Feather Christmas tree on revolving musical stand

The tradition of bringing a tree into the home and decorating it was first criticized by the prophet Jeremiah.  Oliver Cromwell later preached again the “heathen tradition,” but of course, we know how things turned out for him….  Later, Christmas trees were criticized for different reasons – environmental ones!  It’s a little hard to imagine now, but in the early 20th century, railroads and other changes in industry had resulted in rapid deforestation, thereby opening the door for artificial trees.

The first artificial trees produced for the mass market were feather trees, and they are still very collectible.  Feather trees are just that – trees made of feathers.  Goose feathers, with one half stripped away, were dyed and then wound around small sticks or wires.  After being bound off with wire, these “branches” were fitted in holes drilled in a central wooden dowel that acted as the trunk.  They were mostly sold in white or shades of green, but were also available in more exotic colors like this blue one.  As they evolved, some came with small berries (that cleverly served the dual purpose of providing a solution to the tricky wrapping at the end of the branch), while smaller versions appear in the hands and packs of Santa figurines.  Fancy versions, like the one pictured above, often had musical rotating bases.  After that, the mass market machine kicked into drive, and aluminum, PVC and fiber optic trees couldn’t be far behind!

Originally published on December 4, 2009

Three weeks later, on the morning of February 15, 1898, the battleship Maine lay in Havana harbor. Just after the playing of Taps, Captain Charles Sigsbee recalls, “I laid down my pen and listened to the notes of the bugle, which were singularly beautiful in the oppressive stillness of the night. . . . I was enclosing my letter in its envelope when the explosion came. It was a bursting, rending, and crashing roar of immense volume, largely metallic in character. It was followed by heavy, ominous metallic sounds. There was a trembling and lurching motion of the vessel, a list to port. The electric lights went out. Then there was intense blackness and smoke.”

Later investigations determined that the ship’s powder stores detonated, ripping off the forward third of the ship.  Such a significant breach caused the ship to sink rapidly, but tragedy occurred almost instantly for the many enlisted men sleeping in the forward section of the Maine.  Most of the Maine‘s crew died instantly, with 266 men killed in the explosion and another 8 men dying later from injuries.  Officers, who were quartered in the rear of the ship, fared better, with 18 officers among the Maine‘s 89 survivors. Most of the dead were recovered from Havana’s harbor and were buried in Havana, but almost two years later, in December of 1899, the bodies were disinterred and reburied in Arlington National Cemetery.

The explosion brought about the “Remember the Maine!” battle cry and helped precipitate the start of the Spanish-American War in April of 1898, but numerous investigations, both in the period and years later, have attributed the cause to one of two accidental causes.  One theory is that a external mine in the harbor detonated, most likely accidentally, while the other generally accepted theory attributes the explosion to spontaneous combustion of the Maine‘s own coal supplies.  In either case, the explosion was likely unintentionally and triggered a second, larger explosion by detonating the ship’s powder stores.

Maine-related memorabilia is rare, but appreciated by collectors of historic material when it finds its way to auction. In the aftermath, several companies attempted to capitalize by the patriotic surge the event created, so Maine-related advertising has collectors, but the real money is typically reserved for items related to the Maine in the months before the explosion or pieces created by survivors.

Belsnickles, for the most part, are surprisingly uniform. Aside from the colorful character pictured here, who is saddled with toys and the accoutrements one might need when tramping through the woods on a snowy evening and whose uniqueness is reflected in his $25,000 price, most belsnickles take the standard form of a somber, robed Saint Nick. Occasionally, he is holding a small Christmas tree, but otherwise, the only thing that varies is the color of his robe. Not to worry, though, because his robe comes in a rainbow of colors from the traditional red or white to orange, yellow, blue, and even pink! Value is, as always, determined by condition but also by the rarity of the color of Santa’s robes. Nice or naughty, any Christmas collector can appreciate these colorful characters!

Fortunately, he was dressed up again and at his gravest by the time he “posed” for his iconic 1917 World War I poster depiction (pictured above) by artist James Montgomery Flagg.(For more on Flagg, click here to read our reference note.)

