Making Home: Vintage Christmas

I haven't done much ( almost none ) Christmas decorating yet.

My plan was to stay home today - NO Black Friday shopping.

Yea, that didn't happen.

Em wanted to go , so of course Mom had to go with.

Meaning : NO decorating got done today.

We are meeting friends tonight .

Tomorrow my crazy family comes to my house for our Thanksgiving.

So , I might get much done tomorrow either.

I have gotten some inspiration from Pinterest though.

I collect vintage Christmas ,

I have for quite a few years now.

Mostly Shiney Brites .

Never heard of them ? Really?

Well then, you have never been to my house.

They are kind of an obsession for me.

I am a nostalgic person.

They remind me of my Grandma's Christmas tree when I was a kid.

As a matter of fact, my first ones came from my Grandma and my Mother-in-law.

I love finding them .

You just never know where.

I found some at a garage sale this summer.

My friend Deanna even sent me some she found in a thrift store while she lived in Idaho !

A little history of Shiney Brites~

Until World War II most of the glass Christmas ornaments were imported from Germany and Japan.

With the coming war inevitable , America's biggest importers of glass Christmas ornaments, Woolworth's and Max Eckhart & Sons ( owners of the Shiney Bright Company) asked the Corning Company to produce glass Christmas ornaments with their patented machine previously used to make light bulbs.

In 1939 they began producing the first American made glass Christmas ornaments.

Of all their buyers, Corning sold the most to Max Eckhardt’s Shiny Brite.

He made Shiny Brite Christmas balls and decorations throughout the war. Shiny Brite had innovative solutions to problems brought on by rationing. When metal paints and varnish were unavailable, he began banding balls with slim lines in light shades.
Shiny Brite was the leading maker of glass Christmas decorations by the end of the war. They began making ornaments decorated with vibrant hues, which reflected the vivacity of the post-war era. The traditional metal tops were once again used, this time bearing a proud stamp declaring that Shiny Brite ornaments were U.S.-made. The boxes they were packed in, too, were marked “American Made.”

In 1962, Shiny Brite stopped producing Christmas ornaments.

In 2001 Christopher Radko purchased the rights to reproduce glass ornaments under the Shiney Bright name. Even the boxes bear a strong resemblance to the originals.