vintage & collectible Christmas you'd swear was From Grandmas Tree. Whether you are looking for vintage christmas ornaments, a christmas tree, nativity, a snowman, a hallmark ornament, a christmas stocking, christmas lights or an empire figurine, you'll find it at From Grandma's Tree.
Vintage Decor!
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Quick Synopsis of History of Christmas Ornaments
There are so many wonderful areas for collecting in Christmas and almost everyone remembers some favorite ornament or some treasured display that their parents or grandparents used. Some collect by theme. Santas, snowmen, nativity and angel collectors are prime examples. Others collect by era. Let me give you a quick rundown of the eras.
1890s & Earlier Use of live trees became popular in the late 18th century as Prince Albert (from Germany) brought the German custom of a decorated and candle lit tree to his wife (Queen Victoria) and family in England. The oldest ornaments date from that era. You will find scrap ornaments, old metal candleholders and glass candleholders that date to the turn of the century.
1900s This era saw the advent of the earliest glass ornaments, called kugels. These are heavy and topped with a flat metal cap with ring for hanging. Clip on candle holders were popular as were the glass holders for live flame candles. Trees were lighted once as the children were ushered in to view the tree. The candles were extinguished fairly quickly after the decorated tree was admired.
1910s We saw the advent of scrap ornaments and the use of actual items (toys and dolls) and sweets hung on the tree in paper cornucopias and boxes.
1920s
The earliest electric lights were introduced in the 20s. We also saw the beginning of the figural ornament industry, mostly blown into molds or hand blown from Germany. The earliest celluloid ornaments appeared.
Mold Blown Figural Bell-Germany
1930s
More varieties of electric lights were introduced and the introduction of the "ribbon" glass blowing machine made mass production of glass sphere ornaments possible. Japan began mass production of all sorts of ornaments which became very popular.
Ribbon blown indents-USof A
1940s These were the years of WWII. Imports from Japan and Germany abruptly stopped and the war effort led to the conservation of precious metals. Glass ornaments were no longer lined with silvering and most were marked "Made in USA". Post war led to the resumption of imports marked "occupied". Bubble lights were very popular in this era.
Early WWII-Unsilvered With Tinsel Inside
Mid or Late WWII-Unsilvered
1950s There was a resurgence of ornaments from Japan and lots of hard plastic (unbreakable) items produced. The "Shiny Brite" brand of glass ornaments put out some of its best decorated glass spheres. These are being reproduced today. Also, we saw the movement of the cottage glassblowing industry from Germany to Czechoslovakia and Poland. Miniature lights were introduced.
Shiny Brite Stencils
1960s Who can forget the aluminum trees and revolving lights? And the plastic ornaments and many, many Japanese imports. The miniature lights just about took over the lighting of trees.
1970s
A return to nature led to many handmade look ornaments being produced from an amazing variety of types and sources. Lots of fabric ornaments were produced in this era. Hallmark began it's Keepsake Ornament line in the second half of the decade.
Early Hallmark-Little Trimmer Drummer
1980s The theme tree became popular and several companies came out with color coordinated lines of ornaments. Also, a resurgence of glass ornaments began. Hallmark produced a larger line each year. Radko and Old World Christmas searched out old molds and began creating new ones and led to the renewed appreciation of the old style decorations.
1990s & The Modern Era We now have Department 56, Midwest Importers, Old World Christmas, Radko, Byers Choice, Boyd's Bears, and on and on. These producers each give us a collectible line of lovely Christmas items to choose from.
Hallmark Keepsake
Favorite Links From Grandma's Tree
Link to my website. I'm currently in the process of converting my website to an eBay ProStore. I'm offering a special for my first 10 customers. Check out my offerings!
My BLOG on Christmas collecting
I post the most frequent searches on eBay each week and tidbits about Christmas collecting as they occur to me or as I find them. I welcome comments on my posts.
My Guarantee
I'm proud of my offerings and I want you to be completely satisfied with your purchase. If, for any reason you are not delighted, simply return it to me within 10 days of purchase for a refund of the full merchandise amount.
To Return an Item
Please contact me within 3 days of receipt of item at gmastree@fromgrandmastree.com for a return authorization.
Items must be returned in original packaging in "as-sent" condition to ensure a refund. Shipping and handling charges are non-refundable. All returns must be accompanied by the packing slip. Please indicate the reason for the return.
You may want to insure your return; we cannot be responsible for lost or misdirected returns.
If you have any questions regarding your order, please feel free to contact us at gmastree@fromgrandmastree.com.
Contact Information
Please contact me with any questions or concerns at gmastree@fromgrandmastree.com. I make it a high priority to respond to emails within 24 hours.
Feedback
It is my hope that you are completely delighted with your purchase. Please contact me if you are not satisfied for any reason. I want a chance to correct any problems that might arise. When the transaction is over, I hope you will leave positive feedback. Building a great reputation at eBay is very important to me. I would really appreciate your positive feedback and I will be happy to do the same for you.
Miss One Of My Auctions?
Don't forget to check my eBay Store. Just click on the red door symbol. You can check my Christmas Website or my Buttons Website.
Visit My Website From Grandma's Tree is my website where I list my vintage and collectible holiday offerings. Follow the link and spend some time browsing. Then don't forget to bookmark the site.
Visit My Blog Vintage Christmas Sellers is my BLOG where I post the most frequent Christmas searches each week. I also post tidbits and points of interest to Christmas sellers as they occur to me or as I find them. I've recently started an eBay Blog From Grandma's Tree as well. I welcome comments on both.
My Top Reference Book List
EVERY serious Christmas collector needs a shelf of reputable reference books to document and research his/her finds. Here's my list of
Top Christmas Reference Books I have these on my shelf and use them frequently. If you don't own one of these, put it on your gift wish list today!
How to Avoid Buying Mistakes in Vintage Christmas
Ever wonder how to avoid buying mistakes in vintage Christmas? Here's my best advice to Avoid Buying Mistakes. I will add to this information periodically. If you'd like to be on a subscriber list for this information, just sign up for my newsletter in my eBay store!
Visit My Other Venues
I also specialize in vintage buttons, patterns, fabric and other craft items. I have a separate eBay identity, rosesbuttons. I also have an eBay Store. Do a seller search for rosesbuttons to find my current eBay auctions. I have a new eBay BLOG for Rose's Buttons. I welcome your participation.
Rose's Buttons is my website where I list my vintage craft offerings. Follow the link and spend some time browsing. Then don't forget to bookmark the site.
To protect bidder privacy, when the price or highest bid on an item reaches or exceeds a certain level, User IDs will be displayed as anonymous names. For auction items, a bold price means at least one bid has been received.
Note: Anonymous names may appear more than once and may represent different bidders.
To see all feedback for this member, go to the Member Profile page.
My ebay user ID is gmastree( 2814) I've been an ebay member since Monday, Feb 22, 1999
Visit My Channeladvisor Storefront!
I list all sorts of interesting things at lower prices than I can offer on eBay (no fees does make a difference). I list hard-to-find replacement lightbulbs here. Ordering is quick and easy!
ChannelAdvisor Storefront
Now an eBay Trading Assistant!
I consign eBay items for local residents within 10 miles of the Long Beach Peninsula and offer pick up service. I specialize in smalls, take good digital photographs and write good ad copy. I also am able to add audio to listings for best selling conditions. Best way to contact is via email at gmastree@fromgrandmastree.com.
From Grandma's Tree began by serendipity. I started by making
crafts for sale at local bazaars-I
naturally gravitated to Christmas
items as I love everything about
Christmas. The next step was to
offer a one-month only shop in
my cottage in Long Beach, WA.
"Christmas in July" was born.
The first year I stocked the shop
with gift items and my
hand-made teddy bears and
Christmas crafts. I "filled in"
with some vintage Christmas
ornaments that I found at estate
sales. Surprise, surprise! The
crafts sat there and the vintage
ornaments sold! So I took the
lesson that my customers taught
me to heart and began to study
the field of vintage and antique
Christmas. The result is From
Grandma's Tree.
I have a desirable inventory
at competitive prices. From
Grandma's Tree is an
e-commerce based venture. My
website is on-line and available for your viewing pleasure. You are able to order on-line using your credit card.
Here's The Cottage:
This is the original cottage that housed "Christmas in July". It is now the home base of From Grandma's Tree. Christmas In July Cottage
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