One of my favorite market segments is the boxed Dennison products. I began collecting these early and that fervor remains unabated. There has been a noticeable and sustained uptick in interest (and therefore, prices…) for Dennison boxed items, especially for those items produced with their Art Deco look issued from 1928-1932. I had two Dennison boxed items in my recent auction. Both were strong performers. This box of owl cut-outs is a stolid design, yet is doing quite well with over six days to go as of this typing.
Blog
Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Vintage Halloween German diecut, Devil face, 1920’s
This is a beautiful example of this hard-to-find German diecut. Many diecuts will come in three states: matte, glazed and matte with a faux-distressed look. (The last is restricted to relatively few designs.) I typically like the glazed versions best, but this matte devil face is very appealing. I hope it does very well for this fine seller.
04/11 Update: This brought $317.99.
Beistle Vintage Halloween decoration, 1920’s
Beistle produced this decoration as part of a set of six during the 1920s. You can see an example of the original envelope and three of the other designs on page 218. I have issued a “Repro Alert” on these decorations. The entire set was reproduced on glossy stock paper about 7 years ago, so be careful. This listing (and the other by the same seller) is on matte stock with the fine line detailing consistent with truly vintage items. I haven’t seen pieces from the set being offered for some time, so it will be instructive to see what it fetches.
04/11 Update: This brought a scant $86.01.
VINTAGE HALLOWEEN ‘DUNBAR GALLERY’ AUCTION CATALOG - ‘HUGH LUCK’ AUCTION 1997
These were foundational sales. The leading Halloween collector at the time, Hugh decided to sell his small but very choice collection in a series of sales through Dunbar’s Gallery, run by Leila (Lee) Dunbar, who can now occasionally be seen on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow mainly appraising sports items. Hugh was an early collector with a very good eye. He was generous with his knowledge, making time to educate collectors at all levels. He was, and is, a charming bon vivant. I was fortunate to get to know him some years before these sales, providing an opportunity to examine the items comprising his collection, in situ, so to speak. I was an aggressive bidder in these sales, enabling me to purchase the best of his collection. Four items on the cover of this catalog made their way to my home.
I began assembling an archive of catalogs and magazines when I first began collecting. The internet was a few years away, so some dealers would send out near-monthly offerings through the mail. I kept nearly every one, enabling me now to access a sizable library of reference materials that still serve to inform my collecting. There were other publications and zines then - the best of which was The Boo News. If you have a chance to acquire any of The Boo News newsletters, do so. They make fascinating and prescient reading, decades removed from publication.
The 2023 March Auction
Thanks so much to all the many participants in my recently concluded annual auction! The bidding was fast and furious all week, with the 107 lots dispersed all over the United States, Canada and even to Merry Old England. The only bummer was a non-paying bidder - only the second such instance in conducting my annual events since 2015. She bid on six lots. Three were sold to underbidders and three will be offered either on my For Sale page or in next year’s event. This bidder is now banned from all purchasing and bidding events.
DEAD MINT Old Vintage Halloween JOL-Faced Hatbox Candy Container Germany 1916-21
So, here’s a listing involving the same fine seller that went the opposite direction from the post directly below. Instead of underperforming, this lot overperformed surely to the consternation of the prevailing bidder. There were three determined bidders all intent on bidding sums far in excess of what these not uncommon hatbox candy containers typically fetch. (If you are going to see pieces from this large set appear, they almost always are the hatbox and the purse. They both typically bring half or less of this shocking result.) If anyone wants mine for $2,900, please contact me.
VERY RARE Vintage Halloween Die Cut Mechanical Scarecrow Nut Candy Cup, Beistle!
This result surely was a significant disappointment to the seller/consignor, but a true bargain for whomever was lucky enough to snag this for $262, especially given its condition. I don’t understand the result, so I have to attribute it to the vagaries of eBay. There are four of these Beistle mechanical designs. This same seller offered the strongest design of the quartet, the witch, not long ago and it fetched $938. If the other two designs are offered, it will be instructive to see what they fetch.
VINTAGE 1940's The Dolly Toy Co. HALLOWEEN Candy Container Box OWL on TREE STUMP
It is so heartening to see a truly rare item on eBay, the once proud site that has sadly become a garbage heap of undifferentiated Halloween goods. (Is anyone else exhausted from scrolling through endless pages of crapola just to find the occasional vintage item? I sure wish the boobs who run eBay would bring back and enforce a vintage category for Halloween items.) Now that I feel better after ranting, let’s turn the focus to this rare and desirable item issued during the 1930s by Dolly Toy of Dayton, Ohio, under their Fibro Toy line. This is only the second time I’ve seen this item. The first time was when I purchased a near-mint+ example from a seller in July 2007. You can now see it on page 296. The owl fits onto the stump and sits above it by using the slot at the bottom of the owl. The photos for this listing seem to show this slot, so the seller’s statement that the owl just sits inside the stump is incorrect. I know of several collectors who want this item, so if the right people are watching, this should go for more than a song. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were to fetch north of $500.
03/30 Update: This ended a bit short of what I expected - $441.
Vintage 7up Soda : Halloween pumpkin 1950’s Advertising Decoration USA made ad
This seller is very optimistic in that they are offering this relatively common item for $500, with an option to make an offer. These items typically trade in the $100-125 range.
Vintage Halloween Bugle Made U.S.A. Noise Maker
Bugle Toy of Providence, Rhode Island, had the most innovative and interesting designs for their tin litho noisemakers - far eclipsing the typical efforts seen by their main competitors like Kirchhof and US Metal Toy. The collectors’ market has long recognized tin Bugle Toy desirability by generally placing a premium on their valuation. This item in preternatural condition affirms this generality. Listed for only a 3-day stretch, the shaker has achieved a bid level of $76 in only a few hours as of this writing. If you love Bugle, you almost surely will not see one in better condition.
03/30 Update: This sold for an astounding $406.99, surely a record.
