Hello Readers, I just discovered that AT&T has had a systemwide email issue occurring since Monday, May 6th. The rep I spoke to within the last hour couldn’t provide an estimated time by which their problem will be resolved. The issue doesn’t seem to affect emails being sent from an AT&T-based email account to another AT&T-based email account. However, if someone sends me an email from, let’s say a gmail account, I have received them up to 48 hours later or not at all. (I’ve had various individuals send test emails to me. Most have not yet been received.) If you’ve sent me an em ..read more

The seller doesn’t point out that is a remnant. The all-important identifier of what kind of “Pops” this represented is missing. Please see the complete Rosen Halloween Pops box shown on page 117. I feel this box was produced during the interval of 1948-1952 ..read more

This is a nice set - and hard to find. As these great sellers have indicated in their listing, their assortment of four designs over five cut-outs mirrors the set in the collection. I have often said that quality control back then, especially with Beistle, wasn’t to the high standard we assume and expect from today’s producers. Interestingly, many of the truly vintage bags Beistle used have the circular Moon Republic Bag Company mark. I’ve not been able to discover anything about this firm. Even though the envelope is not in stellar condition, it would look darn good framed. The sellers are to ..read more

I just added ~35 new lots to the For Sale page. Enjoy ..read more

It is so refreshing to see such a truly rare item on eBay. I feel it is the most compelling and single “must-have” piece from the relatively large set with the same JOL-based design. (Please refer to pages 58-60 to see other items from the set. The large candlestick in the collection is shown on page 132.) This candlestick candy container was produced in at least two sizes. I was very fortunate to pick up a German example in a smaller size not long ago. (I provided a photo of the two examples to Kovels Antique Trader for their October 2023 issue.) The Japanese made an example, too, which falls ..read more

Tim Ramzyk, the creative force behind Pulp Novelties, will soon be releasing these three “Spooky Sticks” designs in his Etsy store! He thought it would be fun to offer these smaller decorative elements in addition to his lanterns. I don’t have the room to acquire much Halloween folk art these days, so unless the art is by true masters like Matthew Kirscht or Tim Ramzyk, I sadly have to overlook it. Just look at the careful and detailed molding of this initial batch of designs, Red Devil, The Wicked Witch and Mr. Bones. If successful - and how could they not be - designs will be added annually ..read more

Of all the many vintage Halloween market segments, the tin litho noisemaker segment has been moribund for at least two decades, with exceptions for some tambourines and the odd duck example like this listing. This inventive design with the added expense coming from the act of attaching the “ears,” is among the earliest of T. Cohn’s Halloween output. I haven’t seen it much in 35 years of collecting, so when I saw the listing and its condition I knew it would bring strong dollars. And what dollars ..read more

This shade, which sold for $70, is actually part of the 1916 Peggy’s Halloween Party Box set issued for a single season by Barse and Hopkins Publishers of NYC. The complete boxed set is HIGHLY desirable, meaning it is much sought after. I know of only two sets that are truly correct and complete with the directions/advertising sheet. One of these two are in the collection. You can see it displayed on page 127. (One set sold several years ago that had the numerically correct number of pieces but an incorrect assortment of items.) If you ever see one for sale, check its contents against the enum ..read more

I concur with this fine and knowledgeable seller that the humorous graphics are among the best in all of Halloween tin litho. Bugle strove to be in the vanguard of tin litho design. The bikini-clad woman juxtaposed with the crone on the other side of the fence is clever. The bug-eyed cat seems to agree ..read more

This pop-up invitation first appeared in Dennison’s 1917 Bogie Book with a stock number of H30. Given the date of the event, the party-thrower was an early adopter, shopping for the newest Dennison products. These weren’t cheap at the time compared to other products, so it is fair to assume the party-thrower may have been well-to-do. It’ll be fun to see what this fetches ..read more