Welcome to a Christmas Shop Online

In early Roman calendar in 336 AD first mentioned December the 25th as the date of Jesus' birthday.  This date was likely influenced by the year end pagan festivals to celebrate the harvest.  These celebrations incorporated specially prepared meals, their homes were decorated and they gave gifts.  Over time these pagan traditions became a part of the Christian celebrations.  The tradition of a Christmas tree and ornaments came from Europe.  The earliest German Christmas trees were adorned with apples, onions, pears, nuts, candy, and fruit.  Glass ornaments were first made in Germany in the 1800s.  These beautiful glass ornaments began to replace the edible decorations.  In Victorian times, Prince Albert which was a German and married to Queen Victoria brought this tradition from Germany to his new home in England.  Soon all of England followed.  When the Europeans immigrated to North America they brought with them their Christmas traditions in the 1840s.  Before this time Christmas was not widely celebrated in North America.  As the culture became more prosperous, ornaments became larger and the colours more vibrant to reflect the new wealth.  Virtually all hand blown glass ornaments were manufactured in Germany until 1925.  By 1935 more than 250 million Christmas ornaments were being imported to the US.  After WWII many glass blowers fled to West Germany and the industry declined.  Approximately this time Japan and Czechoslovakia began producing ornaments for the US market.  Glass ornaments went out of fashion when the aluminum tree adorned with ornaments of similar shape and colour became craze in the 1960s.

If you are lucky enough to still have any vintage ornaments you really need to hang on to them.  You can recognize vintage ornaments.  They were usually created in soft colours with hand painted details.  You will see that the paint may be faded or distressed in some areas.  You can also see the difference between hand blown and machine made by removing the stem.  Ornaments that are hand blown will have an uneven base because the glass blower can not make a clean break.  Modern machines made the ornaments with a smooth even base. 

In early times each edible item they adorned there Christmas tree had some symbolism.  Fruit and vegetable shapes symbolized the harvest.  Birds represented the biblical messengers that bring God's love and peace on the world and also symbolic of good luck and fortune.  Pickle shapes also signified luck.  Fish shapes is an early Christian symbol for Christ.  The star shaped ornaments represented the Star of Bethlehem. 

It's important today to remember our past and rejoice and learn.