Vintage Santa Figurines and Collectibles

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Will the Real Santa Claus Please Stand Up?

We always think of Santa Claus as an incredibly old man—positively ancient—but the fact is, he’s exactly 150-years-old, born in 1863. Indeed, we might be thinking of Santa’s predecessor St. Nicholas, who is far older, believed to have been a Turkish Greek bishop in the 300s. But the first European winter gift-bringer is even more of a geezer, going back to ancient Germanic paganism and the Norse god Odin. When he wandered the earth, the deity disguised himself as a bearded old man wearing a...

The Charms of Christmas Ephemera and the Changing Face of Santa Claus

I grew up in a home without any antiques. As a small kid, I started decorating my parents’ home for Christmas. I don’t know what influenced me, perhaps being alone and living in a rural environment might have had something to do with it because I engaged in a lot of fantasy play. I made a lot of ornaments out of stuff that I had lying around, and I decorated using things that I found in the garden. Through the years, I became more interested in Christmas decorations and met a few...

Vintage Christmas Ornaments, From Cardboard Dresdens to Silvered Kugels

About 42 years ago, my wife, Darla, went to a very large white elephant sale and found a box of antique Christmas ornaments. She thought they were wonderful, so she bought them, and that’s been her passion ever since. Eventually, ornaments became my passion, too. We’ve been collecting for 42 years now. Our collection’s not the biggest or the best, but it’s very nice. We put up 23 antique feathered Christmas trees and they all have antique Christmas ornaments. For a long time, we were very...

Santa Claus and His American Debut

The following piece tells the story of how Santa Claus came to be, from his debut in 1844 to his evolution from New Year’s icon to beloved symbol of Christmas. It originally appeared in the December 1939 issue of American Collector magazine (Volume VIII Number 11), a publication which ran from 1933-1948 and served antique collectors and dealers. Santa Claus made the front page in 1844. In that year his likeness appeared in The New Mirror, a weekly published in New York City, together...

A Guide to Christmas Antiques and Vintage Christmas Decorations

Ever wonder about that box of vintage Christmas decorations in the attic? From wooden nutcrackers to glass Christrmas tree ornaments to 1930’s Lionel model trains, this article can help you identify what vintage or antique Christmas items might be in that box. Your cherished decorations might be valuable, and even if not, you can sure have a whole lot of fun decorating with them! Christmas Trees: From Simple to Space Age Decorating the tree, like many modern Christmas traditions, was...

A History of Dimestore Christmas Village Houses

The following is a history of these wondrous little artifacts called cardboard Christmas village houses - a history devoted to establishing some way of categorizing them and putting them into chronological perspective. It's a tall chore, because these were small-change notions, not expensive nor considered serious enough to impart model numbers, cataloging, and so forth by those who made them. Even the cheapest 59-cent Christmas light sets had numbers collectors could refer to. Not so the...