the cat and JOL design offered by this same great seller. What differentiates this is the reverse coloring and the additional embossed stars on the witch's cloak that are not present in the more-commonly seen design. I attempted to obtain this for the collection by putting in what I thought was an aggressive bid of $500, but was outbid by a wide margin. Even given the very high price paid for this item, I have to offer a hearty congrats to the prevailing bidder, whomever it is. 

FN Burt Halloween Witch & Cauldron, AUTHENTIC, RARE!!

This is a spectacular piece offered by a seller I thoroughly trust. This small pulp masterpiece of a witch tending to her cauldron was made by the F.N. Burt Company of Buffalo, New York during the 1930s. These don't surface much, and when they do they are often dirty, scuffed, marred in some way and missing their paper cup. (I've even seen a few painted!) This example has none of those deficiencies - or any other that I can discern. Bottom line - if you don't have one of these small treasures in your collection, you can do no better than buying this item from this super seller. 

Vintage Halloween Rare 1925 Beistle Witch/ Cauldron/JOL Honeycomb Basket- LOOK!!

It is such a pleasant surprise to see an exceedingly rare Beistle item on the rather sad selling platform that Ebay has become. (This decay began when their management chose to compete with Amazon rather than focusing on cultivating sellers of rare, vintage goods.) This favor basket was sold from 1927-1931. Beistle made four different designs, all measuring ~4" x ~4". All of them have an RSIN of 2. The condition issues on this example could be easily rectified by a careful, competent paper restorer. (I can recommend ACA Paper Restoration in Devon, PA.) These baskets almost never become available for sale, so it'll be fun to see what this brings. 

03/09 Update: Whomever was the prevailing bidder received a true bargain, snatching this up for less than $160. Bravo!

vintage Paper Halloween Die Cut witch&Cauldron,Black Cat-candy container

I feel pieces to this set of six have never gotten the respect they should from the marketplace. These are whimsical, cleverly designed slot-and-tab candy containers issued by the General Merchandise Company in the middle 1940s through the very early 1950s. Although not at all truly rare, you still don't often see them in this seemingly pristine condition. To see the others that comprise a complete set, turn to page 54 of my newly published third edition. 

Vintage 1925 large Halloween Decoration with Witch stirring Honeycomb Cauldron

You seldom see this iteration with the orange honeycomb cauldron. Frankly, I like it much more than I do the typical black ones you see. Another plus is that this doesn't have any repair to the arch, a common point of failure with this design. This is the largest of the three sizes Beistle produced. 

09/16 Update: I am not at all surprised it brought a very strong price of $482!

Vintage Halloween Dennison Pop Up Witch Tally card

Here is another anecdotal example of the 2014 surge in prices for pre-1935 Beistle, Dennison and Gibson items. This mechanical tally made by Dennison beginning in 1928 typically trades for ~$65. This surge is definitely a recent phenomenon. An identical tally was offered on Ebay several months ago with an opening bid of ~$45 and it failed to garner a single bid. 

vtg 1930/40s USA Halloween Die-Cut Witches Cauldron 3D 4 Piece Honeycomb Set

Here is what I wrote about this item in my 2nd edition in 2007:
"One of the most interesting of Beistle’s many tabletop decorations is its Rustic Fireplace. It is billed on the envelope as including an “Old Witches’ Beauty Caldron.” It consists of a lithoed paper and honeycomb cauldron with orange streamers attached to the bottom to simulate flames. (This was an ingenious way to boost sales of an already popular item.) Since these cauldrons were only made from 1926 through 1931, it stands to reason the Rustic Fireplace dates to this time. This is further buttressed by the use of Beistle’s diamond mark on the packaging. The detailed lithoed cardboard props and crossbar containing a hook for the cauldron are all representative of Beistle’s high quality. These measure 10.5" high by 15" wide. The cauldron measures 8" high by 8.5" wide. This complete set is valued at $800 to $1,000." 
I think the values for these items has drifted somewhat downward in the intervening 6+ years. Collectors I speak with don't find the props and crossbar all that interesting. I also hear complaints about how much room it takes to display the set in its entirety. Most collectors seem to want the cauldron but without the crepe paper "flames" as they prevent the cauldron from sitting evenly. Given the condition of the cauldron, it will be instructive as to what this set fetches. 

11/08 Update: $271.33 was the ending price for this item. I see the value for this set in near-perfect condition hovering around $450-500 these days.