This incredible invitation is part of a set of at least three produced by Whitney during the early 1920s. (One shows a cat on the stoop, while the other has an owl on the stoop. This one is the most populated and, in my opinion, the very best.) As I forecast some time ago, small paper has become a white-hot market segment. This same seller sold another one of these in September of 2018 for $495. Most collectors I know have decidedly moved on from lanterns and many candy containers to concentrate on small paper (invitations, place cards, tallies and nut cups) made by a wide variety of manufacturers and diecuts made by Dennison, Gibson and Beistle. As the first generation of serious collectors leave the stage, defined as those who began collecting in earnest during the 1960s, the market will see a relatively large influx of lanterns and candy containers become available. Few first, second or even third generation collectors concentrated on paper goods, so few collections richly featuring such items will be coming to market in the near to medium-term. My analysis routinely indicates that certain market segments will slacken while others grow even more competitive. The small paper market segment, for one, will continue to see price increases that will outstrip, maybe far outstrip, price increases seen elsewhere.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Vintage Halloween Dennison Flying Specter Ghost Skeleton Old Diecut 1920s RARE
Given this diecut’s size and coloration, it is hard to find one in nice shape. This seems to be in very acceptable condition, indeed. Azkaban has been wondering where one of its residents has gone!
Vintage Halloween Hat w/ Honeycomb Crape Paper Pumpkins and Cats
This sure looks like a Beistle hat to me, although I’ve not seen this particular design before. Based on the USA mark, it was probably produced during the later 1930s.
04/11 Update: This sold for $52.
Antique German Halloween Devil Jack-O-Lantern, Compo Nose, Ears & Horns--Great!
I’ve never been particularly attracted to lanterns, but this would be one that would have a place of some honor amongst any collection. As with retailers today spanning the spectrum from Dollar Tree to Nordstrom, back in the 1920s there were the dime stores at the low end where most holiday goods were sold and posh retailers at the high end selling such things as this lantern. The Durante proboscis, the add-on horns and those ears all differentiate this from the garden-variety lantern. The seller is a collector well-known for his vintage Christmas collection and expertise. It will be fun to see what this somewhat sizable lantern fetches.
04/09 Update: This brought $1,862.87.
Vintage Halloween Paper Mache Jack O Lantern
Someone got a solid bargain picking this up for $49 plus shipping. The seller should have used an auction format. They would have almost certainly fetched a higher price.
VINTAGE 1930s HALLOWEEN TRICK OR TREAT CANDLE LANTERN JACK-O-LANTERN, WITCH ETC.
Beistle produced this colorful lantern during the late 1920s. You’ll sometimes find these identical lanterns marked in such a way that you know they were produced in Germany - an artifact of a little understood arrangement that Beistle had with German manufacturers during the 1920s. This example has its oft-missing bottom, enabling the lantern to stay open and actually function as a lantern. It seems to be in beautiful condition.
VINTAGE 1930's Gibson HALLOWEEN flying OWLS, BLACK CAT Flowers Party Tally Card
It’s great to see this colorful tally produced by Gibson during the 1920s listed on eBay - especially by such a fine seller. I recently posted the matching nut cup and place card to this design on my Acquisitions section of the site. The major holiday paper manufacturers typically issued their designs in four pieces: invitation, tally, place card and nut cup.
04/02 Update: This great tally sold for $39.88.
WOW! Antique Made In Germany Halloween Paper Mache Candlestick Candy Container
I’m not sure what this is, but it wasn’t made in Germany. The seller describes it as being in “overall great condition.” Hmmm…. It looks like it has been through quite some torment. The candle portion of this thing has all the hallmarks of Japanese paper design - namely cheap, lifeless and forgettable. What shocks is that the item has been already bid up to $160.50 with over 6 days left. I’m not sure why. If you want to see the actual and elegant German design, turn to page 132.
04/02 Update: This atrocity actually brought $318.88.
5 DIE CUT OUT HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS 4 WITCHES & ONE GHOST FENCE SNAKES PUMPKINS
This is a jumble of parts to arguably the very best interlocking centerpiece that Whitney ever produced. Each piece is quite a bit larger than pieces comprising other interlocking centerpieces. Some of these pieces measure up to 9.5” high. The lot on offer is missing a side while having duplicates of two others. Sadly, all look to be in regrettable condition. Look on page 274 to see the one ghost side missing. This may very well have been one of the few Whitney paper masterpieces they produced before shutting their doors in 1942.
04/02 Update: This jumble sold for $135.50.
ANTIQUE 1918 BEISTLE HALLOWEEN PENNANT BANNER
This pennant banner is one of the first - if not the first - such design Beistle produced. (Finding banners hard to display, I haven’t made an effort to collect many of them.) The value I derive from this auction listing is to see what basic designs Beistle initially produced. Some were quickly ditched (spider web, stand-alone broom, corn shock and ears of corn), while others clung on through the early 1930s. Many of the images here were also in Beistle’s earliest enveloped party sets.
Halloween Die Cut Owl Moon Spooky Vintage
This is one of six “rocker favors” that Beistle produced from 1930-31. They were sold as an enveloped set with a stock number of 760R. Each can be flared at the bottom enabling the rocker to stand. These Beistle rockers haven’t surfaced much over the last 2-3 years.
03/28 Update: This sold for a reasonable $45.
VINTAGE 1930's Hall Mark HALLOWEEN Party Tally Place Card BLACK CAT Scares LADY
Hallmark produced some beautiful small paper items and was one of the few (only?) manufacturers to liberally use purple in many of their designs. I wonder why this was? Before reading anything this fine seller wrote about the item, I knew it was from Hallmark because of the purple border.
VINTAGE HALLOWEEN 1940'S PAPER PUMPKIN FACE LANTERN WITH TISSUE INSERTS
This seller has been offering some nice things over the last month or so. This rare shade was produced by Beistle during the later 1930s. They also made a version with yellow and red backing paper. It has more eye appeal. Take a look for yourself on page 40.
03/23 Update: This sold for $45.
HALLOWEEN DIE CUT PUMPKIN GAME
These are remnants from the Pick-A-Pumpkin game that was printed in both Germany and the USA around 1920. You can see the complete game on page 125. As remnants, these would have decorative value only.
03/26 Update: These remnants sold for $52.49.
2 - Vintage Halloween Paper Diecut 5” Skulls
Even if these two were in perfect condition, I feel the ending price isn’t sustainable. Of course, the condition of these diecuts is poor overall given that one is missing a chunk and the other has significant general soiling. These skull diecuts were produced by Gibson during the early 1930s. They also made them in white. See page 169.
