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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Rare Vintage Halloween Party Invitation with JOL and moving bat unused Beistle?

When I first saw this listing I thought, My God! Except for in the pages of Lavin’s book, I have never seen this before. This was produced by Beistle for a single season, 1930. Now, think about what was happening at that time. The big economic story was what we now call The Great Depression. In mid-1930 when this mechanical invitation was produced, those icy fingers of depression were encircling and squeezing businesses as consumer spending plummeted. The plummeting continued as many thousands of workers were laid off. The average person was trying to feed themselves and perhaps a family. They weren’t spending money on such things as invitations to a Halloween party - no matter how cool the invitation was. And those few people that didn't know or care that the economy was crumbling merrily continued spending much as before. It was that person who would have bought this invitation. (This mechanical invitation was sold singly along with a white envelope.) So, what makes this particular invitation so desirable is that so few were made (Beistle didn’t know if it would survive the economic cataclysm, so they smartly made many fewer of their items than normal from 1930 through 1935.) and those that were purchased by the Mamie and Emily Baldwin’s of their day (A sly The Waltons reference…) didn’t waste them! To have one surface at all is so rare that I’ve never seen one before - BUT to have it be unused is the real point of its rarity.
As of this writing, this item has been bid up to $4,630 - primarily by just three bidders. Is it worth this? Well, yes, in that one person has bid that amount and would assumably pay that sum for it. Would I pay that or higher? Sadly, no, even though such items are in the top three of my favorite market segments. I think about what else I could acquire or what extravagant vacation I could underwrite with the money and the allure of owning something that I’d just toss in a display case fades very quickly. It will be fun (…and I mean it…) to see what someone is willing to pay for this rare gem - and I wish them the very best.

RARE Antique Vintage Halloween Beistle Diecut JOL Garland, 65", 1920s

It’s nice to see such a rare item appear on eBay. This garland was made only for a small handful of seasons. The first iteration has connectors that are more primitive than the second and final iteration’s eyelets. This example, complete with all 13 JOLs, is the second iteration. These long garlands are truly hard to find in near-mint or better condition as they were so easily damaged when hanging and unhanging. Except for the surface paper loss on either end, I’m impressed with the overall condition and the brightness of the colors. I wonder at what price will it end?

Vintage Paper Mache Halloween Pumpkin & Black Cat Candy Container 5-3/4" Tall

This candy container is a reproduction made sometime during or after 1995. The lack of detailing is the immediate giveaway. Genuine such containers have excellent, detailed molding. The JOL is also significantly larger. Check out page 69 to view the real deal. This has very modest decorative value only, much less than the current bid of $51.

8/29 Update: Sadly, someone spent $266 on this reproduction.

Rare Vintage Halloween Gibson Wise Up! Owl Diecut Sign Authentic 1930s Funeral

Gibson was the little brother (or sister) to two much larger siblings, Beistle and Dennison, so it had to try harder to break through to score retail space in the many five & dime stores that represented the easiest way for wholesalers to reach the public at that time. Gibson tried to hold their own against those two better capitalized firms with a wider nationwide reach by designing items with an edginess that its rivals often eschewed. (The slanted exclamation point Gibson often used added that oomph and immediacy that certainly helped their sales.) Sadly, their economic reality at that time meant that the overall numbers of each produced design were relatively smaller, making today’s quests by collectors just that much harder. The result is that even items with significant condition issues fetch very strong dollars!!

Antique Vintage Halloween Diecut Banner Black Cat Articulated Tail Garland 1930s

I really enjoy reading this great seller’s descriptions! She nails this wonderful Beistle garland in such a way I want to acquire a second one! :) It has become increasingly uncommon for someone to offer this complete. It is more common to find individual sections offered. So, this is an opportunity to acquire a cleverly designed Beistle treasure in whole with great color and minimal wear given the number of “moving” parts. I hope it brings strong dollars.

Antique Vintage Halloween Witch’s Mystery Answer Game 1933 - 1938 Beistle.

This large game will always make an impressive addition to any vintage Halloween game collection. This orange version is actually the a later iteration of Beistle’s original design in white. The white version was issued for a single season (1931 or 1932) before Beistle opted to reissue it in orange in 1933 for the next several seasons. Any of their “Mystery Answer” games, all shown on page 15, are now exceptionally hard to find. I am comfortable changing the RSIN in each case down a number with this version being a 2 and both white versions being a 1. I was finally able to add the large, white version to the collection ~3 years ago. Even with notable condition issues this listing is currently at $206.50 with nearly five days left. I expect it to garner strong dollars.

8/22 Update: This sold for $1,007.99, significantly higher than I recall this ever selling for. Lots of Beistle items are on a roll!