Rare and historic printed silk 34 star American flag carried into the historic Civil War battle of Shiloh by William Shallenberger, Company D, 55th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry

A 13 star American Navy flag with hand-sewn stars belong to Anna Rowell Philbrick Decatur wife of Stephen Decatur

American Centennial flag, circa 1876, wool, printed and machine sewn, with "1776 1876" in the canton

Abraham Lincoln & Andrew Johnson 1864 campaign flag. Unusual style with stars in the upper right-hand quadrant

A circa 1850s 13-Star and Anchor flag

Reference & Further Recommended Reading:

A Civil War Union regulation artillery shell jacket made by the Cincinnati Depot

Begun as Decoration Day in the wake of the Civil War, Memorial Day has become a day to remember all who have died in service to their country, but for many collectors, this sacrifice is remembered every day through the artifacts they gather. At Prices4Antiques.com, we see many searches for military- and service-related objects prized by buyers, including amazing things like a Japanese tank crew helmet from World War II, a U.S. one-pound Ketchum hand grenade from the Civil War, a complete set of cast-iron armor for a German machine gunner in World War I, and a Noble Brothers six-pound Confederate cannon from the Civil War. One need only to look at an object like a Civil War lieutenant’s frock coat found next to the body of an officer on the battlefield at Spotsylvania to be reminded of the cost of centuries of protecting freedom.

Carved and painted wood Creche

My favorite part about Christmas when I was small was the nativity set my grandmother had.  It sat on a telephone table, that outdated invention for when phones were stuck in one place, in the hall at just my level, and I remember staring and staring at it.  It took two of my favorite things from my small world – animals and barns – and elevated them to an artistic, idyllic state.  Of course, it was much less idyllic when the sheep all had chipped noses from kissing baby Jesus and the humble little donkey had lost both his ears….  But somewhere out there, there are nativity sets that were not infiltrated by small people, nativity sets intact and complete, that are sought after by collectors.

It makes sense that some of the finest modern crèche (from the Old French word for manger or trough) or nativity scenes come from Italy, as that’s where they’re believed to have originated.  Actually, it was St. Francis of Assisi who set up the first live nativity display in a cave near Greecio, Italy in 1223 (evidently the conflict between the celebration of Christ’s birth and the celebration of secular materialism has been brewing a long time) and the idea quickly caught on with public displays being enacted with human actors and live animals.  By the 1700s, small-scale nativity scenes were in the homes of wealthier Italian families, although “small” isn’t exactly accurate – they were large and elaborate, often including a whole village.  These precepi (the Italian name for a three-dimensional scene of the birth of Jesus) probably looked a great deal like this, only on a larger scale.

A number of figures have survived from this era and appear individually or in small groups at auction on occasion.  Larger figures are typically around 8″ to 14″ high, often carved and painted and then dressed in clothing.  And of course, no one embraced the modern version of Christmas like the Germans, so there are also the beautiful traditional sets that we all remember from childhood (like this one or the one pictured above).  Many of these are very affordable, relative to what you’d pay for a modern set assembled from Lenox or Precious Moments, so perhaps building an antique nativity could become a new holiday tradition!

-Hollie Davis, Senior Editor, p4A.com

Reference & Further Recommended Reading:

Boucher Steam Locomotive & Tender, No. 2100 pre-war 2-inch gauge locomotive and Pennsylvania RR tender

Based on searches this week at Prices4Antiques, some people are going to be having an old-fashioned Christmas! We’ve seen searches for toys jump up dramatically and for “little” boys, the top items seem to include a Boucher locomotive and tender along with Lionel train passenger cars, a fabulous LGB circus train, and a Wyandotte mining dump truck. For “little” girls, it’s Steiff squirrel, a Steiff parakeet, a Valenti donkey, and an Arnold Print Works hen with her chicks. Auctions are full of great Christmas gift ideas for the young and young at heart, and so is the Prices4Antiques database. It’s never too late to make a childhood dream come true!

Frosted crush glass snowball Christmas lights, circa 1950s

It’s time to light the lights! The Christmas lights, that is. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the holiday spirit is at work at Prices4Antiques where we’re seeing a trend in searches for Christmas-related objects. Just this week, we’ve seen searches for strings of Christmas lights, both the classic frosted snowball lights and a colorful string of novelty Dumbo-theme lights from Walt Disney. Antique Christmas tree stands are also getting a lot of attention, including a decorative cast-iron stand, a tree stand with a picket fence border, and a beautiful Lador music box base that, when wound up, plays music and rotates the tree. Some of those family treasures can be real treasures!

