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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

T Cohn Vintage Scarecrow Halloween Tin Litho Clanger Noisemaker wood Handle

T. Cohn made a wide variety of tin litho items for the holidays, but their two putty knife designs have remained strong sellers for many years - even when the tin litho noisemaker segment was colder than a brass toilet seat in the Yukon. This was produced during the later 1930s. The other design can be seen on page 201. With over four days to go, the bids stand at almost $61. The month of December is hands-down the worst month to sell vintage Halloween items, so it’ll be interesting to see at what price this listing ends. Sending good thoughts…

01/01 Update: The time of the year really worked against this listing as the noisemaker fetched only $188.05

Very rare vintage halloween tin noise maker excellent graphics

I’ve only seen this seemingly semi-finished, oddly-constructed tin litho clapper a handful of times in 35 years of collecting. Each one has that same plain-Jane handle. I have not been able to pinpoint the manufacturer with high confidence, but am confident that this tin treasure was made for a single season in the late 1920s. I see that it has been bid up to $300 with nearly six days remaining. It will be fun to see what this fetches. Tin litho items in fine-plus or better condition are overdue for some market love.

08/15 Update: This fetched $407.51.

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.

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.

RARE Vintage Halloween Cymbols

The buyer got a bargain - rare in these days of irrationally exuberant valuation on eBay. My advice to collectors of vintage Halloween is to wean yourself from eBay. Check out sites like Ruby Lane, icollect247 and Etsy. Although there’s not much up now, get in the habit of also checking out my For Sale page. Get out to shows and flea markets where you are more apt to find bargains.

Vintage Halloween 1930's Tambourine - Kirschhof - NICE condition - RARE

This is an elusive tambourine with at least two variants. The version in the collection has a decorated rim that gives the piece a desirable finished look. This listed version that changed hands for $225 has an undecorated rim. It’s unknown whether the differing versions were made at the same time or even by the same manufacturer. I’d love to know, though!

Vintage 1930s Halloween clacker tin litho noisemaker toy knocker

Kirchhof produced this design along with a companion design that can be seen on page 204 for a season, maybe two. The typical form of the noisemaker is a ratchet, so this clanger style is unusual, perhaps accounting for why it has already been bid up to nearly $200 even though the condition is rough. If you are going to see one of the pair, this is the design that surfaces a bit more frequently.

Vintage Haloween Tin Litho Kirchhof Metal Toy Party Horn Noisemaker

This seller, wildzombie, is far poorer than they could have been had they offered this very desirable tin litho horn produced by Kirchhof as an auction rather than the ill-advised BIN offering of $27.60. These have changed hands for upwards of $400. The colors and overall condition are exceptional with this example. Someone got a VERY good deal. I hope the seller realized their error when the listing concluded in 14 minutes.