Antique Christmas Ornaments to Collect
Vintage Glass, Paper, Metal Christmas Tree Decorations Available
Nov 20, 2008
At the turn of the 20th century, most American homes still did not have a Christmas tree. Christmas trees had only been a part of American tradition for about fifty years. It is a myth that the first Christmas Tree had been introduced to England (and America) by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. However, their family's embrace of the German Christmas Tree did serve to popularize it.
Early Artificial Christmas Trees
The earliest artificial trees were made of goose feathers, around 1850 in Germany. With widely spaced branches, it was easy to decorate them with home-made paper cutouts, gilded nutshells, glass bead garlands, and candy canes. Blown glass and tin ornaments were popular to exchange as romantic tokens with one's beloved. Today these delicate Victorian-era ornaments are very collectible, if they have survived in excellent condition. Goose feather Christmas trees are both rare and highly prized.
Be sure to store your feather tree in a climate-controlled environment, in acid-free tissue, either in a box large enough to provide air circulation or inside a large cloth bag or pillowcase. Heat and dampness will ultimately destroy it. (Feather Trees, at About.com)
Be Aware of Buying Fakes and Knockoffs
Victorian-era Christmas ornaments, cards, postcards, and feather trees are fun to discover at antiques shows, flea markets and antiques shops. Later glass and plastic ornaments and decorations from the 1940s and '50s often appear at yard and garage sales, but be careful as some are being reproduced. The authentic vintage christmas decorations are especially popular on eBay, but be aware of unscrupulous vendors and those who pass along the myths and misperceptions about vintage ornaments. Very important and well-researched information on antique Christmas tree ornaments can be found here at one of eBay's Reviews & Guides, written by Lulusgrove.
The writer explains much of the misinformation about Shiny Brite, Premier and other makers of pre-WWII, WWII and post-war ornaments. [Keep in mind that Shiny Brite's name now belongs to Radko, who uses it on one line of his ornaments.] The better the condition, the more you can expect to pay. Look for advertiser pieces as well as souvenir items for your collection. These increase in value more substantially, as with any collectible in those categories.
Rare Dresden Paper Ornaments
Dresden paper ornaments were made in the area of Dresden-Leipzig in Germany between 1880 and 1910, and although they were very popular few have survived. They were made of paper in a process similar to pressing felt, by pressing a damp cardboard into intricately embossed molds. When dry, the paper was painted or decorated with gilding, beads, feathers, etc. Possibly during WWII and the fire-bombing of Dresden, much of the technology and collected ornaments were lost. The ornaments were generally only a few inches in size, but their clever and colorful subjects included animals, fanciful fairy tale figures, musical instruments, fruit and nuts, and vehicles of all kinds.
Cardboard ornaments and decorations don't stand the usage of time as well, and consequently are more valuable when in good condition today. There are usually a flurry of antiques shows scheduled for the holidays, where dealers will showcase their vintage ornaments and ephemera. This is a good time to make special efforts to add to your collection.
Even items from the '50s and '60s, and early '70s, are beginning to have real value and will appear on auction sites, as well as at shows. These may be plastic, aluminum, resin, or die-cast metals. Often they will be merchandising tie-ins with popular TV shows of the era. Hallmark began a series of collectible ornaments in 1973, which grew in popularity with such iconic figures as Disney, Star Wars, Peanuts and Barbie.
See also: Collecting Christmas Ornaments: Antique or Contemporary, Glass, Paper, Metal and More by Susan Cramer.
