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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Rare Vintage Halloween 3 Piece Witches & Pumpkin Fluorescent Die Cut Decorations

These diecuts were produced by Beistle. The witches were released as a trio of designs during the later 1950s. Even in rough condition like these two are, they bring strong dollars as evidenced by the ending price. The large JOL was released during the years between 1952-1963, inclusive. It is not as sought after as the witches. I feel the seller would have have achieved higher gross dollars by listing these items separately.

VINTAGE HALLOWEEN BEISTLE DIECUT * WITCH * BLACK CAT * BAT * 12" BY 18.5" *

Beistle produced five different designs in this large form factor, all with scalloped edges, beginning in 1932. You can see four of these designs on pages 149 and 150. The enduring mystery of this set involves the fifth sibling - a puzzled skeleton in a graveyard shown on page 137. Whereas the other four typically trade in a range up to $700, the skeleton has routinely brought a minimum of $3,000, with several examples far exceeding that figure. The mystery is why the latter diecut is so scarce. Catalogs from the 1930s show the skeleton over several years, but I know of perhaps ten in existence, 3-4 of which are in poor-to-fair condition. My working theory is that Disney objected to the design as being too reminiscent of one of their shorts and demanded their removal from the market. (Now, I have zero proof of this theory, but I’ve struggled to come up with a real-world answer to the mystery.) If anyone can shed light on this matter with some proof, like Ross Perot, I’m all ears.

LARGE ANTIQUE VINTAGE BEISTLE PAPER MOON AND WITCH ON BROOM HALLOWEEN DECOR

Halloween values seem to be soft at the moment with exceptions, of course. The mystery here is why this broomed witch diecut, produced by Beistle during the early 1960s, has been bid up to $104.50 with a tad less than two days remaining. The condition is quite bad with more than some rubbing and creasing at the edges. There is a tape remnant in a prominent place and the witch’s hat is missing its pointed end.

I’ve noticed a trend of some sellers over-grading the condition of their wares. Being a collector of Bronze Age DC horror comics as well, I’m sensitive to how paper items should be graded. I almost never use descriptive terms like “mint” or certainly “dead mint.” When a seller uses such terms really peruse the item being sold. If it doesn’t meet that lofty condition threshold, call them out on it. Few truly vintage Halloween items will actually meet that threshold.

Vintage Halloween Ghost Place Card with Saying Movable..RARE...

This ghoul place card was produced by Beistle during the interval of 1930-1931 as one of a set of four sold in an envelope. At least one of the stock numbers used for this set was 757. The ending price of $97 seems high given that the place card’s condition is so compromised. The two topknots are missing and the toning is too noticeable.

RARE! VINTAGE HALLOWEEN BEISTLE RUSTIC FIREPLACE & WITCHES’ CALDRON W/ENVELOPE!

It’s great to see such a nice Beistle item up on eBay. The Rustic Fireplace was almost certainly a marketplace misfire. Beistle was trying to achieve some economies by finding another purpose for one of their iconic honeycomb designs. They customized the cauldrons by attaching orange crepe streamers to the bottom to simulate flames. (If you see a cauldron without these streamers at the bottom paired with other elements of the Rustic Fireplace, it very well may be a marriage, so be mindful.) The props and crossbar are awkward and bulky, which I feel depressed sales. Offered for only a season or two, today finding one complete with an envelope is tough. I sold my complete set in my 2020 auction. It fetched $1,825, so it will be fun to see what this listing brings. The cauldron’s arch looks wholly intact, another big plus. The seller’s are knowledgeable and nice. I appreciate their concise, data-filled description.

04/11 Update: This brought only $1,113. I was surprised it didn’t bring more.

Beistle Vintage Halloween decoration, 1920’s

Beistle produced this decoration as part of a set of six during the 1920s. You can see an example of the original envelope and three of the other designs on page 218. I have issued a “Repro Alert” on these decorations. The entire set was reproduced on glossy stock paper about 7 years ago, so be careful. This listing (and the other by the same seller) is on matte stock with the fine line detailing consistent with truly vintage items. I haven’t seen pieces from the set being offered for some time, so it will be instructive to see what it fetches.

04/11 Update: This brought a scant $86.01.

VERY RARE Vintage Halloween Die Cut Mechanical Scarecrow Nut Candy Cup, Beistle!

This result surely was a significant disappointment to the seller/consignor, but a true bargain for whomever was lucky enough to snag this for $262, especially given its condition. I don’t understand the result, so I have to attribute it to the vagaries of eBay. There are four of these Beistle mechanical designs. This same seller offered the strongest design of the quartet, the witch, not long ago and it fetched $938. If the other two designs are offered, it will be instructive to see what they fetch.

Vintage Halloween Die Cut Wall Decor WITCH w/ Cat & Pot m/ in U.S.A is 17 " Tall

I wanted to write about this design as it differs from most of Beistle’s output from that time - the mid-1950s through the early-1960s. This diecut was made for many seasons and is common. The design sensibility is not. Most of Beistle’s output at this time was cartoonish as the market swung sharply toward satisfying the nascent tastes of children and their parents’ desire to create a fun, light-hearted decorating environment so consistent with that relatively carefree time. It seems that some Beistle art director reached back in time for the imagery that caused so many units to be sold in stores throughout the United States. The witch and cat are cute but not entirely devoid of some level of menace. (I especially like the witch’s skull top button.) After this time, Beistle sagged into Halloween design obsolescence, not to really emerge with any consistency until they wised up and began re-releasing their 1930s greatest hits 10-15 years ago, with these sufficiently tweaked so that the newly released designs didn’t interfere with the secondary collector’s market.

EXCEEDINGLY RARE MINT Vintage Halloween Mechanical Witch Nut Cup Beistle 1930s!!

Beistle produced a set of four of these mechanical nut cups in one year only - 1938. I was fortunate to acquire four complete sets of these nut cups in 2014 from a seller in Massachusetts, plus a few singles. I kept one set, sold one set each to two close friends and offered the fourth and final set in my inaugural auction in 2015. That set was acquired by the person consigning this to zizsdream. So, this is one of the very nut cups from that 2015 auction. (I would expect the other three designs to follow from this great seller in short order.) These are intricate and delicate confections made from art Beistle recycled from earlier seasons. This recycling was common during these later Great Depression years when companies were just trying to survive.

VINTAGE BEISTLE’S ‘HALLOWEEN PARTY HELPS’ - UNUSED SET TALLY CARDS W/ENVELOPE!

It’s nice to see a quality listing amidst all of the out-of-season listings of items produced only in the last few years. (There has been some great small paper offered by netantiques!) Beistle made these tallies for many seasons. The original strings are always pink, so what would have been the original color? Orange? The tallies typically don’t fetch much as they are common, but to have a complete set with its original thin-paper envelope elevates this listing. The fact that the sellers are A-1 people with deep knowledge of our fun hobby absolutely should spur collectors to bid. Don’t let this great item escape your grasp!

ULTRA RARE Vintage Halloween Horrible Witch Decoration Crepe Skirt Beistle 30-31

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.

NMINT Vintage Halloween Mechanical Wheel Witch Game & Fortune Card Beistle 1930s

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.

5 EXCEEDINGLY RARE Vintage Halloween UNused Nut Cups & Envelope Beistle 20s-30s!

This result is a mystery. Two nut cups with this same design sold recently from this same fine seller: one on 8/2 for $158.50 and one on 8/13 for $139.50. Just a tad over one month later five nut cups plus the envelope sell for a song. (The set was incomplete, but still…) Can we chalk this up to the vagaries of eBay? The buyer of this lot received a true bargain.