Beaten to a Pulp

You might think I'm crazy for paying $10 at an estate sale for this beaten pulp Jack O' Lantern, but that was actually a good price.

 

Despite the crack and chunk missing, this pulp lantern is still desirable, as evidenced by the sale I made for $40.

Some rarer pulp Jack O' Lanterns can sell in the thousands of dollars, while the common examples still demand hundreds.

It's common for the paper eye and mouth inserts to be missing from these as they originally would have carried a lit candle inside.  Reproduction inserts are sold and as long as they are identified as such, collectors are accepting of them on a vintage piece.

I found this unusual little fellow at a sale over the summer.  I'm certain he's vintage, but I've never seen another one like him.

Here are some examples of other vintage pulp lanterns stolen gleaned from the internet.

First up is what my lantern above would look like with the paper inserts (and in better condition).

There are many variations on this simple Jack O' Lantern style pulp lantern.

There were pulp figures as well like this Jack O' Lantern Man (with bow tie!)

Black (and orange) cats were popular too.

This skull is a rare pulp lantern.

And these devil lanterns are also more rare than the Jack O' Lanterns and consequently more in demand and garner the highest prices.

Original pulp lanterns date to the 1930's through the 1950's and were primarily made in Germany.

As with any collectible that can realize high value, there are fakes/reproductions.  Generally, the fakes/reproductions are pretty obvious with shiny new paint, faux paint "crackle", lack of wear or just general poor quality.  The reproductions that aren't looking to fool you are generally well-marked identifying them as such.  But some fakers do a very good job and it can make it difficult to tell the difference.  I normally have a pretty good feel for whether a lantern is an original or reproduction, but not always.  This site gives some advice on how to identify the fakes.

There's nothing fake about The Countdown, though.  Why not light your way over there and check out what's burning.