Ornaments
When decorating Christmas trees first became popular in the early 19th century, trees were initially covered in candied fruit, sweets and nuts. Decorated glass balls called kugels were first made in Germany from 1848 and were traditionally given as presents. They appeared in the U.S. from around 1880 onward. Soon producers crafted larger examples that would have hung from the ceiling rather than a tree, as they were too heavy for the branches, but small sizes were common as well. In the early years of the 20th century, Japanese decorations were being cheaply produced, and therefore became more popular in the U.S. during the Depression.
Christmas cards
If you get stressed out sending holiday greetings to friends and family, you can at least thank Sir Henry Cole for making the task a little easier. The first director of London, England's Victoria & Albert Museum was the inspiration behind the original mass-produced Christmas card in 1843. To reduce the time taken each year to send personalized Christmas greetings to all of his many contacts, Cole commissioned an artist to design and produce a batch of 1,000 lithographed cards, with spare copies being sold to the public. The idea proved popular and, together with improvements in lithographic printing, millions of cards were being produced by the 1880s. Examples from the 1860s to 1890s are the most commonly found and collected today.
Cake decorations
Accessorizing doesn't stay just within the realm of fashion-even our edible goodies get a bit of Christmas glitz. Commercial cake decorations were first made in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Based on traditional marzipan figures, they were initially made from ceramic, although later versions are plastic. Condition and age are important aspects of value. Attractiveness is also important: beware of examples that are noticeably less finely decorated and moulded.
Read more in Collecting and Collectibles
You might also enjoy:
0 Comment