Blog

Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

RARE Large Vintage Halloween 2-Sided JOL Lantern Cardboard Sides Beistle 1933-35

This particular form of lantern from Beistle is hard to find. The yellow cardboard sides and the outline of the JOL in yellow differentiate this lantern from others they produced. I suspect that Beistle found the stiff cardboard sides connected to the two faces with metal clips to be a pain both to produce and to ship. I also suspect that management decided to lose the outline to make the items a tad smaller, maybe to save on shipping. (I don’t know why for sure.) In any event, this is a nice bright example marred only by the inserts.

Original Vintage 1930s BEISTLE Halloween YELLOW DOG Ghost JOL Fence diecut GOOD

This Beistle diecut eluded my grasp for too long. I finally found one that met my condition threshold in late 2018. Beistle wasn’t the design powerhouse it once was at the time this design was released, but you wouldn’t know that from looking at this great item. There is a lot going on. Along with the busy, compact design the color choices were inspired. It’ll be fun to see what this fetches. Check out the other items this seller has listed.

Exceedingly Rare Early 1920’s Vintage Beistle Halloween Tissue Paper Fan

I think this is an interesting Beistle design. I am certain the firm produced this for no longer than two seasons as they simply don’t come available often. I have seen fewer than ten examples in 34 years of collecting. The slight creasing at the grommets this great seller points out is always seen with these fans and shouldn’t be a concern to collectors. (In order to open the fan, that area will always be bent. It is simply part of the design.) The extraneous numerals in black are irksome but essentially not a big deal either. I suspect this will bring strong dollars. Be sure to check out the other items Chris is selling. They are all worthy of your attention.

RARE HUGE EARLY Vintage Halloween Johnny Pumpkinhead Diecut Decoration, Beistle!

I think this seller’s conclusion that this is a design from the first year of production of Beistle’s Johnny Pumpkin family, 1919, is spot-on. I checked my ultra-rare 1921 Beistle catalog to look at the illustrations. The nose seen on the one up for auction is nowhere to be seen. My theory is that a Beistle art/design manager wanted the Johnnys to look more like traditional JOLs, hence the rhinoplasty job. I love learning this kind of design info. Thanks for being so observant, Cindy!

RARE Vintage Halloween Jack o Lantern Diecut Decoration Flipout Base Beistle 30s

It’s hard to know what went wrong here. (You know the market is seriously overheated when an ending price of $705 for a paper Halloween decoration is considered insufficient.) Whether it was the not-insignificant condition issues, the corrected error on size or vintage Halloween fatigue from simply too many solid items being listed too often as too closely spaced intervals, this item should have brought much more. This is one of the items from my reference that is most often inquired about as to my intention to sell it. Another hasn’t come to market in many, many years. I suspect fatigue is the most impactful cause, although the case for fatigue is not airtight. Check out what the same seller realized in auctioning one of the trio of eccentrically-designed 1950s Beistle witches - $1,325.99.
Prices have become such a turn-off that I have actively explored other forums where price sanity is more of the norm. I encourage people to attend the larger antiques shows where there are more chances at finding things reasonably priced. Trading with other collectors is another activity I find to be much more fun than trolling through the eBay detritus to find a few jewels that then typically spiral to too-lofty levels.

Exceedingly Rare Vintage Halloween Tango Cat

Some really great paper items have been surfacing with such regularity that purses and wallets all across the USA and Canada have been made thinner by the bounteous harvest. Add this exceedingly rare Tango Cat produced by Beistle to the list. It has been a long time since I’ve seen a truly vintage example surface, especially in this fantastic condition. The seller, a deeply knowledgeable collector, is a wizard with paper restoration. As he honestly points out, the tip of the cat’s hat has been replaced. I’ve seen his restoration work myself. It is so good that this minor matter shouldn’t act as any sort of brake on a desire for acquisition. Beistle produced only two Tango figures from this era - the other is a witch and is also being offered by this fine seller. Both designs are notoriously difficult to find without some problems to the lower extremities. This looks to be a real keeper for collectors.

08/17 Update: This item fetched $772.

