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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Two Vintage Halloween Decoration- Pumpkin by Beistle & Novel Construction 1930's

Wow, I am disappointed with this seller. I bought this lot at the conclusion of its original listing last week. When I got it, I discovered that the head of the Beistle Johnny Pumpkin was married to the body, meaning that two items, not originally manufactured together, were fused to make one ersatz "complete" item. Upon receiving the lot, for which I paid a total of $77.20, I discovered this and immediately contacted the seller for a full refund. To his credit, the refund was quickly given. However, he has now re-listed the same lot without explicitly acknowledging the ersatz nature of one of the lot's two items. That is deceptive and reflects quite poorly on this seller. 

ANTIK HALLOWEEN HORROR DANCE DEVIL PAPER MACHE DANCING DEVIL MADE IN GERMANY 1920

What a waste of money! Some poor schlub probably bought this thinking they were being a truly vintage item. This seller has been selling nothing but what I consider to be recently made items for quite a while. He doesn't make many sales, but once in a while traps a "mark." Too bad. Know your history: The Germans did not celebrate Halloween back then, so everything they made was for export. There was no economic reason why any product made for export would not have been sold. Sellers who try to tell you about "warehouse finds" as a result of the fall of the Berlin Wall in the early 1990s, or for any other reason, frankly, are either woefully misinformed or worse. ​Don't be like this poor buyer who basically kissed $119 plus shipping goodbye!

Knorpp Halloween Nightowl Paper Tiara 1916

If you check out my post just a few down the page, you'll see the lantern from which this tiara derives. First off, it is nice to see a few truly rare items being listed on Ebay rather than the schlock that has been clogging the site's auction arteries seemingly for forever. 
Make no mistake about it, this tiara is rare! I have seen it precisely twice in my nearly 25 years of ardent collecting. So, what's the story on it? 
As my post below indicates, the Knorpp Candy Company made a hard-to-find four-panel lantern. What is less well known is that they made a tiara based on each side of the lantern. The tiaras are made from a medium stock paper that didn't hold up well given their intended use, no doubt partially explaining these tiaras true rarity. (Another reason is that I don't think they sold well, so were almost surely manufactured for a season or two with limited distribution.) I own only the devil. I have seen the owl twice and have yet to see the cat or the ghoul. 

06/08 Update: This tiara brought a solid $271.66.  

Dennison's Vintage HALLOWEEN Decorations CUT-OUTS Original Box CARROT ANTIQUE

If you are planning to bid on this rare box, make sure you realize that the auction is for the box ONLY. According to the seller the contents are missing. At $81 as of this writing for a box, the price seems quite steep to me. That said, this is one set I've never been able to acquire. ​

05/29 Update: The empty box ended up selling for $119.50. It has to be a record! ​

Beistle Devil Cat with Original Glassine Sleeve

This seller, one of the pioneers in collecting vintage Halloween memorabilia, doesn't sell much, but when she does she has a tendency to place stratospheric opening prices on her "auctions." I have never liked this practice. Yes, this Skairo Beistle piece is wonderful and hard-to-find, but $900? Really? ​

05/26 Update: Yes, really. Someone actually ponied up $900 for this diecut and its glassine envelope. This reconfirms that items are worth what someone is willing to pay for them. Interestingly, virtually nothing else sold, so this seller has re-listed those items with lower, yet still aggressive opening bids. ​

Four-Sided American Lantern made by Knorpp Candy Company, Brooklyn NY

Here is an excerpt of what my book says of this lantern on page 111: ​Although the lantern itself is somewhat common, the envelope is not. The latter does shed light on when the lantern was manufactured. Described on the envelope as the "Most Attractive Lantern Made For Decorating Porches, Dining Rooms, and Ball Rooms," it was patented by the Knorpp Candy Company of 56-60 Scholes Street of Brooklyn, New York, on July 11, 1916. The lantern itself only references that a patent has been applied for, so the date on the envelope is significant in expanding our knowledge of this piece...​

VINTAGE HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN MUSICIANS COMPOSITION GERMANY 1925

This seller epitomizes someone who simply wants far too much for items in sub-standard condition, refusing to accept the overall wisdom of the marketplace. She has listed, re-listed, then listed again this fivesome  for what I consider to be a laughable, ask-for-the-moon-and-maybe-I'll-find-a-fool price. Please seller, catch a clue and simply list these in an auction format with a reasonable starting price of $49.99. 

VINTAGE 1950's HALLOWEEN United Novelty Mfg. Co. Catalog Christmas and Others

The United Novelty Manufacturing Company was just one of many, many wholesalers that existed as the final distribution channel for original manufacturers like Beistle. In fact, Beistle was the primary supplier to the wholesale supply segment relative to holiday decorations. I have examined each of these pages and cannot find a single example of an item made by a firm other than Beistle. ​This catalog is from ~1958-1963, evidenced by the numeral, 22, right after Chicago in the address line. These short city codes were used at that time as a sort of "proto-zip code" before the formal introduction of zip codes in the summer of 1963. Given the merchandise offered in these pages, I'd more narrowly estimate the catalog was issued in 1959. These catalogs are quite useful in helping date when items were originally produced. Since Beistle did not target the wholesale market as its primary distribution channel, in many cases at least one year went by between the date of an item's original manufacture and when it began appearing for sale by a wholesaler. 

VINTAGE 1960's HALLOWEEN Diecut Decoration Witch flying past Man-In-The-Moon

I am surprised by this result. The diecut is small, not compelling and manufactured by a decidedly third-tier paper products firm, Eureka. ​That said, I do know there are motivated collectors of everything Eureka, so perhaps this result is a harbinger of a new collecting sub-genre, vintage Halloween Eureka diecuts from the 1960s. (I am the first to admit that I don't always sufficiently appreciate Halloween items produced after ~1960.) 

Vintage Cardboard Halloween Donut Toss Stunt Game 1935

Even though the condition of this game is not appealing, it is refreshing to see something substantive on Ebay. I feel the listings have been for much too long ​woefully deficient of anything of interest to anyone collecting things beyond the ordinary. Notice the slats at the bottom of the cat enabling the diecut to fit into the box. Keep these slats in mind if you see this game for sale. More often than not, someone has substituted the far-more-common cat, otherwise identical, without slats. This Beistle game does not surface often. 

5/18 Update: I'm glad to see that this game fetched $171.00! ​