The true "get" here is the Cellowax box with its fantastic graphics. The image of the JOL-headed skeletons dancing around a witch at her cauldron evokes a smile and a shudder! Made in the late 1940s, you see the candle often but rarely the box. Note that the candle is missing its rather star-shaped black paper bottom. (See it on page 94.)
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Vintage 1920's Halloween Black Cat & JOL Candy Box Margaret Burnham's Inc.
I have taken a real liking to seasonally produced candy boxes from local and regional candy makers. They are typically quite rare. Being essentially ephemera, few were kept and fewer still remain in collectible condition. I had never seen this design before or was even aware of Margaret Burnham's. The selling price of $66.99 should be considered a real bargain.
Vintage Box of Jack-O’-Lantern Candles Pacific Candle Co.
This result is surprising. The item, issued by the Pacific Candle Company of Hayward, CA during the 1950s, is relatively common. It generally trades for around $20, complete. With this example, the box isn't pristine and the candles have clumped together making it far less desirable.
Vintage Halloween 1920's-30's Boxed Set of 12 Different Fortune Cards, Unused
It would have been great if this rare set would have been marked. I'd love to know which firm produced it. I suspect it was a regional player with limited distribution. I've never seen any part of this set before. That is certainly an element of this great hobby that keeps it interesting - one never knows when a previously unknown item will surface.
Vintage Dennison? Halloween Hallowe'en Silhouettes Box Cats Bats Skull Very Old
Beistle produced this box of 14 silhouettes during the 1920s. This is not a particularly tough box to obtain. Also, silhouettes don't fetch much, so this result is hard to understand on those two counts. SGV is $75 so the prevailing bidder paid a steep premium.
Vary Rare 1930-40s Dennison's Halloween Witch Set of 5 Die Cuts in Original Box
Someone got a really nice bargain here. They scooped up a rarely seen set of 5 broomed witch cut-outs that Dennison first issued in 1926. Sustainable guide value is $300, so picking up this compete set at a more-than-50% discount has to feel great.
Vintage 1960's Salerno Trick or Treat Halloween Cookies Box haunted house
Although this is a very cool item, with a design strongly reminiscent of the mid-1950s Brach's candy boxes, it is a far inferior design. The Brach's box was intricately designed with many nice touches - a discarded witch's broom and dilapidated shutters just to name two. Time was spent designing that box. This is not as good. The detail is lacking and the colors are unattractive. This seller has this priced much too high. Items from this era, by and large, don't bring significant dollars. I feel fair market value for this item, in this condition, is $75-95.
BOX FOR EMBOSSED GERMAN HALLOWEEN DIECUTS~1920'S~VERY EARLY DESIGNS~NO.669/45
Original boxes showcasing the various ways German diecuts were bundled and sold are quite a hot sub-genre at the moment. I sold one in my May auction (I'll be conducting another auction on this site in May 2016, again only open to those who have purchased a copy of my third edition.) for $425 and this very energetic box fetched $488.14. I've only seen this box design twice in 25 years of collecting. This very box, identifiable from the written markings, was sold on Ebay in early 2013, according to the photographic archives I've assembled, and now once again in 2015. An identical box, in better condition, sold in October of 2013. Other than these two examples, I've not seen this box design before. Kudos to both the seller - one of my favorites - and the buyer.
Vintage Halloween Set Of 12 Fortune Place Cards Original Box
Complete Beistle boxed sets like this one are quite desirable. I've only seen the enveloped set of five place cards, which I feel is slightly earlier than this set.
RARE FIND VINTAGE HALLOWEEN JOL CANDLE FANTASTIC GRAPHICS ON BOX PUMPKIN WITCH
This very cool box appears on page 84 of my second edition. The seller is correct - the box is rarely seen. In fact, fair value on the candle is around $15, while the box in perfect condition should fetch around $100. This particular box is in lesser condition, so it will be informative to see how the market values it during this very off season.
vintage halloween decorations
As I point out on page 145, most of the value for this set is in the box alone. The diecuts, two of which are missing from this lot, are so common and pedestrian that they bring $2-4 each on a good day. Given that the diecuts are not shown here completely, leaving you to your imagination as to their actual condition, and that the box is in less-than-mint condition, the minimum opening bid price of $49.50 seems high. I feel the seller would have been better off taking more complete photographs and starting the listing at no more than $9.99.
