The History of the Beistle Company Manufacturing Since 1900

The Beistle Company was founded in 1900 by Martin Luther Beistle in the basement of his home near Pittsburgh for the production of small imprints and calendars. Eventually business boomed and changed as did the product line and company location. Over time Mr. Beistle moved the company back to Shippensburg, Pennsylvania and has since then provided the area with business and jobs. Even during the Great Depression and World Wars the Beistle Company provided work and resources to aid the people and country in times of need. To this day the Beistle Company continues to be run by descendants of ML Beistle.

Over the course of 100 years, the products and catalogs of the Beistle Company have changed dramatically. Originally the company started with calendars, wood children’s toys, and artificial plants but those are not what made the Beistle Company famous. Early on, the Beistle Company partnered with the Paper Novelty Company and soon became a pioneer in honey combed tissue decorations creating a variety of products including bells, balls, toys and Easter bunny nests. Over time the Beistle Company expanded its catalog to cover all the holidays from Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Thanksgiving. But the first seasonal decorations added to the catalog were Halloween. Over 1000 different designs and decorations have been added since 1921 ranging from witches, black cats, bats, owls, spiders and jack o lanterns. The company produced many popular die cut Halloween paper items and helped popularize Halloween decoration in America. The company’s early success was credited to selling inexpensive premade decorations that customers could readily buy from the store.

The Beistle Company has introduced new designs for products over the years. It has always been a company mantra to purchase good quality goods, so the quality of our products don’t suffer; employ and train the best help to have the best quality and keep costs low for the consumer; and create new designs and merchandise so customer interest doesn’t lag. The Beistle Company has decided to bring back select discontinued decorations and sell them under the Vintage Beistle name. Since Halloween was the first seasonal item sold at the Company it is only befitting this line be revived first. Some of the products date back to the 1920’s with designs over 80 years old and originally bared the copyright of Martin Beistle, Henry Luhrs, and other partnerships of the company. It is very hard to come by old party decorations for a true Vintage feel, and we have come to realize that many customers miss these one of a kind decorations. Now through VintageBeiste.com we can sell the same products sold to previous generations and ship them directly to your house, so you are able to add a classic feel to your party and keep a piece of Halloween Americana in your home.