This is not a vintage item. The finish and bottom are the two biggest indicators of it being a new item. It has decorative value only.
02/07 Update: Sadly, some person spent $199.99 plus shipping on this decorative item. Value is somewhere south of $60.
This exceedingly rare German diecut fence was produced in 1935. There is a remarkable consistency when these are seen that the leftmost figure, the mate to the plump JOL figure, is missing. I chalk it up to more than coincidence. I believe the full four-figure fence was made for a very short period of time before a decision was made to eliminate the leftmost figure. Could it have been to save on shipping? I don’t know. I may be completely off-base in even speculating that any decision was made, but the consistency of the observation is compelling. I finally added a full four-figure example to the collection a few years ago.
I want to share some exciting news: A second copy of Dennison’s inaugural Bogie Book from 1909 has been discovered! Previously, the sole known copy resided in the collection. Even Dennison did not have a copy.
(This inaugural effort was far from a success. At the time, Dennison didn’t have a clear idea of what they wanted to achieve by publishing what they called The Dennison Bogie Book. With such a lack of focus, the effort yielded very little. Dennison may have printed up to 25,000 copies, but that is uncertain. I believe many were destroyed, as there are now only two copies known to exist. I speculate…They didn’t even try again until 1912, when Dennison published a Bogie Book with a sharper marketing purpose aimed at end-users. This effort was so successful that near-annual issues were produced from that year through the early 1930s with differing names and formats.)
This second copy, which I have definitively confirmed as authentic, was discovered within the last 45 days at an antiques show in New England. It was purchased by the new owner’s husband as a gift. Little did he know the rarity of that gift! An image of this new discovery appears below, so you can get a sense of the stellar overall condition.
It pays to browse antiques and collectible shows!
It has become startling to see such a nice item listed on the junkyard that eBay has become. These Halloween-themed Dresden ornaments are really something. It’ll be fun to see what this fetches!
01/26 Update: This fine item fetched $877.77. I talked to one collector who was surprised it didn’t bring more, but considering the time of year, I felt the price realized was solid.
I wrote as part of an update on the Gibson owl game below that I love sellers who offer concise descriptions. This seller is a stellar example of what I feel buyers need and appreciate. Just read his description of the German JOL that sold for a higher-than-expected price. I’m positive that it was due to his reputation in our hobby plus his way with words. Kudos!
I’m not an avid collector of items produced after about 1960, but I’ve always liked this busy design. I don’t know which firm turned these out, but the litho is interesting. The rectangular ratchet is arguably the hardest one to find. I feel the buyer got a good deal.
Although it is great to see such a rare item on eBay amongst all the garbage, I sure wish this seller would have spent more time taking photos and providing a detailed description of condition rather than the formal gobbledygook they employ. This rare game was produced by Gibson during the early 1930s. There should be twelve feather fortunes. It is unclear just how many remain. There seems to be spotting at the bottom. One ear seems bent. Are there any other condition issues? What does the reverse look like?
01/02 Update: I’m glad to see the seller added a photo of the reverse.
01/14 Update: This game fetched $559.89. I can’t help but wonder if the ending price would have been higher if the seller had better photos and a more concise description. Sellers should always remember that buyers are just interested in many clear photos with a concise description devoid of nonsense.
Seeing this listing prompted me to remind you that this is one of the few G.M. candy holders to be reproduced. Reproductions will have a black interior, unlike the plain white interior of this recent listing.
Beistle produced a set of eight small diecuts during the early 1950s, of which this is one. It is a great set overall although there is one clinker - the maniacal clown. (You can see the full set on page 157.) The smoking JOL, the skull with the racing cap and the witches are truly super designs. Diecuts from this set have been bringing strong dollars for the last few years as collectors wake up to the set’s appeal.
T. Cohn made a wide variety of tin litho items for the holidays, but their two putty knife designs have remained strong sellers for many years - even when the tin litho noisemaker segment was colder than a brass toilet seat in the Yukon. This was produced during the later 1930s. The other design can be seen on page 201. With over four days to go, the bids stand at almost $61. The month of December is hands-down the worst month to sell vintage Halloween items, so it’ll be interesting to see at what price this listing ends. Sending good thoughts…
01/01 Update: The time of the year really worked against this listing as the noisemaker fetched only $188.05
I’ve always liked this great Beistle band hat design. They released it as a stand-alone hat in 1933 and discontinued doing so in 1941. Beistle entered into what I call their fairy mania phase in 1923, so this hat was released well after that mania had ended. In the year this hat was released the country was ensnared in the icy grip of the Great Depression. This is a good example of how companies with a reservoir of designs to call upon used already completed work to try to make some money when the retail markets were oh-so-tight. Production was ceased as WWII began for the USA in December 1941.
It’s great to see a few nice things amongst all the off-season garbage strewn along eBay’s alleys. I’ve said it often, but why can’t eBay offer more defined holiday categories so that lookers don’t have to wade hip-deep in garbage? There are work-arounds, but why should we be put in a position to devise work-arounds when the solution is simply that eBay should better respect their users? Stepping off the soapbox, these German tiaras have had quite a run these last 2-3 years. For a short time they were bringing very strong dollars - primarily due to one determined buyer who simply didn’t care what she paid. Knowing that the tiara market was being driven skyward by one person, and more importantly, that market values would plummet once she was sated, I hurried to sell a few for $2,000 each to finance the acquisition of two truly rare German porcelain pieces. Since then, values have been reasonable - in the $400-750 range. Although there have been blips up with a few listings, I wonder if those heady days when any tiara in decent shape would fetch $2,000 aren’t permanently behind us.
12/25 Update: This tiara sold for $639.
I was initially excited when I saw this listing, then I realized that it is missing the mechanical piece that should be present between the front and back. This piece was meant to move both to the left and to the right sides revealing spooky imagery. (See page 124…) One complete example sold in my March auction for a record $3,600, so the missing component has a major bearing on value. Even though the remaining invitation looks great - what is missing is important.
Hi Everyone,
Thanks to all of those who have purchased my vintage Halloween offerings throughout the year. I mightily avoid going to the Post Office during the holidays, so have now deactivated my For Sale page through December 31st. The page will reappear with new offerings in January for a few weeks until I pull it again to make way for my annual auction, on which I’ve been toiling away. I’ll have somewhere north of 100 lots of great items for the March 2024 auction. Additional details will be released in early February. In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
MBL
Hi Readers!
Happy Halloween! This season sure has gone by too quickly. I hope you all enjoy the day.
I’ve already started photographing items for my March auction. I’m going to have many great items, so stay tuned.
MBL
