Vintage Christmas ornaments and how to collect them
'I have bought nice things for pennies, and nice things for high money'
From Shiny Brites in pastel shades, Jewel Brites with tiny bottle-brush trees inside, to Victorian paper ornaments — vintage Christmas ornament collecting is a hot hobby.
"I have been collecting on and off for 35 years or so," says Claude Arsenault of North Rustico, P.E.I.
It's very much an addiction to collect Christmas items.— Lou-anne Wolfe
"I have bought nice things for pennies, and nice things for high money. It is for me, a matter of wanting certain things for different reasons — obsession! addiction!" Arsenault enthuses. He's also passionate about preserving history.
Arsenault collects vintage German Kugel ornaments — coloured glass balls, some with silvering on the inside. Customers can tell they are old from the caps (old kugels are nearly flush at the cap) the aging on the inside and the colours, he said. The metal caps are often a dull metal, not shiny.
Some of Arsenault's favourite ornaments are paper, popular in Victorian times. He recently purchased a paper candy cornucopia online for $70 US, as well as another collection including "Lady Liberty" ornaments with tissue-paper gowns and embossed Dresden paper stars for about $200 US.
'Not allowed to touch'
Lou-anne Wolfe, an avid collector from Lot 16, said "it's become a tradition that when we travel, we look for an old ornament from that place to add to the collection."
Wolfe favours Shiny Brites and says she has collected many from the 1940s, '50s and '60s — enough for two trees full — as well as Kugels.
"I guess for me it leads back to being a child," Wolfe says. "My mother had a set of small hand-blown ornaments from Germany that we were not allowed to touch. Each year she placed them on the top of the tree as they would be safe from us children."
'Journey to a Christmas past'
Right now Wolfe is on the hunt for older Shiny Brites with cardboard caps, as well as some feather trees to showcase her oldest ornaments.
Wolfe helps organize Lot 16's annual Community Christmas House Tour, a fundraiser on Sunday, Dec. 3, for the local small hall. Some of her vintage ornaments as well as Arsenault's will be on display at the hall, which promises a "journey to a Christmas past".
"Each year we decorate as if in a house tour and it's my favourite time of year," Wolfe shares. "It's very much an addiction to collect Christmas items."
'Bit of an obsession'
Charlottetown artist Grace Naumann has been collecting vintage Christmas ornaments for about seven years.
"It started with a few solid coloured red and silver Shiny Brite bells found at a flea market and quickly turned into a bit of an obsession," she says. "I currently have somewhere around 74 and the number grows every year thanks to the patient generosity of my husband."
Naumann has done some research, and said Shiny Brites are the most-collected brand of ornament. She's drawn to them in pastel colours — pinks, blues and anything "flashy-looking."
Shiny Brites made before the Second World War were ball-shaped and featured stripes in pastel colours, she explains.
"The most sought after is perhaps the most plain; a clear glass ball with a cardboard cap instead of metal," Naumann said. "These ornaments were made during the war when the silver nitrate normally used to coat the inside of the ornaments and the metal used for the caps were needed for the war effort."
Brighter colours and shapes such as bells and lanterns were introduced in the '50s and '60s, and ornaments with a concave starburst referred to as a reflector and ones decorated with mica and glitter were also made after the war, Naumann says.
Where to find them
"Consumers should look for what appeals to them," Arsenault says. Values can be complex — scarcity, condition and desirability all come into play, he notes.
He finds the ornaments at local auctions, antique shops and thrift shops, as well as constantly combing online sites including Etsy and Ebay. He also belongs to a Facebook group called The Golden Glow of Christmas Past, a group of collectors who show off their latest acquisitions and answers questions about ornaments.
"I visited a shop off Island last weekend — there were boxes of fairly common items from the '70s. The shopkeeper wanted unrealistic money for them, so a newbie must learn the market," Arsenault says.
Do your research
Research online sellers by checking their feedback status and asking lots of questions, Arsenault advises.
The best place to find antique and vintage glass ornaments is Ebay followed by Etsy, says Naumann.
The asking price for Shiny Brites on Etsy is anywhere from a couple of dollars each for plain balls to about $10 or $15 each for more popular colours and shapes.
Kugel ornaments on EBay are more expensive — many in the hundreds of dollars.
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