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Christmas Ornaments:
From Homemade to Hallmark
The very first ornaments were not Christmas ornaments. However, they were used in a similar way. They were made of natural items, mainly berries, nuts, feathers or shells. These were fastened upon trees outside the home, and were believed to feed the spirits which lived in the land. In pre-Christian times, it was thought that one must keep these spirits happy to ensure Spring would arrive.
In Rome, before the Christian era, a holiday called Saturnalia was celebrated at this time of year. It was a rowdy and very festive occasion, and citizens decorated their houses as lavishly as their wealth would allow. They hung biscuits and other baked confections (which we would call cookies today) from ribbons about the house and in their gardens. Bits of cloth and bunches of herbs would also be hung, as a spell to
promote prosperity in the year to come.
It was St. Gregory, in the 6th century, who finally came up with a way to entice the remaining pagan populations to investigate the new religion of Christianity. He figured that the church would not be easily able to stamp out the ancient pagan customs, and rightly so. He also felt that the people, especially the poor, needed all of the gaiety and brightness of their old ways. He decided to incorporate decorations into the celebration of Christ's birth, and encouraged his missionaries to do the same.
St. Augustine followed Gregory's advice when he went to Britain as a missionary. He observed that the resident population adorned their homes with evergreen branches, holly sprigs and mistletoe near the Winter Solstice (December 21 - 23,
depending). It is said that in a single Christmas he was able to convert 10,000 people to Christianity, simply because he encouraged them to continue their traditional decorating, while sharing with them the celebration of the birth of Christ.
For several decades during the Puritan era, all celebrations of Christmas were banned in Britain. It was said that the celebrations were pagan oriented, and as such could not be tolerated. Though short-lived, the legal ban on the holiday, which forced celebrations underground and into the back-country, had lasting effects.
In Britain, and in the New England colonies in America, holiday decorations remained subdued, if not missing altogether, for quite some time. In these places, though a very religious holiday, Christmas was a rather solemn occasion, with little if any decoration, other than in those areas which never really submitted to the ban in the first place.
The 17th Century Christmas Ornament
In the early 17th century, Christmas markets, called
Christkindlemarkt (Christ Child Market) began to spring up in the larger towns of Germany. One of the largest was, and still is in Nuremberg.
In these markets, it was common to find everything a housewife would need to hold a spectacular Christmas celebration. Among the many wares were ornaments for Christmas trees, which were already popular in many places in Germany.
Among the first types of German ornaments were ones of beeswax. When honey was harvested for baking, it came straight from the hives, still in the wax. It was cleaned at home, and the wax used primarily for candles. However, at the holidays, the women and children of the house would clean their baking and butter molds, and press the wax into these to form ornaments. Before the wax hardened, a string, wire or ribbon was attached. Then the children could paint them in bright colors, and hang them on a Christmas tree.
Wooden and other types of toys were also hung on these trees, mainly as presents for the children. Straw stars and animal shapes were popular as well, and a great craft for younger members of the family. The making of ornaments was a family business that could garner a little extra income around the holidays at the Market.
Of course, as from the very beginning, edibles were also a part of the ornament collection displayed every year. Nuts could be gilded or silvered, sugared or even hung plain. Late-season apples, gingerbread and other cookies, and even cones of candies would be hung as ornaments as well.
Items like oranges and other fruits which would have to be imported or were otherwise out of season were simply too expensive to be wasted as Christmas ornaments, unless those ornaments were destined to be a gift for someone. However, paper or wax replicas could be made at home and painted to look like delectable fruits and vegetables, and often were.
18th Century Christmas Ornaments
In Europe, especially in Germany, holiday ornaments were
evolving rapidly. Though natural items, edibles and hand made ornaments were by far still the most popular, others were coming on the scene now as well.
Candles and wreaths were becoming popular, and candles began to be used in lighting the tree. The wax ornaments of the previous century were further refined and more complex. Glass was beginning to be used, first as beads on a garland, and then the first of the blown glass balls were being produced, though not commercially.
In Britain, things remained virtually unchanged, except for the addition of garlands made of old rags which could no longer be reused, and paper chains. Other paper decorations such as tiny silhouettes were also made, though not in profusion. Small gifts were also hung on the tree as Christmas ornaments.
In America, different ethnic groups had different customs. In the primarily German areas, wreaths and candles were the most common decorations, along with a few small sewn items used mainly as gifts. Southern areas could use fresh fruits for decorating, but holly and evergreens were by far the most popular, with perhaps a candle in a window.
In the wealthier areas of the colonies, holly was used to adorn window frames, and perhaps there would be seasonal fruit on the table for the centerpiece. Otherwise, fruits, even here, were of painted wax, if they were displayed at all.
