I’ve long noted how unusual it is to see this pulp candy container in near-perfect condition. I wonder if it stems from the quality or formulation of the pulp itself. Pulp is a hardy substance - just look at the many pulp JOLs that regularly pop up for sale. Many JOLs have emerged relatively unscathed through the decades. I speculate that whatever firm made this design used a different pulp formulation that simply doesn’t fare well over the years. Thoughts?
Blog
Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
GERMAN WITCH IN JOL CANDY CONTAINER HEAVY COMPOSITION VINTAGE HALLOWEEN ANTIQUE
The smaller form factor German compo candy containers seem to have the best molding detail. Just look at the contours of the JOL. This is truly a small work of art. There is at least one other design that comprises the set. You can see the devil next to the witch on page 65. The lister, stnick22, has listed ~150 lots, many quite good. There has been a fair amount of higher-quality items this calendar year. Has this unusual abundance pulled too many dollars out of wallets/purses, limiting the chances for things to bring gasp-inducing prices? (I have remarked to several collectors that prices seem soft overall.) I projected that the hobby would see several years of unusual abundance as the first generation of serious collectors dies off. This first generation focused almost exclusively on German lanterns and candy containers, so it follows that is what we’ll be seeing more of. This now-dying or already gone first generation didn’t pay much attention to paper, so we won’t be seeing much of this. I project that paper, especially small paper, has much room to run.
Rare Vintage Halloween 3 Piece Witches & Pumpkin Fluorescent Die Cut Decorations
These diecuts were produced by Beistle. The witches were released as a trio of designs during the later 1950s. Even in rough condition like these two are, they bring strong dollars as evidenced by the ending price. The large JOL was released during the years between 1952-1963, inclusive. It is not as sought after as the witches. I feel the seller would have have achieved higher gross dollars by listing these items separately.
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 Die Cut Wall Decor WITCH w/ Cat & Pot m/ in U.S.A is 17 " Tall
I wanted to write about this design as it differs from most of Beistle’s output from that time - the mid-1950s through the early-1960s. This diecut was made for many seasons and is common. The design sensibility is not. Most of Beistle’s output at this time was cartoonish as the market swung sharply toward satisfying the nascent tastes of children and their parents’ desire to create a fun, light-hearted decorating environment so consistent with that relatively carefree time. It seems that some Beistle art director reached back in time for the imagery that caused so many units to be sold in stores throughout the United States. The witch and cat are cute but not entirely devoid of some level of menace. (I especially like the witch’s skull top button.) After this time, Beistle sagged into Halloween design obsolescence, not to really emerge with any consistency until they wised up and began re-releasing their 1930s greatest hits 10-15 years ago, with these sufficiently tweaked so that the newly released designs didn’t interfere with the secondary collector’s market.
EXCEEDINGLY RARE MINT Vintage Halloween Mechanical Witch Nut Cup Beistle 1930s!!
Beistle produced a set of four of these mechanical nut cups in one year only - 1938. I was fortunate to acquire four complete sets of these nut cups in 2014 from a seller in Massachusetts, plus a few singles. I kept one set, sold one set each to two close friends and offered the fourth and final set in my inaugural auction in 2015. That set was acquired by the person consigning this to zizsdream. So, this is one of the very nut cups from that 2015 auction. (I would expect the other three designs to follow from this great seller in short order.) These are intricate and delicate confections made from art Beistle recycled from earlier seasons. This recycling was common during these later Great Depression years when companies were just trying to survive.
RARE Vintage HALLOWEEN Scary WITCH 7.5" Die Cut PLACE CARD? 20s 30s Decoration
This odd item was produced by Gibson during the early 1930s. It was meant as both a place card and a napkin holder. I’m not sure how receptive the public was to this combination as they are seldom seen today. (There was another design, an owl. Both can be seen at the bottom of page 269.) The actual selling price was $110. I feel the buyer received a solid deal.
