As I write on page 264, “These may be among the first boxed sets of seals Gibson issued. Unlike all other Gibson seals I have seen, each of the seals…is marked on the reverse, “Gibson Line Made in Germany.” I assume this was a very short-lived association …. “ The example in the collection doesn’t have a quantity sticker, so the fact that this listing shows the box held 35 seals is good information.
Blog
Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Vintage Halloween Party Invitation Black Cat [4x5]
This is a beautiful invitation - by size alone a real stunner. I’ve only seen this a handful of times in 30+ years of collecting. There were matching tally and place cards produced as well to round out a three part set. The maker is Masters. These designs were produced under Masters’ Unique Line label. It’ll be interesting to see what this sells for during this slow time of the year.
02/05 Update: This sold for a respectable $110.27.
T Cohn Halloween Tambourine Bobbing For Apples Witch Pentagram Black Cat Vtg Htf
This tin litho tambourine wasn’t made by T. Cohn. It has been plainly marked on its face by the maker - Chein. It looks to be in fine condition, but the asking price of $300 is too high. A reasonable BIN offer would be ~ $175.
HALLOWE'EN Fold Out Table Top Decoration -Cat on a Moon-circa 1940's
This hat design was produced by Beistle, but much earlier than the seller guesses. It was produced for a single season - 1921. This example is in poor condition and the coloration seems off.
02/05 Update: This sold for only ~$20.
Vntg Art Deco Halloween Scorecard Bridge Tally Booklet Unused The Buzza Co.
Pickings have been slim for months on eBay, but there have been a number of lots sold even within the last week that brought far less than they should have. Then I see this lot. Great tally in great condition - but is the price sustainable at $74?
There are a few hardy souls that brave the slog through eBay Halloween garbage listings. They have been rewarded by being able to scoop up the few nuggets at decent prices, but overall the first quarter of the year is the worst time to list vintage Halloween items. There seems to be more crap now than I remember in past post-Christmas listings. I’m hoping this will change soon. There is little to write about.
Halloween Vintage KATZY PARTY Game, Early 1900's, "Pin the Cat", Envelope
Although the graphics are excellent and the game not-often seen, I don’t consider this to be a game made expressly for Halloween. There is no imagery except generic black cat pin-ons - no JOLs, no witches, no nothing - that lends credence to the idea this was made for anything other than a generic Katzy party.
VTG 1940s HALLOWEEN JAMBOREE CANDY BOX WITCH BLACK CAT BATS TRICK OR TREAT
This is one of the nicest candy box designs I’ve seen with so much going on and so much energy. It is a truly pleasing design. Others felt the same way given the ending price and accounting for condition. The box was produced by the Jamboree Sales Company of Los Angeles, CA during the 1950s.
Early Antique Halloween Jack-O-Lantern Scare Crow Die Cut Standing Decoration
This seller has at least three listings of items I’ve not seen before. This is one of them. I believe this was produced by a regional paper manufacturer with quite limited distribution - certainly not by one of the bigger names like Beistle or Dennison. I like the artwork and the simple colors. If condition was better and there wasn’t that post-manufacture applied bit of crepe I’d be a bidder.
01-25 Update: This sold for $37.00
VINTAGE 1930's U. S. A. HALLOWEEN Party Tally Card OWL on smiling JACK O-LANTERN
I haven’t seen this tally many times. I think it was produced by Whitney during the 1920s. Have confidence in dealing with this wonderful seller.
1933 Vintage Halloween Etta Palmer Wotsie Witzie Fortune Teller Game Decoration
I would classify this game as having only the most tangential of connections to Halloween. Except for the broomed witch, there really is none. Some collectors specialize in collecting fortune telling games, and a precious few are truly Halloween related, but the vast majority either have no connection or the slimmest of connections to Halloween. Just as a nice piece of colorful art, I can see the modest value this item fetched - but that price is also a judgement from the market that classifying this item as a Halloween game is incorrect. The Fortune Crystal Game is another example of an item often wrongly classified as having a Halloween connection.
Happy New Year!
Hello Readers,
Happy New Year to you!
I appreciate you taking the time to read what I post here. Looking at the site’s analytics, the reading audience has greatly expanded over the last several years, with a notable spike in 2019. I’d like to think it’s because of my witty prose, but the reality is almost certainly not that. The hobby remains expensive with more fakes, fantasy and “Frankensteined” pieces coming to market than ever before. Vigilance remains the watchword when buying vintage Halloween items. Know the sellers. Conduct business only with those who’ll stand behind their attribution forever. If you buy at shows, always get a receipt detailing the item and the seller’s contact information.
As so many of you do already, feel free to ask my opinion of any particular item you see on any forum. I’ll give you the straight skinny as I am beholden to no one.
Stay tuned for my May 3rd auction. I’ll have at least 100 lots of nothing but authentic, vintage items on offer. This go-round the range of goods is broad: German diecuts, German candy containers/figurals/lanterns, hard plastic, post cards, games and game pieces, US pulp, tin noisemakers, Dennison goods, Beistle treasures, small paper items and other rare miscellany.
As always, the auction is open only to those who care enough about the hobby to have invested in the best and most complete reference available, my 3rd edition of Vintage Halloween Collectibles, by buying a copy from me. Ordering information is on this site.
Be safe, be well and be kind in this New Year!
MBL
Antique 1929 Fortune Telling Game, The Witch of Endor, Naumkeag Games, Salem, MA
This game surfaces enough that I feel $200 was an aggressive price to pay. A loyal reader asked my opinion of the listing. I said that although the overall condition was good, the BIN price was too high, given that several have sold for about half that in the last year on eBay and other forums. (The listing shows the game sold for $225, but the actual selling price was $200 according to the seller. )
