The E-Sylum:  Volume 9, Number 45, November 5, 2006, Article 21

QUIZ ANSWER: M. L. BEISTLE

The answer to last week's quiz question is M. L. Beistle, author
of "The Register of Half Dollar Die Varieties and Sub-Varieties"

Pete Smith writes: "Martin Luther Beistle owned the Beistle Company.
They made paper novelties including ones for Halloween. I picture
these as flat until they expand like an accordion into a three
dimensional form. The Beistle Company also made an early coin board."

Dave Lange writes: "Martin Luther Beistle was awarded U.S. patent
number 1,719,962 for the Unique brand coin album. This patent was
later sold to Wayte Raymond, who marketed these albums through Scott
Stamp and Coin Company as the National brand.  That brand was marketed
into the early 1970s. I believe that this was existing stock from the
1960s, as I've never seen a mintage figure for dates later than 1964
or so. A few years after Raymond's death in 1956, the Raymond pages
were amended to include the words "A. Faxon, Distributor," and the
address was changed from New York City to Mineola, NY.  Amos Press
later bought the Scott supply business, but sells only albums made
by and for other companies."

We learned more about Beistle's business is earlier E-Sylum issues.
Here are some excerpts:

Dick Johnson wrote that "Early in the 20th century Beistle purchased
a paper product company he worked for, whose major product was fake
trees.   In 1910 he purchased the technology to manufacture a party
goods specialty, honeycombed tissue.  The firm prospered in World War
I when such party goods could not be imported from Germany.  And over
the years the firm manufactured millions of tissue pumpkins and ghosts
and goblins and bells and hundreds of other items."
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Larry Lee added that "Aficionados of Beistle minutia may be interested
to learn that the ANA Museum has in its collection the original metal
plates used in printing both the 1929 and 1964 editions of Beistle's
book.  The plates were a gift from Aubrey Bebee.  Dick Johnson's
history of Beistle's paper company helped explain one of the questions
about this donation: the plates are separated by pieces of cardboard
with various Halloween cut-outs imprinted on them."
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For more on Beistle's Halloween connection, see: beistle.htm
-Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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