Blog

Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Huge 1930s Dennison HALLOWEEN DIECUT Stand-Up BLACK CAT * Over 25” Tall

The seller states this very tall black cat tabletop decoration with a 3-D effect was made by Dennison. Dennison was darn particular about marking their wares and they were clever about it, sometimes incorporating it into the small filigree or line work present in a significant minority of their goods. This doesn't appear to be marked. When I first pulled up this listing, I thought for sure it was actually a Beistle item. However, there are a number of key differences: the recessed eyes/nose/mouth and the lack of any facial detailing to name two. I can't find any reference to this kind of 3-D tabletop decoration in any of my Dennison Bogie Books, Price List pamphlets, etc. so this is a mystery. I love the way this seller takes such great care to point out whatever imperfections exist in the items he is auctioning. 

03/02 Update: The seller was gracious enough to contact me directly, alerting me to the fact that this cat was shown in Dennison's 1934 Halloween Parties booklet. I had forgotten about those pages. Seeing something in 3-D is sure a lot different than seeing it on a page. Dennison must have been irritated with their chief holiday competitor when Beistle essentially ripped off the design and began marketing their own line of these kinds of items. Even though Dennison was first, I like the detailing of the Beistle line better. 

03/07 Update: This rare Dennison cat sold for $150.49. 

VINTAGE 1940'S HALLOWEEN SET OF 9 CARDBOARD CUTOUTS (RARE)

This listing is significant in that the lid of the box has a small section urging purchasers of the boxed sets to buy U.S. savings bonds and stamps "for victory." I haven't seen this before. My records indicate these sets were made in 1945 and continued being made for about ten years. What's new to know is that the very first ones produced were made with this exhortation. Since WWII formally ended in mid-August of 1945, there couldn't have been many sets made with this war bonds verbiage. Although these boxed sets frequently come available, now I'll know to look for one with the bonds notation for my personal collection. 

VINTAGE HALLOWEEN PAPER CANDY CONTAINER BOTTLE

Pieces from this large set surface rarely. I surmise that the set wasn't produced for more than perhaps 2-3 seasons, possibly because it didn't sell well. In my many years of collecting I have only seen ~6 differently shaped candy containers, with this listing being the first time I've seen this particular design. Given just how rare these pieces are, the ending price seems low to me. 

Vintage German Die Cut Halloween Decoration Witch Germany Hallowe'en Embossed

I wanted to point out that the dark-to-light shading on this desirable German diecut is the way it is meant to look. The Germans experimented with this shading technique on a solid number of their diecuts. The diecuts with this shading represent ~20% of any one design except the perched owl you can see on page 180. In that case, the percentages are reversed. 

Vintage Luhrs EMBOSSED HALLOWEEN BLACK CAT MUSICIANS *On ORIGINAL Card!

Beistle, using their H.E. Luhrs mark, made a set of eight of these black cat musician diecuts during the 1940s and 1950s. What is interesting about this listing is that the lot consists of a header card of just three diecuts. This indicates that Beistle made available full sets and partial sets as demand ebbed and flowed. For someone who has been researching Beistle, Dennison and Gibson products for many years, I find this approach to marketing full and partial sets interesting. Naturally, header cards like these are scarce as there is really nothing captivating or memorable about it. Since the diecuts are stapled via a perforated tab, the end consumer would in almost every instance have simply tossed it. Given how rare this trio with header card is, the buyer got a deal. 

VINTAGE 1950s CROWN OWL TRICK/TREAT LANTERN LIGHT BATTERY OPERATED

I love listings like this where another piece of the "Who made that?" puzzle snaps into place. I've seen these frosted glass owl battery-op lanterns many, many times over the decades but I've never seen one with the box before. Now not only do we know that Crown Electric Works Limited of Japan made the lantern, but that they had assigned inventory number 1420 to it. 

Original Dennison Cat Head Seals Screaming Cat Face Halloween

Most Beistle packaging is coveted and hard to come by. The earliest packaging is less interesting as Beistle hadn't yet added the detailed artwork that festooned the most sought after variety. This is an early enveloped set as there is nothing to it except the simplest of descriptions and an example of the contents glued to the front. Even so, the seller would have garnered far more than the $20 that was obtained if they had run this as an auction rather than an ill-advised BIN event. 

Vintage German Mini Die Cut Cat On Pumpkin

This is one from a set of six very desirable German mini-diecuts made from 1945-949. Most have the black paper prop seen on this one. These are typically marked as being made in one of the zones administered by one of the victorious allies after WWII. This example doesn't have this mark, which although atypical, doesn't diminish its cachet. The seller has been on my approved dealer list for a long-time. You can buy with total confidence from Scott! 

antique Halloween decorations Beistle's Halloween Clocks

This is another example of how white hot early Beistle items are in the marketplace. Beistle made this clock for only a single season - 1923 - and those that have survived the nearly 100 years tend to be in rough shape, mainly due to the large form factor and irregular borders. The seller, thanks to at least one eagle-eyed viewer, revised the listing to highlight that the clocks weren't mint, but they sure were as close as I've mostly seen. (The real star of the lot was the envelope. These ephemeral items were nearly all tossed aside. I still haven't found one for the collection.) I placed a few bids, but the final price was a fully valued one. 

BEISTLE VINTAGE HALLOWEEN DECORATION PUMPKIN HEAD W BLACK OWL CARDBOARD CUTOUT

Early Beistle paper has been white hot for some many years now. (Nothing points to this lessening!) The latest evidence is this auction result. Beistle began manufacturing these Johnny Pumpkins in 1919 and continued their creation only through the 1921 season. Here is what I wrote about this product line (appears on page 122): "Beistle issued the family in these formally designated sizes, all non-embossed on flat stock, medium weight cardboard: five inch, eight inch, eleven inch, sixteen inch and twenty inch, although there are variations to size of as much as one and one-quarter inch with nearly all of them....Beistle didn't take great care in differentiating designs within sizes. Sometimes the differences are obvious but sometimes the differences are just a matter of how much neck line, or lace or collar shows. Beistle was seemingly not prepared for the success of this line and cranked them out with limited quality control relative to exactly how the designs by size were replicated. This becomes more obvious the more examples one gathers together to compare." The one selling here for $136.49 was in very rough shape, yet still brought what it did.