Posted 9 years ago
ho2cultcha
(5051 items)
I used to love opening all the little doors on these when i was a kid. this one seems pretty old, but i bet it can be dated by the font in the lower left - where it says 'Made in West Germany' in a sans-serif font - similar to Helvetica. ??
This is a very large one at 25" across.
If you use the following link: http://www.museums.nuremberg.de/toy-museum/virtual-depot.html, you can access the Nuremberg Toy Museum's virtual depot. Just search(suchen) for Adventskalender under Objektbezeichnungand and made in West-Germany under Marke. The museum has an English link, but the virtual depot is only in German. The virtual depot has your calendar listed as being made from 1970/1989. It's possible that your calendar is an earlier addition? Sometime in the 70s, this date varies, most companies switched from using real glass glitter to plastic glitter. It's hard to tell from a photo, but your calendar looks like it has real glass glitter. Also, what is the number on the left?
thank you mcat13! i would have guessed earlier than that from where i got it, but maybe it was reprinted?
Advent calendars are often reprinted, so it is possible that your calendar is older than the calendar shown in the museum. The number on the bottom right might help to date your edition too.
I noticed an advent calendar like yours for sale. The seller states it's from the 1970s, with a mailing date on the envelope of 1974. The number on the lower right is 531. I hope this helps:-)
Nostalgia 101. Such memories this evokes ho2, just amazing. Mum would give my sister and I one of these every Advent running up to Christmas day. This would have been in the early to mid 50's. (N0 chocolate behind the doors then!) I remember the sparkle and the anticipation. We were never allowed to open the doors/widows ahead of the correct day.
Don't know whether the ones we had were from Europe or made in England. These lovely things were just rubbish after Christmas, and I don't think Mum would keep any of them. It may be possible to buy 'real' but modern ones these days, in Canada, at shops like Denningers or Dutch stores. Will try and remember to visit one of those stores this year and see what's on offer.
There were a huge part of my life as a child in England. It's difficult to hear that something from 1970 or 1974 would be considered vintage or even 'old'.
I did get my children Advent Calendars when they were young, but I don't think they held the magic as mine had. The sense of family, the meaning of Christmas (sorry for the cliche) I think was very different for them being children of the 80's and 90's.
Someone pass the Kleenex please.
Thank you so much mcat13 and ho2.