ULTRA RARE Vintage Halloween Horrible Witch Decoration Crepe Skirt Beistle 30-31
Although this was the first and only time I’d seen that coloration of the crepe skirt, I still fell down when I saw this result, plaintively moaning that our hobby has been captured by the well-heeled. Not many collectors can drop nearly $8,000 on something like this. (Now, the end result was warped by two uber-aggressive bidders. Remove those bids and this item would have ended in the ~$2,200 range. I wonder if either bidder ever really expected to pay that much for it? If not, the result nicely illustrates the risk in placing sky-high bids on eBay.)
This same seller has yet another one of these listed now, albeit with different crepe colors and in unrestored condition. What will it fetch?
If someone wants mine, I’d be delighted to sell it for $5,000.
1910-1917 Vintage Mechanical Sacred Be Ye Fire O Halloween Die Cut Cat Witch
This is one of the set of four produced by an unknown firm from 1910-1917. It is only the second one I’ve ever seen with the cat’s tail still attached.
RARE Antique Vtg BEISTLE Halloween Party Invitation PopUp Witch JOL Cauldron 20s
This iconic pop-up invitation was produced in great quantities and usually sold in boxed sets of six. To my knowledge there is only one other Beistle pop-up invitation with a similar design and construction. This second version can be seen at the top-right of page 223. This version, with a now-revised RISN of “1” was sold singly in the early 1930s when Beistle was in a financial bind due to the Great Depression. At this time they rarely began a new design from scratch, instead co-opting elements from previous designs in order to save money. Consequently, the scarecrow pop-up invitation was made in significantly smaller quantities. (I’ve never seen one aside from the one in the collection.) The RSIN for these two items, 1 and 3, reflect this fact. The seller of this witch pop-up is long-time collector who is actually knowledgeable about the hobby. Honest as the summer day is long, you can buy from him with great confidence.
Vintage PAPER MACHE 8 1/4" Orange Witch Candy Container
You are looking at one of the most elusive USA pulp figures out there - not that the item itself is all that rare - but to find one in near-mint or better condition is the rarely done trick. For some reason 9+ out of 10 I see are in this approximate condition. I delayed adding one to the collection for decades as one in the condition warranting inclusion eluded my grasp. Even in this condition, these pulp witches command prices in the range of $175-225 or more.
1930s *RARE* Vintage Halloween German WINDOWPANE Diecut WITCH w/ Moon Embossed
The quartet of designs comprising the 1930s windowpane diecuts produced in Germany have long been avidly collected. Prices have escalated markedly over the last 5 years. That said, this is a very strong price, deservedly so for this fine seller. I really like the time she takes to explain what is being sold and some data points on past sales for similar items. Make sure you formally follow agmccloskey!
RARE ANTIQUE HALLOWEEN WITCH PAPER LANTERN MADE IN GERMANY
This hanging witch with a latticed-paper body was merely one design among six that the Minnesota-based seller offered with very strong results. There were a few more Halloween designs produced beyond the six offered, but collectively the ones on eBay give a great representation of the cleverness, if not fragility, of these kinds of things. Because they are so difficult to display, I long ago purged the designs I owned from the collection, so it was fun and instructive to see what they fetch these days. The range was from $227 to $589. These are almost certainly among the earliest German paper Halloween items produced and exported to the United States.
*RARE* 1950s Vintage Halloween BEISTLE Witch Glancing Backwards Pale Green Moon
There have been a number of results that have caused me to raise my eyebrows in disbelief, this being one of them. The three Beistle diecuts that comprise a full set are arguably the result of a last creative gasp from an organization that had been running on fumes for too long by the time these were released during the late 1950s. The trio is stunning! The condition of this example is so problematic that I question why it would have brought nearly $430.
***RARE*** Vintage Halloween Witch With Fire & Broom Celluloid Viscoloid
One of my wishes relative to eBay is that they would choose to become more transparent about what items fetch when a “Best Offer” is involved. This listing shows a celluloid piece in less than pristine condition with what I thought was an offer price that would never be attained. Although the asking price of $2999.99 wasn’t gotten, what was the actual price at which the witch changed hands?
