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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Dennison, Vintage Halloween, 1920’s Boxed set of 6 Owl Diecuts

One of my favorite market segments is the boxed Dennison products. I began collecting these early and that fervor remains unabated. There has been a noticeable and sustained uptick in interest (and therefore, prices…) for Dennison boxed items, especially for those items produced with their Art Deco look issued from 1928-1932. I had two Dennison boxed items in my recent auction. Both were strong performers. This box of owl cut-outs is a stolid design, yet is doing quite well with over six days to go as of this typing.

Vintage Halloween Dennison's Bogie Book, 1925 Suggestions for Halloween Booklet

This post is less about this particular Bogie Book listing than about Dennison Bogie Books in general. Dennison was clever in that they tried to speak directly to end consumers by giving them decorating ideas, maximizing the utility of the crepe, seals, cut-outs, illuminated silhouettes, etc. that Dennison was so fecund in sending to market. Once a consumer’s head was filled to bursting with ways to enhance their planned event, Dennison would allow individuals to send in their own orders directly to the firm. Of course, if a consumer wished to browse a retail establishment, Dennison had stand-alone “brick and mortars” and also supplied their wares to generalized stationers.
The Bogie Books helped this strategy along AND Dennison made money on them, selling them for a nickel or dime depending on the year. Today, when Bogie Books come available, their typical condition is what you see with this listing - truly used. These nearly annual publications were a wealth of information for those long-ago consumers and for today’s collectors an invaluable source of knowledge of what Dennison made available over the years.
Dennison’s business strategy didn’t emerge fully formed. Their first Bogie Book, in 1909, seemed a tentative effort - so tentative, in fact, that they didn’t see the commercial possibilities of these publications for three years. (There seems to be only a single copy of the 1909 Bogie Book extant. You can see it on page 135.) From 1912 through 1917, a Bogie appeared each year. 1918 was a miss almost certainly due to WWI. From 1919 through 1926 the annual publications were titled Bogie Books. After that, Dennison couldn’t seem to settle on a title blithely flitting from one to another.
Not all Bogie’s are created equal. In terms of very specific information on what was being produced with what stock numbers, the best ones are from 1914-1922.
The rarest copies before the 1920 edition are, in order, 1909, 1913, 1912, 1914, 1916, 1915. (I have yet to find a 1913 edition for the collection.)
There are even masochists like myself that torment themselves with a quest to collect the envelopes in which the Bogies were mailed to consumers. I have assembled almost a complete collection after many years.

1929 Vintage Halloween DENNISON Diecut SKULL & CROSSBONES w/ *Blue* Eyes 9"

I’ve really come to appreciate this wonderful seller’s descriptions. They are typically jammed with helpful information presented in an orderly, clear manner. Other sellers should take notice. The extreme description sparsity on one end and the froufrou encrusted descriptions on the other end should give way to more of a no-nonsense presentation of the item, when it was produced, by which firm when known, dimensions and finally a detailed account of description.

Vintage Halloween Dennison Hallowe'en Suggestions Magazine, 1931 New Bogey Book

I’m glad to see this Dennison publication get some love. The publications after 1926 are devilishly difficult to find in collectible condition, none more so than those published in 1931 and 1933-35. I’ve often wondered why this is the case. The weight of the paper used doesn’t seem to differ from Dennison’s earlier publications. Perhaps the booklets were used more rigorously and for a longer time since the Great Depression was causing serious economic havoc then. I don’t really know, but this one that fetched solid dollars seemed to be in better condition than many I’ve seen.

NMINT SCARCE Vintage Halloween Cat & Candle Placecard Decoration, Dennison 1920s

Although I feel there is too much high-end Halloween hitting the market too often with too much regularity hampering what truly stellar items are fetching, there are anomalies like this sale. You all realize this price is insane, right? This Dennison place card is beautifully designed and is a visual treat but it surfaces with great regularity. The price is typically $260-300 in NM+ condition. The result reminds me of something Whitney Houston once blurted out - “Crack is whack.”

OLD Halloween Candy Container BOX, Little Witch Girl on Broom w/Bats, Dennison

Here’s a completed auction I found from about 1.5 months ago for a rarely seen Dennison Bon Bon Box. Dennison produced two designs, both shown on page 262. Both premiered in their 1919 Bogie Book. Of the two, this one seems to turn up more frequently. (I have yet to locate the second design for the collection.) I’m not surprised to see the strong dollars fetched for this diminutive box. Dennison items have been white-hot as of late, with special Carolina Reaper pepper-level hotness seemingly reserved for Dennison diecuts from the 1928-1932 period. I think the frenzy to obtain Dennison items from this period stems from whomever their art director was. He or she gave a specific, highly stylized look to everything from seals to diecuts. They left before the 1933 products were designed, as Dennison items from this year and for many years thereafter are forgettable.