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History of German Christmas Tree Ornaments
This is the time of year when Christmas trees all over America are decorated with fanciful ornaments. Many of these
are re-creations from times past and
show the influence of German traditions.
Before World War II, Germany
was America's principal supplier of
thousands of glass, paper, cotton, wood,
and metal ornaments. Of these, fanciful
glass creations were the most popular as
Americans rushed to stores in the weeks
before Christmas to purchase horns,
Santa Claus figures, pine cones, birds,
and countless other figures. Over time,
Germany produced more than 10,000
different ornaments for the American market.
The history of these glass ornaments is also the
history of glass blowing in the Thuringian mountains
of Germany, specifically in the tiny town of Lauscha,
the birthplace of the glass Christmas tree ornament.
It all began in the second half of the eighteenth century
with small glass beads on chains that were the
first glass items produced in Lauscha. Bead blowing
allowed individuals to process glass (produced
in larger glass houses) in a small workshop 'at the
lamp.' With the so-called 'boot pipe' (a winding
pipe) the glass blower blew through a rape oil flame
and thus created a primitive jet of flame. In this,
he heated a glass rod, quickly exchanged the 'boot
pipe' for the glass rod, and blew the heated spot into
a ball-shape. The beads were then separated from
the rod, silvered with lead or fish-silver (later with
a silver-nitrate mixture), and filled with wax. For a
long time these glass beads were the main source of
income for the lamp-blowers of Thuringia.
While heavier glass ornaments (termed 'kugels'
by American collectors) were made by kiln since the
1820s, it was not until 1870 that the first thin glass
ornaments were blown. In 1867, a gas depot was
built in Lauscha to provide the glassblowers with a
constant, extremely hot, and adjustable gas flame,
which enabled them to produce extra-thin-walled
bubbles of glass.
Americans quickly fell in love with the fantastic
glass ornaments, so much so that by the early 1880s,
toy agents, bankers, and publishing house representatives
vied for export rights, leaving glass artisans free
to produce ornaments and giving them time to design
new ones. Slowly the glass ornament industry spread
to neighboring villages. So numerous were the glass
workers by the mid-1880s that glass houses could
not employ them all, and many artisans were forced
to work independently in their homes. Thus a familyrun
cottage industry developed, leading to an abundance
of competition, creativity, and craftsmanship
that is reflected in the high quality of the products.
American businessmen were quick to advertise
these glass ornaments. In 1888 Butler Brothers of
New York offered a wholesale $5 assortment of
Christmas tree ornaments to stores, which could individually
retail at five and ten cents each. The catalog
included red balls, drums, satchels, fruits, acorns,
dented double balls, strings of small glass beads, and
gold-colored balloons in assorted shapes. These were
advertised as the best 'made in Thuringia' and were
all carefully packed in wooden cases. Later catalog
editions included gilded birds with glass silk tails,
the red-coated Weihnachtsmann carrying a Christmas
tree, and nature's own decoration, the pine cone.
By 1893 ornaments were crowned with the familiar
cap and spring mechanism still used today. A
further improvement resulted when ornament hooks
were developed, which finally ended the time-consuming
task of hand tying each ornament.
In the early 1900s German glassblowers used
molds to create different figures for the American
market. Since molds were either rented or purchased,
depending upon the wealth of the glass blowing family,
this decade saw little distinction in the shapes of
the ornaments. Individual families, however, strove
to achieve creative distinction by the colors and patterns
applied to ornaments.
After World War I, glass ornaments continued to
be wire-wrapped, but not in the quantities of prewar
years, for Americans now were in love with
solid ornaments. Ninety-five percent of these were
silvered inside, eliminating the soft pastel appearance
of those produced before World War I. In the
1930s wire-wrapped ornaments declined even more
as cucumbers, ears of corn, zeppelins, trucks, cars,
and fantasy-shaped ornaments were the rage. From
October 1939 until 1945 German-blown ornaments
were not available for sale in America.
After World War II, Germany only slowly began
to provide ornaments for the American market. Their
desirability was low because many Americans considered
it 'distasteful' to use decorations manufactured
by a country with which they had just fought a
bitter war. Besides, Americans were in love with unbreakable
plastic and novelties such as bubble lights.
In the 1960s and into the 1970s Americans' tastes had
shifted to aluminum trees lit by the four-color revolving
floodlight or white trees with only one-color ornaments.
However, following these decades, Americans
began to collect older Christmas decorations and
began to appreciate what had been created by German
craftsmen before World War II.
What will the future hold? If history repeats itself,
there is no doubt that glass ornaments of this decade
will be as revered in the future as those from the late
1800s are today.
Robert Brenner
Robert Brenner is a Christmas historian who has
published several books on the subject.
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