A Christmas Tradition - Vintage Ornaments -

Home
>
Holiday
>
A Christmas Tradition - Vintage Ornaments

A Christmas Tradition - Vintage Ornaments

Traditional hand-blown glass Christmas ornaments never seem to go out of style. There is something special about them: pulling them out year after year and smiling at the memories they bring back. Putting up familiar Christmas ornaments is one of the rituals that make the holidays special. This month we'll talk about vintage Christmas ornaments.

Hand-blown or machine-made.

A hand-blown glass ornament is one of the indicators that it may be vintage. However, hand-blown ornaments using vintage molds are still being made today. To find out if an ornament is hand-blown, remove the stem from the base of the ornament. Ornaments that are hand-blown will have an uneven base because it is not possible for a glass blower to make an even break. Machine-made ornaments will have a smooth even base. If an ornament is machine-made, it may not be particularly old.

Big or small.

Early ornaments were smaller than modern ornaments. They were usually done in soft colors with hand painted details. You'll notice that the paint may be faded or distressed in areas on vintage ornaments. Look for round ornaments in a variety of diminutive sizes, reflector ornaments, unusual shapes or ones that represent food. These were the common themes for older ornaments.

Shapes.

Originally ornaments were used to represent the bounty of the year-end harvest with an emphasis on food and natural elements. Bird ornaments represented the biblical messengers that bring God's love and peace to the world. Birds were also symbolic of good luck and good fortune. Fruit and vegetable shapes symbolized the harvest. Pickle shapes signified luck. Fish shapes were an early Christian symbol for Christ. Star shapes represented the Star of Bethlehem. During Victorian times, reflectors ornaments (ornaments with geometric concave indentations), were often called witches eyes and were placed on the Christmas tree to fend off any evil spirits.

Sources for vintage ornaments.

Ebay, antique shops, flea markets, church sales and garage sales are all good hunting grounds for vintage ornaments.

Value.

Prices can vary from $2 to $200 depending on condition and rarity. New or old ornaments made by the German manufacturer Lauscha are highly collectible since the company's recent demise.

Martin Swinton owns Take-A-Boo Emporium located in Toronto, Canada. He has appeared on a variety of television programs; does furniture restoration; caning and rushing repairs; appraisals and has taught courses on antiques at the Learning Annex. Martin can be reached at http://www.takeaboo.com

In The News:

