Hello There,
Thanks for following my blog during 2022!
I haven’t been posting much over these last few weeks as there isn’t much to comment on. This is typically a fallow time for listings of vintage Halloween goods.
I’ve been busily preparing for my March 2023 auction. There will be over 100 lots of great stuff. The auction will kick-off in later February of 2023 and end on Sunday, March 5, 2023. Stay tuned for more details.
In the meantime, have a great holiday season!
MBL
This brought a very strong price considering its condition. These small pulp owls are surprisingly strong performers in any condition. Why do you think that is?
This small cat decoration was produced by Hallmark during the later 1920s and into the early 1930s. Their output using the semi-glossy paper stock will have a red reverse.
Hallmark small paper, especially the designs with a yellow reverse, have been mighty movers in terms of valuation over these 18 months.
Two manufacturers that had a significant output of Halloween small paper that may be undervalued relative to where I feel the market is headed are Hallmark and Rust Craft.
I’ve wondered about these boxes over the years. One sees the same pleasing design again and again, so how many years were these distributed? When were they distributed? I speculate that locally-owned candy shops throughout regions of the US could order these generic seasonal boxes from some industry-specific wholesaler for their customers - customizing them upon purchase of a filled box with stickers or inserts containing the name of the shop selling the candy. Readers, what do you think? By the way, this listing ended with the seller accepting an offer of $70.
Beistle produced two designs they marketed as continental hats during the 1925-1931 interval. The plumes were either black or orange. The other design shows a snarling cat’s face. That design has shown up far more often than this JOL continental design, perhaps accounting for the surprisingly high price fetched, especially taking condition into account.
I appreciate how clever this fine seller is to find ways to preserve the under-rated artwork found in so many crepe paper designs. It seems the Golden Age of crepe bolts was during the later teens and into the twenties. I recently acquired a large collection of vintage paper, including much crepe paper. Being a market segment I’ve not previously spent too much time learning about, it is fun seeing some of the clever designs printed back then.
The photos provided are grainy enough to make it difficult to assess whether there is damage to these cups or whether they are merely filthy. The seller unhelpfully describes them as having “some wear.” To my eye, they look strangely matte with none of the sheen typically seen on these porcelain cups. Is this due to wear or dirt?
Hello Faithful Readers,
The season is barreling to a close for 2022. I’m sure most would agree that it simply flew by.
I’m beginning to gear up for my March 2023 auction of vintage Halloween items. I’m really happy with the line-up. Stay tuned for more details.
Happy Halloween! Mark
I think this rare tally would have brought somewhat more if the seller had identified it as a Dennison product. Produced during the very desirable period of ~1928-1932, this whimsical design reinforces its purpose - to tally the scores from a bridge game. I love it!
This game remnant has no connection to Halloween.
This isn’t a vintage item unless you define vintage as being less than ~25 years old. The candy container in the collection on which this item is based measures 4.5” high by 3” across. (The felt tip on the nose of the actual winking JOL candy container is even reproduced here, testifying to the lack of artistry by whomever produced this.) This item has only modest decorative value - no true vintage value.
This friendly Blackie the Batty Beauty was produced by Beistle only from 1953-1957.
The buyer got a true bargain snapping up this lot for $300.
Although this was the first and only time I’d seen that coloration of the crepe skirt, I still fell down when I saw this result, plaintively moaning that our hobby has been captured by the well-heeled. Not many collectors can drop nearly $8,000 on something like this. (Now, the end result was warped by two uber-aggressive bidders. Remove those bids and this item would have ended in the ~$2,200 range. I wonder if either bidder ever really expected to pay that much for it? If not, the result nicely illustrates the risk in placing sky-high bids on eBay.)
This same seller has yet another one of these listed now, albeit with different crepe colors and in unrestored condition. What will it fetch?
If someone wants mine, I’d be delighted to sell it for $5,000.
Ah…the vagaries of eBay. This same seller sold a Wheel Witch game on August 24 for $2,025. Just a scant sixteen days later one in arguably better condition sells for just ~27% of the first listing. (What must the buyer of the first listing think?) With all the duplicates being listed this season, be sure to ask sellers if there will identical items listed. If so, just hang back for awhile.
