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The History of Christmas Ornaments

As early as the 1800s Christmas trees were being decorated with various ornaments.  As time has gone on the types of ornaments we use to decorate our trees have changed.  From fruits to balls to personalized photo ornaments this article is going to cover the history of Christmas ornaments through the last 200 years.

The earliest Christmas ornaments back in the early 1800s started with fruit, usually apples and nuts.  In Germany family started to put gingerbread and other hard cookies in the shapes of various Christmas items on their evergreen trees as Christmas ornaments.  Along with strings of cranberries or popcorn, small gifts and other small items were hung on American Christmas trees.  Christmas tree ornaments in the United Kingdom were often made of paper or lace. Christmas ornaments became so popular that after while it was difficult to find the tree through the ornaments.

Until the mid 1800s Christmas tree ornaments were all handmade, usually by family and occasionally good friends.  During the middle of this century Christmas tree ornaments began to be mass produced in Germany and sold during the holiday season.  These were purchased specifically for decorating at Christmastime.  Although Christmas ornaments started out as fruits, nuts and other edible items, usually the Christmas ornaments of this time were made of glass.  These Christmas ornaments first started as glass replicas of the food items that were being used to decorate Christmas trees.  Slowly they began making ornaments that replicated the shapes of cookies that had been on the tree, including hearts and bells. These were all made in beautiful bright colors.

By the late 1800s Christmas ornaments had started being available in all shapes and sizes.  Woolworth's started selling the German glass ornaments in the United States.  It is said that Woolworth's was selling several million dollars worth of these Christmas ornaments.

Christmas ornaments become a game in some households.  In fact, there was a pickle ornament that was hidden on the Christmas tree for parents to be able to give a reward to the most observant child that actually found the pickle ornament.  Where this game started as well as who played this game is sketchy at this point.  The stories that are told and the actual traditions that were being followed during that time don't seem to coincide but it's a cute story anyway.

While most of the German glass blowers were making Christmas ornaments out of glass, some craftsmen began to make Christmas ornaments out of other materials in the late 1800s.  These ornaments were made out of pressed or embossed paper to begin with. Later pressed tin was used to make icicles and brightly colored lithographed Christmas ornaments.

For the end of the 19th century, during Queen Victoria's reign, Victorian Christmas ornaments were usually the handcrafted type.  Magazines during that time gave instructions on how to make these crafts.  Ornaments were made from household items at times, they were often created by crocheting or tatting.  Commercially available Christmas ornaments during this age were colorful and at times a bit large, to the point of gaudy.  Figurines of animals, elves and young children tended to take over the Christmas decorating scene.  Wire decoration, bead-work and tinsel tended to be a bit overdone as well. 

During the early 1900s handcrafted Christmas ornaments were being mass produced.  Each individual ornament was handcrafted, often of glass, and even with the high quantity of Christmas ornaments that were being made the originality of each handcrafted item was retained.  Up to this point, German glass ornaments were still by and far the most popularly purchased Christmas ornaments. However, that was going to change.

Along with the new century came a new war.  Between the war in the great depression Christmas ornaments took a backseat for awhile.  This was a very short while.  The popularity of Christmas tree ornaments had grown enough that even though America was having financial difficulty F.W. Woolworth decided that it was a good idea for an American Company in New York to start making American Christmas ornaments.  The Corning Company of Corning, New York, started making Christmas tree ornaments in the late 1930s previously they had been making light bulbs.  This business venture took off quite well.  In fact, by the early 1940s Corning was making it over 300,000 Christmas ornaments daily and shipping them to other companies to be decorated.

'Shiny bright' Christmas ornaments were made, machines painted with silver lacquer, and then they were hand decorated.  When World War II started materials used to decorate Christmas ornaments became scarce and Christmas tree ornaments became simpler. Personalized ornaments were still handmade and used in many homes. Because of the shortage of materials, store bought ornaments started to be made with fewer materials during this time, moving from brightly decorated ornaments to shiny, colorful balls.

Over the last 50 years many companies have started their own keepsake Christmas ornament collections.  For some, the memories of the large glass Christmas ornaments, that were so shiny sparkly and each one special, are treasured memories.  The trip to town as a family, getting to pick out your favorite Christmas ornament, the warm cup of cocoa as you helped mom and dad decorate the tree, these are all memories that made Christmas time special.

Personalized Christmas ornaments help us to remember Christmases that we might otherwise allow to fade in our memories.  Each year during Christmas season we are able to reflect on past Christmases and other happenings that meant a lot to us throughout the year.  Personalized Christmas ornaments are way for us to weave those experiences into our holiday celebration.  While you probably won't be searching for a glass pickle on your Christmas tree, you might be able to find the face of someone special.

As personalized ornaments have made their way into Christmas decoration our Christmas trees have become more and more special.  You can purchase musical ornaments, commemorative ornaments, cartoon character ornaments, and even personalized photo ornaments for your Christmas tree.