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.financialpost.com/story.html%3Fid%3D1014617cid=1276616290ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNGR97fO1tS1kvjIt_t0CcpowkOYUwimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=A4PW7IFmUNoJimgurl=a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.financialpost.com/1014618.bin%3Fsize%3D404x272 width=80 height=54 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Financial Post/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601087%26sid%3DaLqPiB6k_l6U%26refer%3Dhomecid=1276616290ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNFHsCUi_1b_EivMq0XfxVlk-9c6ugEarly Sales May Not Mean Strong bHolidays/b, Group Says (Update1)/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fBloombergnbsp;-/font nobr10 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-11 (Bloomberg) -- A post-Thanksgiving bump may not be enough to rescue what might be the worst bholiday/b season for US retailers in six years. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://newsminer.com/news/2008/dec/01/holidays-still-boon-alaska-retailers/cid=1276616290ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNEof9dkhXd_8VlbKwDOFtsdAWgKjQbHolidays/b still a boon for Alaska retailers/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrFairbanks Daily News-Miner/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://marketnews.ca/news_detail.asp%3Fnid%3D4305cid=1276616290ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNE_seV3gmh9lRPI4S1p2rpE3YI_0ABlack Friday Results: bHolidays/b off to a Good Start/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrMarketnews.ca/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.thedailyjournal.com/article/20081128/NEWS01/81128001cid=1276616290ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNEwRTlacWE3Hnv3uIAoKAqGpBLCDwReady? Set? Start shopping!/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrVineland Daily Journal/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/3819ff543c1e3fac2440a4db73893efa.htmcid=1276616290ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNEAjKP6Zd0THvquXK056xbbRfOikQnobrCNNMoney.com/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/nov/27/it8217s-time-to-map-out-a-shopping-strategy/cid=1276616290ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNEnZtizYkJMR0sJIE8DJUtZC7R-4wnobrYoungstown Vindicator/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1276616290hl=ennobrall 1,530 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm%3Fid%3DF0703105-17A4-0F78-31FF7B3E71406FC6cid=1273809014ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNFSZVFablQpW06bCto-rz0YXzB9lwimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=cWe239RvoZUJimgurl=news.idg.no/images/F13F9CFF-17A4-0F78-316BE92AF6919EFA.jpg width=80 height=57 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Computerworld/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/11/30/etailing.htmlcid=1273809014ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNHHuJzCZkkjxNyegR9yJ-QyJ3ss2gE-tailers expect 8% bump for bholidays/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fAtlanta Journal Constitution,nbsp; USAnbsp;-/font nobr6 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Bob Keefe If there’s any good news for retailers this bholiday/b season, it may be online. While retailers brace for declines in sales at traditional b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D-0iz1s7QEc4cid=1273809014ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNEC0le6vSrO8NKr4XVmvI9u10D74QVideo: Online Retailers See Monday As Black Friday/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAssociatedPress/nobr/fontobject width=448 height=356param name=movie value=http://www.youtube.com/v/-0iz1s7QEc4/paramparam name=wmode value=transparent/paramembed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/-0iz1s7QEc4type=application/x-shockwave-flashwmode=transparentwidth=448height=356/embed/objectbr/fontfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.globalsurfnews.com/news.asp%3FId_news%3D37791cid=1273809014ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNEOUZwquCZo4B6Gc4Gq2M5FKdxOEgOnline spending forecasted to be flat through bHolidays/b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrGlobal Surf News/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/12/best-gps-prices.htmlcid=1273809014ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNEzueM1T6CltI-JHr7JuiuvmKZ1eACyber Monday and beyond - GPS deals for the bholidays/b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrConsumer reports/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews%2Barticleid_2840164.htmlcid=1273809014ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNHpbpdfutvYd52YUZhA5a8smVDJDAnobristockAnalyst.com (press release)/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Dont-Let-That-Online-Bargain/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B3A7C3706-B590-417C-9E6F-FF68E1F85150%257Dcid=1273809014ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNEiZm8IvtODh23R091D1G60lMFguwnobrMarketWatch/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1273809014hl=ennobrall 1,625 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Dressing-Home-Holidays-Decor-Ideas/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257BE143B081-8F4F-4885-ABE7-58A91B89A499%257Dcid=1276464244ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNHIRRHOhDAyq8zRfKW5mocvfie5xADressing the Home for the bHolidays/b - Decor Ideas To Make Spirits b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr13 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1To help set the stage for bholiday/b memories, the designers at Art amp; Artifact offer simple ideas to accent the home for the bholidays/b. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.mercurynews.com/travel/ci_11113256cid=1276622317ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNFXp5VjV36gvSWZ62uDgif-d2JX-ASpend part of your bholidays/b in San Francisco/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSan Jose Mercury News,nbsp; USAnbsp;-/font nobr4 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By ROGER PETTERSON AP Writer Take a few spins on an ice rink within view of San Francisco Bay as part of your bholiday/b celebrations this year, b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1310ap_holiday_shopping_black_friday.htmlcid=1276642202ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNEWsous1Mh8csrXRK0KChBX3tjDmAimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=9G_qr13X1hAJimgurl=seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/aponline/81517.61Holiday-Shopping.sff.jpg width=79 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Seattle Post Intelligencer/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.mndaily.com/2008/11/29/holidays-time-giftcid=1276642202ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNFceTi2tRXX0FSkHYOXsBHjk6QdwAFor the bholidays/b, time is the gift/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMinnesota Daily,nbsp;MNnbsp;-/font nobr18 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1University of Michigan researchers who study consumer sentiment predict the toughest bholiday/b for retailers in nearly 30 years. Some retailers are calling b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D0nT_yUq-fZccid=1276642202ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNHIpoTzJ8RavYODpo7qwJtY6IrW8wVideo: Money Minute: Black Friday, OPEC, Yahoo/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAssociatedPress/nobr/fontobject width=448 height=356param name=movie value=http://www.youtube.com/v/0nT_yUq-fZc/paramparam name=wmode value=transparent/paramembed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/0nT_yUq-fZctype=application/x-shockwave-flashwmode=transparentwidth=448height=356/embed/objectbr/fontfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11083929%3Fsource%3Dmost_viewedcid=1276642202ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNHD1xx-T9PQGLD9NICwNf0dApffYwTV deals should last through the bholidays/b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSan Jose Mercury News/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.startribune.com/business/34915439.html%3Felr%3DKArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUlcid=1276642202ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNEmIeJv9sJqoccr1cy7A3v2k_3RqQbHolidays/b have retailers boxed in/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrMinneapolis Star Tribune/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/83288cid=1276642202ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNHQR8YHiAA7sRPTezw46l4xLh2qNAnobrAmerican Chronicle/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.kccall.com/article.cfm%3Farticleid%3D3050cid=1276642202ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNH0Kwel1Aq1UjAhm3ZV79sk5w9_2AnobrKansas City Call/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1276642202hl=ennobrall 1,917 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Elf-The-Shelf-Flies-Back/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B31CDD8FE-C7CA-4519-9B82-C8B2C8C10512%257Dcid=1276646917ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNEijquo_89QT8zxNnJUdFr4kI2lBw#39;Elf on The Shelf#39; Flies Back for the bHolidays/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr13 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1ATLANTA, Dec 01, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Year after year, children are baffled by the mystery of how Santa knows if they#39;ve been naughty or nice. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/11/30/primer.htmlcid=1276621123ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNFZ69g5pr1kznidtSstYy4vZizfRQbHolidays/b in Georgia (Yule be surprised!)/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fAtlanta Journal Constitution,nbsp; USAnbsp;-/font nobr6 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Yet there are a surprising number of bholiday/b traditions that have Georgia connections —- and ones that we’ve localized in interesting ways. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.ajc.com/services/content/atlanta-holiday-guide/shopping/stories/2008/12/01/counting_on_men_holidays.htmlcid=1276652865ei=bnM0SafrNZf-6gO_pbT1DAusg=AFQjCNEm1kYsJ0FuMSSRcf0q---Y5_O_5wRetailers counting on men to save bholidays/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fAtlanta Journal Constitution,nbsp; USAnbsp;-/font nobr6 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Macy’s say they’re carrying more men’s goods this bholiday/b season. J. Crew this month opened its second men’s-only store b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

holidays - Google News