Antiques: 'Tis the season for ornaments
'Tis indeed the season, although I can't believe the summer disappeared so quickly. What happened to fall? Anyway, Santa is revving up his sled, eggnog is flowing like wine and horrible sweaters are once again coming out of the closet. If the past few weeks at our gallery are any indication, home entertainment will be a big part of this year's agenda. Holiday decorations, glassware and lighting are zipping out the door. And of course, Christmas tree ornaments.
As it happens, there's a rather interesting history to such ornaments and it's time to take a quick look.
As with beer and sausages, Germany was the place where it all started. As early as the 16th century, Germans began celebrating the season by decorating small evergreen trees in public settings. Foodstuffs like nuts and fruit served as early ornaments, and over time it became a tradition in German households to host such a tree. It took a while — about 300 years — before Americans decided Christmas trees were a good idea and not just some pagan ritual, and by the dawn of the 20th century they were a staple in many American homes.
As for manufactured ornaments, those were also started in Germany by an enterprising businessman named Hans Greiner. They were an instant hit both at home and abroad, and by the 1890s American retailers such as Woolworths were selling them by the truckload.
Not surprisingly, other countries jumped into the game, and today Christmas ornaments come from all over the world in every conceivable configuration. The materials used include glass, metal, plastic, porcelain, wood, and more. During the days before electricity, many ornaments were designed to hold candles and undoubtedly contributed to all kinds of awful house fires. Don't try those at home.
If you're really in the mood for some serious holiday bling, you might consider the 18k gold sphere available from Hallmark for a cool $136,000. That baby includes nearly 1,600 diamonds and another 200 rubies, so you might need a guard dog to keep it from disappearing. Meissen has a $61,000 entry into the ornament sweepstakes and Lladro isn't too far behind with an exotic dragon weighing in at about $38,000. I've been looking around for mine but can't seem to find it.
On the vintage side of things, a website called workandmoney.com has a list of the 65 most valuable old-school ornaments, most being in the more modest three-figure range. Many appear fairly common so you might take a look in Grandma's dusty old trunk. There could be a few nuggets in there. Otherwise, galleries like ours have loads of ornaments to choose from, most costing little more than a fancy cup of coffee.
The fact is, however, that Christmas is about the season rather than the ornaments. It's a time when families get together and goodwill and generosity come to the forefront. These days, we need all of that we can get. Happy holidays to you and yours.
Mike Rivkin and his wife, Linda, are longtime residents of Rancho Mirage. For many years, he was an award-winning catalogue publisher and has authored seven books, along with countless articles. Now, he's the owner of Antique Galleries of Palm Springs. His antiques column appears Sundays in The Desert Sun. Want to send Mike a question about antiques? Drop him a line at info@silverfishpress.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Antiques: 'Tis the season for ornaments
