Ornamental History
The time of year is at hand when many of us pull out the holiday decorations from storage or the back of our closets. For better or worse, the Season is here. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, or any other holiday, there are ornaments for all of them. I wanted to take a look at some of the Christmas holiday ornaments of old - just for a bit of nostalgia and comment. Of course there'll be some notes on design, as well.
I looked at holiday ornaments of the '40s and encountered some that were handcrafted in that caring and non-rushed way of those days.
There were beautiful, many times hand-painted and fragile glass ornaments that, many times, didn't last from year to year. There were also trees and wreaths that were part of the arts and crafts of the day.
I have to admit, I adopted a craft this year of making Christmas tree ornaments out of styrofoam balls, sequins, and glitter. I feel like an old lady, but it's kind of therapeutic.
Through the '60s the ornaments turned into silvery tinsel and metal.
I guess it had to do with space exploration of the day. We had those tinsel trees in my elementary school, complete with the hot light and rotating primary colors. They were so cool. They can be pretty pricey if you get them now.Today, holiday ornaments somehow just aren't the same - unless you make your own. They're mass-produced overseas and look sort of cheap. Yeah, they don't cost much either, but I'm just sayin'.
So, as you drag out your holiday decorations this year, take pause to remember the past and all of the thought and care that went into decorating back then. Also, please don't leave your outside lights up until March.
I'm also a fan of old ornaments and have been lucky enough to pick up boxes of them at rural auctions over the years. Perhaps even better than the ornaments are the old lights, which give off a magic glow that just can't be reproduced, it seems.