This rare German diecut has surfaced twice in the last 18 months, in addition to this most recent listing. Both earlier listings ended at multiples of what this one brought. It could be due to overall condition, the fact that the seller started the listing at too high of an opening price, or simply the few collectors who really desired this desirable diecut and were willing to step up have been sated. Although our fun hobby has a larger collector base than ever, those willing to spend in excess of $1000 on any one item is quite small. This is one of the German diecut designs that was produced only in 1935 and shipped to the eastern area of Canada.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Vintage Halloween Copy Black/White Glossy Photo Kresges Candy Counter ca. 1930s!
This result, when the overall market has been soft, beggars belief. This is merely a copy of an original photo. It is an interesting photo, but it is ONLY A COPY! When you look at the bidding history, as in almost all such cases, two bidders intent on prevailing drove this price up and up beyond the even-then unreasonably high price of $60 placed by a bidder other than the two that drove this to the stratosphere. Wow…
VINTAGE! UNUSUAL HALLOWEEN GERMAN TIN RATCHET NOISEMAKER - DEVIL, WITCH & CROW!
When I was browsing the listings I saw this and thought, “I haven’t seen this Japanese ratchet design in some time.” When I took a closer look and realized it was actually produced in Germany, my eyebrows raised in pleasant surprise. Seeing this design from Japan is good, but seeing the much rarer (and I feel, more desirable…) German version is a true treat. The added kicker are the sellers. You’d be hard-pressed to interact with two nicer people.
ANTIQUE GERMAN HALLOWEEN JACK-O-LANTERN PUMPKIN TIN TOY TWO FACED NOISE MAKER
The Germans didn’t produce a great number of tin holiday designs during the 1930s, the decade this was issued, due to constraints placed on their use of metal by the Versailles Treaty. A high percentage of what they did produce during this time skewed to the edge of normality, certainly one of the reasons German holiday tin from this era typically does so well. The sterling feature of this design is the cigarette shown on only the one side. This one surfaces rarely, so although this is a bit rough compared to other items this seller has been offering of late, it may be worth a look.
MINT RARE Antique Halloween Skull Match Safe Victoria Carlsbad Austria 1891-1918
This is a superbly crafted item - one I’ve not seen before. As the great seller states, this piece was made sometime during the interval of 1891-1918 based on the mark used by the Schmidt and Company’s Victoria Porcelain Factory in Altrohlau, Bohemia. A different set, this one complete from the same factory during the same interval, can be seen on page 130.
VINTAGE PAPER MACHE GERMANY HALLOWEEN BOBBLEHEAD/NODDER DEVIL /DEMON/KRAMPUS
A long-time reader sent me an email wanting me to confirm this devil is not a vintage item. I so confirm. These soulless space-takers started polluting the hobby in 1995. This was produced sometime during or anytime after that year. It has decorative value only, perhaps $20-25, well below the $1500 the optimistic seller has as a BIN.
New Items Added to For Sale Section
I added ~30 items to my For Sale page yesterday afternoon. Go ahead and check out the page. You may find something you can’t live without!
Vintage A. MASTER Halloween Party Game - Punch Hole Game As Made, Never Played
One sees many of these punch games - but this is an earlier one made by Masters of Brooklyn, NY during the later 1930s. The most commonly seen versions were produced later in Japan and are marked as such. So, the fact this is an earlier version in unplayed condition should give it a slight boost to value. The seller started it at $35. There is already one bidder, but I feel the game as it is won’t bring too much more. We’ll see…
SCARCE Vintage Halloween Tin Putty Knife Clanger Noisemaker Decoration, Cohn 30s
The overall market for tin litho has been the slowest to strengthen these last ten years, although with the famous Bernanke “green shoots” sprouting here and there, hope springs eternal that this market segment will finally get some momentum. One of the green shoots has been the two “putty knife” designs T. Cohn produced during the 1930s. (You can see the other on page 201.) When either of the designs come to market, they routinely bring strong results. With nearly five days left on this listing, the price is already at $217. What will be the ending price?
Antique Vintage Germany Halloween Diecut Decoration Owl, 1920s, Deeply Embossed
The Germans produced a solid variety of owl diecuts in this large size during the 1920s. Few are in such nice condition as this one. Yes, an area of the hand-painted beak highlights has disappeared, but that’s minor given how battered most of these sized diecuts are after 100 years of existence. The seller is a nice person, too!
