Popular Christmas Ornaments for 2009
cartoon ornaments retro ornaments band ornaments antique ornaments
history of ornaments dog and cat ornaments ufo/star wars ornaments ugly ornaments
T Cartoon Ornaments
Digital Photo Ornament
Christmas ornament kits Simpsons South Park Scooby Doo
Make your own ornaments kits more cartoon ornaments
T Retro Ornaments
Pac-Man
lights up and plays sounds from the original arcade classic
T Band Ornaments
Musical Christmas Ornaments T Ufo Ornaments
musical Christmas ornamentst UFO Christmas ornaments
Create beautiful Christmas ornaments and decorations with old light bulbs
Star Wars Christmas Ornaments Football Helmet Christmas Ornaments
Tie Fighter Christmas Ornament Football Helmet Christmas Ornaments
Star Wars Christmas Ornaments Baseball Team Christmas Ornaments
T Antique Ornaments
Antiques German ornament 1920 post war Japanese ornaments Italian bauble 1920s
Antique Christmas Ornaments for sale Some antique ornaments are quite valuable. Old ornamensts are considered to be those made before WWII.Older ornaments have thinner glass and more fragile glass .
tinsel ornament from early 1900s Santa hitching a ride on a zepplin, 1920s
T Dog and Cat Breed Christmas Ornaments
a Maltese ornament
Dogs Labrador Retriever Beagle Boxer Poodle Cairn Terrier Siberian Husky German Shepherd
Yorkshire Terrier Cocker Spaniel Dachshund Chihuahua Basset Hound Pomeranian Shih Tzu
Cat Christmas Ornaments
Cats Persian Maine Coon Siamese
T History of Christmas Ornaments
decorating the Christmas tree in Victorian England, 1876
Glass baubles ( round ornaments ) were first made in Lauscha, Germany . Lauscha, was long famous for its glass making. As a sideline, many glassblowers made kugels, these were heavy glass balls hung from windows and ceilings as protection from evil spirits . Later, kugels were silvered on the inside to give them a shiny appearance . In the mid 1870s, these kugels came to the attention of traders in nearby Sonneberg, and they started to export them . An American, F.W. Woolworth, made a $25 investment in these shiny decorations in 1880, they sold rapidly and in the following years sold over $25,000,000 worth of ornaments .
some of the heavy glass kugels, (L) about 6' in diameter
The modern custom of erecting a Christmas tree can be traced to 16th century Germany, though neither an inventor nor a single town can be identified as the sole origin for the tradition, which was a popular merging of old Germanic pagan practices and associated with the winter solstice the longest night of the year around December 21. The tree symbolized that life would return .Tree decoration was later adopted into Christian practice after the Church set December 25 as the birth of Christ
The state of Thueringen is the cradle of the German Christmas tree decoration industry. The small town of Lauscha is famous for the production of traditional Christmas ornaments for 150 years, drawing people from all over the world to its famous Christmas market.
As demand for Greiner's ornaments grew, he began blowing the glass into new shapes including the sphere which is now the most popular.Soon, the whole of Germany began buying Christmas glassware from Lauscha and after Queen Victoria's Christmas tree was pictured in a London newspaper decorated with glass ornaments and baubles from Prince Albert's native Germany, Lauscha began exporting its products throughout Europe.
A box of Shiny Brite Ornaments
The American company, Corning and Shiny Brite , began to mass produce ornaments in the 1930s.After World War II, the East German government turned most of Lauscha's glassworks into state owned entities, and production of baubles in Lauscha ceased. At this time, Japan and Czechoslovakia also began making ornaments for export to America .After the Berlin Wall came down, most of the firms were reestablished as private companies. Today there are still about 20 small glass-blowing firms active in Lauscha that produce baubles. One of the producers is Krebs Glas Lauscha, part of the Krebs family which is now one of the largest producers of glass ornaments worldwide.
T Ugly Ornaments
Its a tradition among our friends to place a tacky ornament on each other's tree when the owner isn't looking. Here are this years contenders.
The doggie poop ornament
Pictorial Guide to Christmas Ornaments and Collectibles