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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

HALLOWEEN TABLE PLACE NAME CARD

This place card made by the Henderson Line during the 1920s is superb. I have one in the collection and can state that the design is great and the colors are deep and interesting. Someone should snatch this up pronto. For a total acquisition cost of $46.50, this piece of ephemera is totally worth it.

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1940`s Die Cut Black Cat Witch Jack O Lantern Dennison Place Card #12

Dennison small paper is on fire. This well-designed place card was first issued in 1926 with a stock number of H463. These were sold singly; they weren’t packaged. I don’t think this ending price is sustainable even though this place card doesn’t surface in complete condition often. For some reason, many of this design too-easily separates along the scored line, resulting in two fragments. If you have one that has never been folded, don’t fold it. Why take the risk of it separating?

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1917 HALLOWEEN Place Card w/ Jack-O-Lanterns & Black Cat

This intricately designed and whimsical place card was one of Dennison’s earliest finished goods. For too long Dennison made crepe products and coached end-consumers on how to make decorations from them rather than emphasizing finished goods themselves. They finally wised up around 1914 when their selection of such goods began to greatly expand. These place cards don’t surface too often, so even though this has been used it may be worth picking up.

02/21 Update: This sold for $22.49.

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1940’s Halloween Place Card Scary Black With Owl Face In Flame HTF

Here is another relative bargain, although not as pronounced as the item directly below. This has to be one of Dennison's most inspired designs. The artist packed a lot of detail in such a small item, meant to be used as a place card. This first appeared in 1928. As I point out on page 257, "Notice the cat's face in the flame and the candle's expression. Although not particularly scarce, this iconic, diminutive Dennison masterpiece consistently sells at or above the cited value. It was sold with stock number H565." These have routinely changed hands in a range of $135-200 during the last 18 months, so the prevailing bidder did well.

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BEISTLE SIDE OF GLASS PLACE CARD COMPLETE SET WITH ENVELOPE no res

To me, this is a previously unseen packaging variation of these place cards meant to hang from the top of a glass. These same designs were issued by Beistle as early as 1918 in an enveloped set of six given stock number 584. In that earlier set, the contents distribution was three witches, two cats and one ghost. In this larger set, the contents distribution was six witches, three cats and one ghost. So, although the numbers are different the relative scarcity remains the same - the ghost being the hardest one of the trio to get. I felt the ending price was pretty high - certainly good news for the fine seller. (I’ve done business with this seller and look forward to doing more!) Looking at the prices obtained for the singles from this set that he sold in other listings, their prices, too, were dazzlingly high.

Vintage Halloween Dennison Die Cut Flying Witch Place Card

This well designed place card has all the hallmarks of a top Dennison design. These include frenetic energy, disparate elements working harmoniously and a sense of humor. Although you don’t see this design often, they typically trade for FAR LESS than this seller is asking - an astounding $185! (One sold on 09/22 for $22.50.) The design first appeared in their 1923 Bogie Book with a stock number of H16. For some reason, the stock number changed to H21 in 1924. These were sold in shops singly. They were not packaged.

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Rare Vintage Halloween Place Card in Mint Condition

I love this little gem of a place card. As the seller states, there is a lot going on within its borders. I have never seen this before, so I know it is rare. I am impressed with its eccentric design elements. I know it isn't Beistle or Dennison. Gibson was generally consistent in marking their items, so I rule them out too. It may be Whitney, but I think it was produced by one of the myriad small-market players like Volland, The Henderson Line, etc. What I do know is that if you don't jump on this now, you may never see another one - especially in this pristine condition. 

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