Even though I have a near-complete run of original Bogie Books and their brethren from 1909 through 1935 (I am missing the 1913 edition.), this place card being identified in a Bogie Book as being a Dennison item completely escaped my notice. It truly is a one-off from a Dennison design perspective. Who woulda thunk? Thanks so much to Anita R. for identifying it for me while she was visiting.
09/06 Update: This Dennison place card fetched a strong $224.50.
This nicely designed Dennison place card is surprisingly hard to find. It’s nice to see one for sale.
This place card wasn’t produced by Dennison. It was probably produced by a regional manufacturer with a limited marketing reach. Dennison was quite disciplined about marking virtually all of their small paper output.
These five colorful place cards were produced by Whitney during the 1930s and were sold only as a complete set of six in glassine envelopes. The one missing shows an arched-back cat similar to the one at the lower right, only facing right. The complete set can be seen on page 273.
09/18 Update: This incomplete set brought $187.50.
Although I feel there is too much high-end Halloween hitting the market too often with too much regularity hampering what truly stellar items are fetching, there are anomalies like this sale. You all realize this price is insane, right? This Dennison place card is beautifully designed and is a visual treat but it surfaces with great regularity. The price is typically $260-300 in NM+ condition. The result reminds me of something Whitney Houston once blurted out - “Crack is whack.”
Gibson tried hard to compete with its better funded competitors like Dennison and Beistle. They developed innovative and interestingly colored small paper items that, being made in much smaller quantities than either of its two main competitors, today strongly appeal to discerning collectors. I haven’t seen this stunt place card design surface all that often. I hope it does well.
07/28 Update: It sure did well, selling for $403.99. Who wants mine for $400 plus shipping?
Boy, I sure wish I had seen this incredibly rare Dennison place card. Dennison produced great designs full of humor and whimsy. After about 1930 their production decreased dramatically due to the Great Depression. I assume this charming design was produced then. I had never seen this one before. I regret missing this listing.
1/31 Update: I contacted the seller, zipstoys, on the off chance they might have another one of these fantastic place cards. To my pleasant shock, they had one more. I purchased it for $200 total, with shipping and tax.
This place card is only one of a complete set of six. The set was produced by Whitney during the early 1930s. All are scored so that the sides can bend inward allowing them to stand upright on a table. The opening price of $45 seemed aggressive, but it already has a bid. It will be instructive to see what this fetches.
This fine seller is normally very specific in her listings, so I’m surprised she neglects to mention this place card was produced by Dennison. It first appeared in 1926 and was sold singly with stock number H462. What does “sold singly” mean? Dennison packaged a high percentage of their wares into envelopes or slide boxes. However, a few designs were sold in stationary stores one-by-one. This is one of these designs.
The cat with the honeycomb pumpkin is the throwaway element to this assortment. The two Beistle cats are desirable, but the star of the lot is the Gibson table neckwear place card. It was made during the early 1930s. These seldom come available. The condition is typically problematic, like this one. Still, it would make a good placeholder if it can be gotten cheaply enough.
This lot sold for $161.49!
Gibson produced a line of these witch fortune place cards during the mid-1920s. There are two designs. One shows a witch standing holding a pumpkin, like this one, while the other design shows a witch stirring a cauldron. The latter is more involved and harder to find. The buyer got a bargain on this, as they typically change hands in the $65-85 range.
All of these place cards were produced by Hallmark, almost certainly during the 1930s.
Here’s something that doesn’t pop up often. This highly stylized combination nut cup and place card was issued by Dennison in 1929. There were four designs to the complete set - and the four designs were only sold as a set. The stock number was H466. As I write on page 260, “The fantastical imagery of these items is consistent with Dennison’s design focus during the narrow window of 1929-1931.”
The apogee of Hallmark’s design aesthetic was reached with the intricately colored items from this set issued in the late 1920s. There is a tally of the image with the cat and owl playing cards that is quite a bit larger than the identical image on this place card. There is an even more intricate invitation from this same set. Prior to my acquiring one recently, I had never seen this place card before. I have come to appreciate Hallmark’s output from this narrow range of years. If you appreciate the best of small paper, this card is one you must acquire.
Beistle produced this place card with a flip-out base during the interval 1931-1932. This is one of four designs that constitute a complete set. I’ve never seen packaging for this set so they may have been sold singly. You can see all four designs on page 223. In my opinion, this is the tamest of the designs. It was rare for Beistle to produce place cards with any embossing, so this set is near-unique in that respect. Prior to this current bubble in small paper pricing, a mint complete set sold ~2007 for $900, an anomalous price at that time. God only knows what such a set would bring today. This item up for auction is in fair condition. It will be instructive to see what it fetches in this time when many collectors seem to have lost their minds in valuing small paper.
08/25 Update: This fetched $112.50.