The 19th Century
The Birth of Modern Christmas Ornament
The modern glass Christmas ornament was first produced in the German town of Lauscha. The area was then, as it is now, known for the fine glass-blown products produced there.
Known now as kugels, these simple colored glass balls were each hand blown by the men in the village. The women and children would then coat the insides with a silver nitrate solution to make them shine and sparkle.
With the installation of gas lines in the 1860's, Lauscha was able to produce not only blown glass balls, but also molded glass ornaments of many different styles and subjects. Among the most popular were molded fruits, animals and children. Entire families would work together to produce these new molded ornaments for sale at the Christmas markets in the larger towns.
In 1840, Queen Victoria of England married Prince Albert, a native of Germany. He brought with him to Britain the idea of the Christmas tree. In 1846, the "Illustrated London News" printed an illustration of the royal family surrounding their Christmas tree. As Queen Victoria was a very popular monarch, the British population quickly adopted the new custom, and with in a couple decades, Christmas trees and Christmas ornaments could be found in many homes throughout the country.
The same illustration, published in Godey's Lady's Book in 1860 in America produced the same reaction. It became the custom to erect a Christmas tree on the tabletop, and decorate it lavishly.
Young girls would sew new outfits for their dolls, not only to practice their sewing skills, but also to show them off as new Christmas ornaments for the tree. Small pouches were also sewn, and stuffed with candies and sugared nuts. Other holiday ornaments were dried and handmade flowers, particularly roses. Paper cones were fashioned and decorated. These held treats, small trinkets and flowers, created as gifts and hung as ornaments.
In the autumn of 1880, Frank Woolworth was approached by a gentleman wishing to sell him blown glass Christmas ornaments. Mr. Woolworth was not impressed, feeling that Americans would have no use for such things, but agreed to take one case of 144 off the man's hands with the express agreement that they could be returned for a full refund if Mr. Woolworth could not sell them.
To his utter surprise, all 144 kugels sold out within the first day. Unfortunately, there were now no more to be had until the next year. It was a mistake that Mr. Woolworth would not repeat again!
By the end of the next decade, Woolworth was selling as many Christmas ornaments as could be imported, and the Christmas line of decorations has continued to increase and expand ever since.
20th Century Christmas Ornaments
During the first part of the 20th century, other manufacturers were beginning to see that Christmas ornaments were a good business to be in. Dresden Germany was turning out beautiful paper embossed, lithographed ornaments by the thousands. They began exporting to both Britain and America during the first decades of the 20th Century.
Of course, handmade ornaments were still very popular, and girls expanded from simple sewing to embroidery, quilled paper, and decorated die-cuts as well. Edibles were also still popular, with cookies and candies taking the lion's share of the tree, while fruits and nuts were reserved for decorating other areas of the house.
Also popular in both countries were pressed tin ornaments, also with brightly colored lithographed images on them. At the same time, Czech ornaments of great beauty were also exported to the US and Britain, and became nearly as popular as the German kugels. Czech glass beaded garlands were not only cheaper, but also just as well made as their German counterparts, and so took over the market in the 1930's.
In the mid-1930's, an American company called Shiny Brite, was formed by a German immigrant, named Max Eckardt. During the late 30's, when imports from Germany became unavailable, Mr. Eckardt persuaded the Corning company in New York to begin making his Shiny Brite ornaments.
Harold Eckardt, Max's son, was president of the company when Max passed away in the 1960's. The company, along with the name, was sold in the 1970's. Many of us (myself included) have a few boxes of Shiny Brite ornaments that came from our parents and grandparents.
After World War II, cute became the fashion. With the developing field of plastics and injection molding of both plastic and glass came fanciful shapes and animal ornaments of all kinds. Some were flocked as well, to add to the effect. Elves, Santas of all description, reindeer and other animals as well.
During the 1960's, people moved a bit away from the 'cute', and began to produce 'ultra-modern' rather stark Christmas ornaments. This was the era of the aluminum Christmas tree, and special fire-proof ornaments were created for these trees. Robots and other mechanical subjects also were fashioned into Christmas ornaments. Of course, for the 1969 Christmas season, spaceships were also a part of the holiday ornament repertoire.
In 1973, Hallmark introduced the first of what was to become one of the ultimate collectible Christmas ornament series. Since that time, Hallmark has held the top market position for collectible Christmas ornaments with little serious competition. There are now several lines, and they have licenses with both Disney and Looney Tunes to sell character ornaments as well.
From here, who knows?! There are plans in the works for ornaments which will be able to control the lights on the tree, tell when to put water in the tree stand, and several other innovations.
Top: Christmas Ornaments
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