Holiday Collectibles, Lecture Series Schedule and Home Design Discounts

German Belsnickle When Julie Baker, owner of the Antique Center and The International Antiques & Home Design Center at Historic Savage Mill, asked me to write a short article on Holiday Collecting, specifically Christmas collectibles, I said, "Why not." The more I thought about what I would want to know as a "new" collector of holiday antiques and collectible items, the more the word "education" entered into my mind.

My first piece of advice would be to get a good reference book on Christmas collectibles. There are a number of reference books and price guides on the market. I have found "Pictorial Guide to Christmas Ornaments and Collectibles," by George Johnson, 2004, Collector Books, to be an excellent resource. The author breaks down Christmas collectibles into a number of categories and provides excellent photographs of ornaments, both glass and Dresden, early German die-cut and paper ornaments, wax ornaments, pre-electric lighting, candleholders, electric lights and miscellaneous collectibles, including Santa candy containers and the early German Belsnickles. Father Christmas

Secondly, I would advise the collector to visit local craft and Christmas shops to see what is in the Christmas reproduction market. Nothing is sacred in the antique market when it comes to money. Every year, I attend a wholesale show of new holiday reproductions that are being made locally and also being shipped into the country from all over the world. I attend the show so I have some idea of what to look out for and be aware of on my antique shopping and buying trips. Some of the reproductions are as good as the antique items in both construction and "aging" and once the tag that reads "Made in China" is removed, it is Buyer Beware.

You may also want to familiarize yourself with the national organization, Golden Glow of Christmas Past. This is a club of and for people who collect antique Christmas memorabilia. Founded in 1980, it has over 1000 members and hosts an annual convention and prints an informative newsletter. Its website is www.goldenglow.org.

My last bit of advice is to buy the best you can afford from a knowledgeable antique dealer. Christmas brings back memories of our childhood, family and those special times, which I feel brings collectors into the Christmas holiday antique and collectible market.

Have a Happy Holiday Season and Good Luck on the Hunt!

Christmas Collectibles Wrap Up

Glass Ornaments have only been produced for a little more than 150 years, and gaining popularity in the last 75 years as the major type of decoration on the tree. Until 1940, most glass ornaments decorating American Christmas trees were produced in Germany. The glass decorations, whether molded or free blown, were produced in almost every imaginable shape from animals to Santas to food and transportation items.

Dresden Ornaments are beautifully crafted, durable, embossed cardboard usually either flat and printed only on one side, double sided or three dimensional. They were produced by about nine companies in the Dresden-Leipzig-Furth area of Germany from about 1880 until the time of WWII. Dresden Ornaments are very rare, and some of the most expensive, in the United States due to the fact that they were not as popular here.

Paper Candy Containers were once hung on the tree in Victorian times and filled with traditional Christmas goodies like candy, nuts, fruits and sweets. They were produced in many forms, but perhaps the simplest and most enduring shape was the cone, or "cornucopia."

*Excerpts used from "Pictorial Guide to Christmas Ornaments & Collectibles", George Johnson, Collector Books 2004.

* Holliday Collectibles used in Photographs courtesy of Paul and Nancy Hahn, Fran Martin and Patricia Mascone.