Christmas Ornaments

Although historians have never reached complete agreement on the origins of the Christmas tree and it ornaments, it has been documented that in 1510 there was a written record of a decorated Christmas Tree in Riga, Latvia. Men of the local merchants' guild decorated a tree with artificial roses, danced around it in the marketplace and then set fire to it. The rose was used for many year and is considered to be a symbol for the Virgin Mary.

In 1530 there is record from Alsace, France (then Germany territory) that trees were sold in the marketplace and brought home and set up undecorated. Laws limited the size to "8 shoe lengths" (slightly over 4 feet).

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In the United States, Christmas was not widely celebrated until the 1800s because of the Puritans' influence. As a result, decorated trees did not become widely popular there until people saw the ornaments brought to America by families emigrating from Germany and England in the 1840s.

As the idea of decorated Christmas trees spread, various countries added their own variations. Americans, for instance, would string long strands of cranberries or popcorn to circle their trees. Small gifts began to be used to decorate the tree, sometimes contained in little intricately woven baskets, sometimes nestled in the crook of a bough, sometimes just hanging by a thread or piece of yarn.
In the UK, ornaments of lace, paper or other materials showed the variety of interests and talents of their makers. Small pieces cut out of newspapers or magazine illustrations also found their way to the tree.

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Ornaments became a big hit in many countries. In the USA, F.W. Woolworth of five-and-dime fame had reluctantly stocked his stores with German-made ornaments in 1880. It is estimated that by 1890, he was selling $25 million worth of ornaments at nickel and dime prices.

As time passed, the ornaments became more elaborate - and expensive. Silk and wool thread, chenille and tinsel embellished many of them. Stiff spun glass appeared as angel and butterfly wings; tinsel was used on fancy flower baskets, vases, air balloons and egg zeppelins.

Germany faced virtually no competition until 1925. Then Japan began producing ornaments in large quantities for export to this country. Czechoslovakia also entered the field with many fancy ornaments. By 1935, more then 250 million Christmas tree ornaments were being imported to the United States.

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Not until 1939 and the outbreak of World War II did an American company significantly enter the ornament business. Using a machine designed to make light bulbs, Corning engineers produced more than 2,000 ornament balls a minute.

Our thanks to The Ornament Shop for a lot of the information above!