This is a newly produced item, probably made with an intent to deceive new collectors. The wood ratchet alone has no connection to Halloween and the painted disc bears none of the fine detailing you should expect from a truly vintage item. One tip-off that one should be wary of this listing is that the seller states that it was purchased in Germany. As I have pointed out so often, Germany made their Halloween items strictly for export through the 1960s. Nothing would have remained in the country. Unfortunately, Halloween material has gotten so expensive that Germany-based con artists looking for easy scores began manufacturing supposedly vintage items in the mid-1990s, with the subsequent crap showing up at large antiques shows, like the one held in Atlantic City. I remember visiting a Germany-based dealer's booth there in the mid-1990s and noting what was on his table. Sure enough, I began seeing those very designs begin appearing in antiques stores and in the listings mailed by the two most prominent dealers selling holiday items at that time, Jenny Tarrant and the late Paul Schofield. Not only were they fooled, but so were many collectors who should have known better. Sadly, these many years later when visiting other collections, I almost always see these fakes staring coldly out from the display cases they were placed in by their new owners.
04/30 Update: This sold for $30.99.
