Unique Christmas Ornament.     

Decorating with Holiday Ornaments began in 1500's.

The definition of Christmas tree ornaments comes to us from the route word ornament which is defined as an accessory used to beautify, enrich, or improve the appearance or general effect of an object. To decorate a tree with a Christmas ornament is an adornment or embellishment. They are ornamental by nature and lend beauty or attractiveness to the Christmas trees.
German families adopted the custom of decorating a wooden pyramid with greenery and other objects in place of the Paradise tree. In Bavaria, Paradise was the term used for the Christmas tree for ornaments. In Latvia around 1510 a fir tree was decorated with roses which was associated with the Virgin Mary. In 1605 a tree in Strasbourg was brought in doors and decorated with paper roses, wafers, nuts, lighted candles, and sweets on trees. Later decorations included painted eggshells, cookies, and candies. Select here to view our Gingerbread Ornaments.

Until the mid 1800’s trees were decorated with edibles such as cookies, chains of popcorn, raisins, nuts, and pretzels. The tops of trees held flags, angels or stars. By the 19th century toys, bells, garlands and paper decorations were being included as decorations.
Germany provided the world with the bulk of its ornament production. Nuremberg in Bavaria produced metal decorations for export. Unique ornaments such as butterflies, stars, miniature musical instruments and icicles of silver foil were produced. Dresden and Leipzig Germany produced embossed paper or cardboard decorations known as Dresdens and angel hair. From the Thuringian mountains and Lauscha in Eastern Germany the creation of delicate blown glass ornaments began. Select here read about Christmas Ornament Sets.

German Natives Develop A New Form Of Glass Blowing.

During the dark ages, German natives in northern Bohemia developed a new form of blown glass in the 4,000 year history of glass. They learned the glass blowing skills from wandering Venetian traders, and created glass decorations to adorn the Tannenbaum (fir tree) for the winter solstice festival. Early Christians adapted this custom to celebrate the birth of Christ, and the Christmas tree ornament was born. The invention of the blowpipe by some unknown artisan helped bring about the craft of blown glass. Glass blowing in Germany dates as far back as the 1500’s. The craft began as a cottage industry in Lauscha East Germany and it spread through most of the German country side. Beginning in the 1860’s Germany would change the world when glass blowing expanded to include delicate ornaments made from glass molds. For many years, Germany was the major world source for glass ornaments. In the United States the German settlers in Pennsylvania decorated trees as early as the 1800's. During the mid-1800's the custom of trimming the tree spread rapidly through the world. Select here to view our German Glass Ornaments. 
The work and living situation of the Thuringian glass blowers and the distribution remained almost unchanged from the middle of the 19th century through World War ll. After World War II many of the families moved from Bohemia to Rosenheim, Bavaria, Germany, to continue the hand blown glass tradition. During the post war years the craft families built a cottage industry and built a reputation for fine traditional glass. The cottage industries developed many different glaze colors, styles and shapes during this period. West Germany, Neustadt became recognized as the production center of the toy and ornament industry. Neustadt also became a refuge for glass blowers fleeing from Lauscha in Eastern Germany after World War II.
The German glass ornaments became popular and these keepsakes are still being made as today. Select here to view our Old World Santa Father Christmas Ornaments.

Pickle Ornaments Start The Christmas Presents Opening.

The glass pickle ornaments are the oddest German ornaments of all. For those who know the pickle story and for those who participate in hanging the pickle, it has become a welcomed addition to the present unwrapping dilemma of who is first. The glass pickle ornament is always the last one to be hung on the tree. The parents would carefully hide the pickle in the tree among the other decorations. When the children were allowed to view the Christmas tree decorated, they would begin gleefully searching the tree for the Pickle ornament. The children knew that whoever found the pickle first would receive an extra little gift and would begin the unwrapping of the Christmas gifts. The pickle and other German glass ornaments have become keepsakes that will be handed down to future generations. Select here for information on our Glass Gickle Ornament.

The First World War and the disruption of normal commerce ended the dominance of the German industry. British and American companies began making decorations and began to produce cheaper alternatives with new technologies. In 1939 Corning showed that mass production of glass ornaments was possible. New techniques enabled manufactures to produce figures like Santa Claus, nursery rhyme characters, flowers and other specialized decorations. With the invention of plastic in the mid 1900's new molds were developed and a new medium was created for Christmas tree decorations. The introduction of plastic would become the single most advancement in production since the early glass blowing era. Select here to view our Red and White Candy Ornaments.

Plastics Become A New Medium.

Creativity increased in the late 1900’s with the introduction of injection plastic molding. The boundaries of injection molding gave the Christmas industry a new medium to make an endless variety of unique ornaments. Tiny miniatures could be made. Characters depicting all walks of life, cartoon characters, Angels, and an endless array of characters are produced with injection molding.  Snowflakes, stars and crosses are also popular decorations made with the injection molding process. The cost of injection molding is relative low allowing shoppers to buy a greater number of decorations with their budgets. Another advantage of the injection molding process is that the molds can be created in a short period of time and production of new items can start within months. Select here to view our Miscellaneous Holiday Ornaments.

In the late 1900's as Holiday buyers seized on one fad after another and the quick production time of injection molding was put to use. Today injection molding uses new plastic textures with more flexibility and color variations that add quality and durability.  No other medium to date has had such an impact on the variety, style, cost, and quality as the injection molding process. Other materials being used today are glass, metal, clay, wood, ceramics and paper. Holiday shoppers have the best selection to chose from than in the past and as technology improves, the selection will become even greater in the future. Select here to view our Gold and Cream Ornaments.

Many people that buy and collect unique ornaments find special meaning in their keepsake ornaments. Most ornaments have a special meaning or story that is reflected upon each holiday season when the Christmas tree is decorated. As the keepsake ornaments are unpacked and hung, special memories are brought to mind and the joy of past Christmas’s comes alive again. Hanging the holiday decorations with family and friends invites us to tell stories of the decorations as they are hung, thus passing down to future generations our holiday traditions. Click to see all of our Christmas Decorations Ideas.

A Christmas ornament bring back wonderful memories!

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