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

In looking over the prices sold items have been bringing these last 2-3 weeks, prices seem very soft. Then, this anomaly pops up. This is not a particularly rare, visually exciting or ever well designed game, yet it brought an accepted Best Offer price of $800. It is a result that I don’t understand ..read more

As this seller now knows, the mystery of this item was simply solved. It is one component of a set made by the Pan Candy Company of Chicago for one year only - 1926. The set was given to confectionery retailers if they purchased Pan’s case assortment for that year. Although pieces from this set surface once in a great while, a complete set is a true rarity. I was blessed to acquire what I feel is the sole complete set in existence in September 2020. It was offered on eBay in a confusing listing that failed to attract interest, allowing me to acquire the set for $911, including shipping. It is ..read more

One of the few remaining affordable niches of the vintage Halloween market is candles. Most were produced by the wax kings, Gurley, but some of the smaller manufacturers, like Emkay and Penn, produced great designs. Look at this almost regal skull candle produced by Penn in the early 1950s. To find original packaging for candles is unusual. That, along with the candle’s condition make this an enticing lot. It’ll be fun to see what it fetches ..read more

I’ve been asked several times whether I think this item is actually vintage. The answer is “yes.” Crude creations like this one were sold for pennies when they were cranked out during the 1930s. The speed of production was given precedence over any true artistic styling. Although it is not marked, it is definitely not German ..read more

Check out the many items I’ve just listed for sale this evening. Enjoy ..read more

An empty box of Dennison Illuminated Silhouettes bringing $224.72! WOW ..read more