To search the Prices4Antiques antiques reference database for valuation information on hundreds of thousands of antiques and fine art visit our homepage www.prices4antiques.com

Ayer's Cherry Pectoral Santa Claus advertising store display

From Advent calendars to wreaths, and more, the biggest spending holiday of the year features the biggest opportunity for collectors with an almost unlimited array of items to satisfy every taste and budget. Here are the most common Christmas collectibles:

Advertising
Manufacturers pull out all the stops in their Christmas advertising campaigns. Probably the most successful of all time was the Coca-Cola campaign of 1931, in which artist Haddon Sunblom gave us the rosy cheeked, fur and velvet clad Santa Claus we know today. Collectible advertising includes ads from publications, special edition tins and packages, store displays, die-cuts (pictured), and advertising postcards.

Advent Calendars
The first one was printed in 1908, and since their introduction, have been made of paper, cardboard, wood, and fabric.

Books
Look for vintage, well preserved copies of illustrated children’s books, especially those illustrated by Frances Brundage (1854-1937), Kate Greenaway (1846-1901), Richard Doyle (1824-1883) and Tasha Tudor (1915-2008) T’was the Night Before Christmas is probably the best known, but other popular volumes include early Christmas cookbooks, and, of course, handsome editions of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Candles & Candle Holders
Always a big part of holiday decorating, from figurals to geometrics, both candles and candle holders are available in an almost infinite variety of vintages, materials and price ranges.

Cards and Postcards
The first Christmas card was created by Henry Cole of London in 1843, and people have been sending Christmas greetings via post ever since. The most beautiful and highest quality cards and postcards were produced from 1890-1930, and these are avidly sought by collectors.

German Christmas deer papier-mache candy container

Candy Containers
The most collectible of candy containers are German made, and were meant to last no longer than the holiday itself.

Dolls
Special edition Christmas dolls abound, from American Girl to Barbie to Madame Alexander to Cameo Doll Co.

Jewelry
Jewelry designed specifically to be worn during the holidays has been produced for several centuries. High quality costume pieces from the 1920’s-1960’s, are still affordable and very popular. This Bakelite brooch has a Christmas motif.

Nativity Sets
First appearing in 13th century Italy, nativity sets have been fashioned from marble, wood, coral, plaster mother-of-pearl, pottery, wood, plastic, paper and more. These are probably the earliest of Christmas collectibles.

Nutcrackers
Originated in Germany, where they began to be mass produced by Wilhelm Fuchtner in 1872. At first, the figures were always soldiers, but now are available as golfers, skiers, tennis players, rock musicians, pirates, bakers, famous personalities and more. Although inexpensive Nutcrackers made in China are everywhere, collectors look for nutcrackers from Fuchtner, Christian Steinbach, or Christian Ulbrecht.

Plates
Meissen, Wedgewood, Spode and Royal Copenhagen were producing collectible porcelain plates by the middle of the 18th century, but Bing & Grondahl was the first to create the limited edition plate. By 1910, Rosenthal and Royal Copenhagen were producing an annual Christmas plate, and by the 1950’s millions were produced annually in every price range by a long list of manufacturers. Pottery makers have also made plates with Christmas themes including Pennsbury and Breininger redware.

19th century Shephard Hardware Co. cast iron Santa Claus bank

Santa
Although Santa’s looks have change over the years, he’s always been a popular Christmas collectible. Because he’s been so well documented, it’s often easy to determine the age of a Santa figure. From the tall and thin St. Nicholas, to the Jolly old Elf we love today, Santa has been rendered in every possible form and material. His likeness can be found on every type of Christmas collectible, like the cast iron bank pictured.

Tablecloths
Christmas linens are eagerly sought by those who love textiles. Whether its handmade lace, Irish linen, or the colorful screen print patterns of the 1930’ & 40’s, no Christmas dinner is complete without its festive covering.

Wreaths
The circle form symbolizes everlasting love, and the wreath is found in a variety of materials and forms, from ornaments to table decor.

-By p4A Contributing Editor Susan Cramer.

Reference & Further Recommended Reading: