The Glass Christmas Ornaments

Over 750 full-color photos featuring thousands of items. Chapters include storage, repairing, histories, and much more. Items photographed have interesting facts and values listed for the Christmas enthusiast.

"Immigrants, Ornaments and Legacies" tells the stories of the companies who created 20th century Christmas tree decorations. The Shiny Brite(tm) story of Max Eckardt and Sons is chronicled along with rival firms that competed to win the key customers of Woolworth's and Sears. Bernhard Wilmsen was one of the first Christmas vendors to Woolworth's and continued to be for decades. George Franke emigrated from Germany to America at the time of the U.S. Civil War and employed hundreds of people in Baltimore, Maryland. National Tinsel Manufacturing in Manitowoc, Wisconsin would be a recognized Christmas industry leader until a 1991 merger worth $90 million. Before millions of Christmas bulbs were manufactured and sold in America, thousands were imported by Woolworth's and Sears. Beginning as a family business in Lauscha, Germany many husbands, wives and children hand crafted glass ornaments. As early German immigrants came to the United States they evolved the industry with inventions and patents. Survival and prosperity were never guaranteed as the companies struggled during precarious times of tariffs, trade wars and world wars. If not for Corning Glass Works inventing the means to make 80 million glass bulbs a year, the modern era of Christmas tree decorations would have stopped with German blockades and boycotts. With rich details using photographs and statistics, the industry of American glass bulb Christmas ornaments is documented from the 1800's to the 1960's. In their own words, family descendants of ornament makers tell their favorite memories of being surrounded by Christmas all year long and their special holiday traditions that live on today. "Immigrants, Ornaments and Legacies" is a family centered story of decades of Christmas tree decorations that are highly collectible today. An ornament identification section is included to help collectors date their precious Shiny Brite(tm) and George Franke ornaments passed down lovingly from generation to generation.

Brighten your Christmas season by coloring over 100 Christmas ornaments on translucent paper. These hand-colored ornaments produce a striking stained glass effect when hung in a window, on a Christmas tree, from lights, more.

Add a personal touch to your Christmas ornaments this year with these creative and festive ideas for filling and decorating clear glass Christmas ornaments. A lot of these ideas will work with clear plastic ornaments too, which you can find to save money.

They sparkle, they shine--they light up the tree and the eyes of all who look upon them: therein lies the beauty of Christmas ornaments. Across these pages in richly detailed photographs are a merrily glistening array of some of the most creative, clever, and exquisite ornaments ever produced. A lively introduction explains the tradition of decorating trees, and gives the history of ornaments from the first commercially marketed ones (made possible by a new glass-blowing process) to the silver balls and garlands produced by newly arrived immigrants to the United States to modern designs fashioned out of Styrofoam and satin. The authors also look at some homemade treasures, including designs on paper and food-based decorations such as cookies, pretzels, and marzipan.

For All Students Ideal for a variety of courses, this completely up-to-date, alphabetically organized handbook helps students understand how people from German-speaking nations think, do business, and act in their daily lives.

Ornaments are a traditional Christmas gift and handmade ornaments are especially trendy. "Christmas Ornaments to Make" features step-by-step instructions, patterns, and ideas for 101 pretty-to-look-at, simple-to-do ornament designs that will appeal to both novice and expert crafters. This project book includes 75 photos and 25 illustrations.