Identification & Pricing Guide for Vintage Christmas Ornaments
Identification & Pricing Guide for Vintage Christmas Ornaments
ication & Pricing Guide for Vintage Christmas Ornaments
In the world of vintage collector's, vintage Christmas ornaments can be some of the most overlooked yet most valuable of all items in grandma's basement. Christmas is a nostalgic time for many people that can evoke sentimental feelings. Often we feel a longing for a time in our past that holds treasured memories. Not to mention, that many families have a tendency to hold onto certain Christmas ornaments that they hope to hand down to their own children. But if you haven't been fortunate enough to be given that box of antique or vintage ornaments you always loved from Grandma's Christmas tree, you may find yourself looking to obtain some of those old childhood favorites for your own tree. If this is the case, you'll be buying these items second hand from someone else. How much it will cost you to own that piece of nostalgia depends on exactly what you're looking for. You may find yourself searching thrift stores, yard sales, estate sales, or browsing your favorite online retailer, TheVintageVixenShop, or another eBay or Etsy reseller.
Whatever path you choose to find these treasured items, you will need to know how to correctly identify the ornaments as well as what the current fair selling price is. And that is why I have created this simple to follow guide to identification and pricing of vintage Christmas ornaments. I hope it will serve you well in your search!
Identification
Metal Caps
Like many other products, many vintage Christmas ornaments will bear some mark that reveals their maker, or brand, or other important identifying characteristic. As far as vintage Christmas ornaments go, most were made of fragile mercury glass, and therfore will have any identifying marks on the metal caps on top of the ornament. This may be a brand name or symbol, or simply a country of origin.
Original Package
Of course if the original cardboard box is available, this would also be a great place to look for any brand or origin identifiers. Oftentimes, these boxes have been discarded long ago, so finding an intact set is somewhat challenging and can get costly, depending on the brands. Some brands to be on the lookout for are Shiny Brite, Pyramid, Fantasia, Delta, Paragon Glass Works, Santa's World, Mr. Christmas, Keugel's, Coby, George Franke & Sons Company. Having the original box will add to value of your vintage glass ornaments significantly. A box of vintage Shiny Brite ornaments usually sells for at least $40.
Characteristics
If you aren't fortunate enough to find your ornaments in their original box, and the metal caps do not contain any identifying marks, there are still other ways to determine more information about its production. For instance, hand blown ornaments often have a glass hanger in lieu of the metal caps placed on tops of the vintage glass ornaments. During WWII, Shiny Brite was forced revamp many characteristics of their beloved mercury glass ornaments including replacing metal caps with cardboard ones. They also stopped using mercury in their ornaments, which caused them to be a clear glass instead of the more well known silvered ornaments. If you have one of these ornaments made during WWII they are worth a bit more than the original Shiny Brite's which sell for about $5-10 each. Expect to pay around $30-50 each for the more elusive transparent ornaments.
Hand-Blown Ornaments
Instead of a metal or cardboard cap, hand-blown ornaments will often have a loop made from the same piece of glass as the ornament that is used to attach the ornament to a ribbon or a string and then hang on the tree. Once you have seen this type of ornament, they will be easily identifiable in the future. Hand Blown ornaments can range from simple ball designs to much more complicated styles such as onions, icicles, teardrops, or finials. Pricing of hand blown glass ornaments will vary nearly as much as the ornaments themselves, with prices running from a few dollars each to several hundred dollars for a designer set.
Style
Each decade seems to always find its own unique style and new trends. This applies to Christmas decorations and ornaments as well. Knowing what style of ornaments or decorations were popular during which decades will help narrow down the age of your ornament.
In the early 1900s & 1910s- Kugel's large hand blown German glass orbs are all the rage and are even used yearlong. Shapes ranged from a simple sphere to complicated figural shapes including grapes, eggs, and artichokes. Kegel's have a unique brass cap featuring a 5-leaves design.
1920s- Christmas trees from this decade were still lit by candles and the indented glass ornaments that were popular during this time were made to reflect the light from those candles.
1930s-During the Great Depression, those families fortunate enough to have a Christmas tree, opted to decorate with edible decorations such as popcorn or cranberries.
1940s- The 1940s were the heyday of Shiny Brites. After WWII, they become unsilvered and bore cardboard caps as a result of the war efforts and the restrictions on mercury.
1950s- The train around the base of the Christmas tree becomes popular during this decade as well as tinsel adorned Christmas trees
1960s-Modern style brings plastic ornaments and artificial trees such as the collectible aluminum trees made by Aluminum Specialty Co. out of Wisconsin. Finial tree toppers are also all the rage this decade.
1970s- Department 56 introduces their popular ceramic winter villages, Snow Village was their first set and was released in 1976.
1980s-arts and craft movement; eclectic styles; Family trees were often mismatched and contained a variety of plastic, glass, tinsel, and handmade ornaments all together.
1990s-themed trees (same or coordinating colors); designers such as Christopher Radko and Kurt Adler emerge creating unique Christmas works of art to adorn your tree.
2000s- This decade sees a return to the demand for fresh cut Christmas trees and themed trees are still a must for the time being. Popular themes included Patriotism and turn of the millenium.
2010s-Tree technology takes center stage during this decade and new Christmas trees with unbelievable features such as rotating trees, color-changing, LED, synchronized musical trees, even some wireless options. Stylish tree skirts also become a trend this decade. Minimalists aesthetics and a return to Old World traditions are the decorating trend for this decade.
2020s- Current Christmas decorating trends have seen a nod towards the vintage styles of yesteryear and the tree is adorned with both actual vintage ornaments as well as vintage style reproductions. What was old is new again and famed designers, Christopher Radko and Kurt S. Adler have even released 2021 collections made to look exactly like the indented glass ornaments of the 1920s. Shapes and styles of ornaments are also reminiscent of the mid-century era.
Reproductions
Beware of modern reproductions, which can look very similar to the real thing. Check for the identifiers we discussed above to help determine age and possible maker of the ornament.
I hope you will find this beginner's guide helpful when you're in the market for beautiful vintage glass ornaments. You can access a free, printable guide to vintage ornament shapes here, and a free, printable guide to maker's marks here. An introductory pricing guide is available as well, for free here. Check back after the holidays for a new blog series!
Until next time, Happy Hunting!
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