1940s Vintage Halloween BEISTLE Diecut Two CATS w/ Anthropomorphic Moon EMBOSSED

This design belongs to a set of twelve that Beistle produced for a long time beginning in 1932. All are common enough that you’ll see each design multiple times every year. The trick in collecting diecuts from this set is to get the earliest pressing you can. (Admittedly, many collectors couldn’t care less about this distinction. I get this. However, for those kindred spirits, read on.) I arbitrarily divide the pressing history for these diecuts into three phases. The three embossing levels can be generally described as heavy, moderate and light with the production dates roughly corresponding to 1932-1941, 1946-1949 and 1950-1954 respectively. When the stamping plates were new, the embossing was deep and rich. As they became worn, the embossing became shallower. The example this fine seller is offering is from the third embossing phase. The value delta between phase one and phase three is about 20%.

RARE Antique Vtg BEISTLE Halloween Party Invitation PopUp Witch JOL Cauldron 20s

This iconic pop-up invitation was produced in great quantities and usually sold in boxed sets of six. To my knowledge there is only one other Beistle pop-up invitation with a similar design and construction. This second version can be seen at the top-right of page 223. This version, with a now-revised RISN of “1” was sold singly in the early 1930s when Beistle was in a financial bind due to the Great Depression. At this time they rarely began a new design from scratch, instead co-opting elements from previous designs in order to save money. Consequently, the scarecrow pop-up invitation was made in significantly smaller quantities. (I’ve never seen one aside from the one in the collection.) The RSIN for these two items, 1 and 3, reflect this fact. The seller of this witch pop-up is long-time collector who is actually knowledgeable about the hobby. Honest as the summer day is long, you can buy from him with great confidence.

RARE Vintage Halloween Envelope Only for Owl & Bat Diecuts, Beistle Early 1920s!

There are at least three iterations of this envelope. The earliest one, dating from the early 1920s, is white and has no markings indicating it was produced by Beistle. This iteration, made from a medium-weight cardboard, is the rarest, and in my opinion, the most desirable. I upgraded from the one shown on page 145 in 2009 to this first variant. I haven’t seen it since. The second iteration is the one shown on page 145, made from orange tissue and having no manufacturer’s marks. The third iteration, being offered on eBay, is also made from orange tissue, but has the diamond mark. This iteration was produced between 1925 and 1931, probably toward the latter part of that range. Beistle produced this packaged duo for many seasons.

08/07 Update: This sold for just $125.50.

EXCEEDINGLY RARE Vintage Halloween Diecut Centerpiece Decoration, Beistle 1955!!

This magnificent centerpiece was produced by Beistle in 1955. Beistle’s design engine was sputtering at this time, so much of their output then was forgettable and/or retreads. However, they managed to probably even surprise themselves with the two (and only two) centerpiece designs made at this time. Both are full of action and easily captivate the eye. They rarely surface in collectible condition. When they do the common defect is total separation at one or both joints. Although this example doesn’t suffer from that defect, it is by no means perfect. In my view, though, the defects are reasonable and to be expected. As I type this, the bidding is already at $200.50 with 15 bids, so I fully expect the ending price will be significantly higher. The two 1955 centerpieces are amongst my favorites in the collection. They are large, bold and pretty damn awesome.

07/14 Update: This sold for $382, lower than I would have forecast.

VINTAGE HALLOWEEN BEISTLE DIECUT DECORATION - RUSTIC FIREPLACE/WITCH’S CAULDRON

Beistle was (and possibly still is) a clever company in figuring out ways to prolong the life of certain of their Halloween best sellers, like the cauldrons. I think for a season, and possibly two, between 1928 and 1932 Beistle thought to slap some streamers to the bottom of the largest of the three cauldrons and design a rather pallid structure to support the cauldron. They then dreamed up the name for this newish design and hurriedly created an envelope for it. I feel all of this was done rapidly as the Rustic Fireplace itself is uninspired. The envelope bears none of the over-the-top design elements and use of vibrant colors seen with so many of their other envelopes. That said, these original Rustic Fireplaces are hard to find. (The envelope, which you can see on page 127, almost never surfaces.) The sellers are great people with a deep love for and knowledge of vintage Halloween memorabilia. You can certainly buy from them with great confidence. It’ll be fun to what this listing brings.

06/16 Update: This brought a head-scratchingly low $159.50. The buyer got a bargain.

Vintage 1930s Embossed BEISTLE Die Cut HALLOWEEN Silver Foil PUMPKIN Rats Mice

I love these silvered diecut variants from the long-produced complete set of twelve diecuts from Beistle. They began production in 1932 and continued with some interruptions through the early 1950s. (The variants were made for only a season or two very early in the total run.) When these hard-to-find variants surface, they typically are in poor condition. The ones being offered by this fine seller are in better-than-average condition. It’ll be fun to see what they bring.