Christmas Greetings

I pulled out some vintage Christmas items and set a table to display them. . .

 Cardboard Christmas village houses & churches, known as Putz houses, most old mixed with some new. . .

I’ve used this quilt on my table before~ it’s currently nestled underneath my tree at the lake serving as a tree skirt.

 Christmas Greetings  are sprinkled on the table, most of these are postmarked from Pennsylvania, the one below from 1910~

  I love the messages on these postcards:

“May Christmas with its magic spell, Make all things happy, all thing well.”

 

 The practice of sending Christmas cards grew out of the Victorian use of decorated calling cards and of printed note paper and envelopes for New Year’s greetings. The card business was really made possible by the advent of the postage stamp and ‘Penny Post’ in England in 1840. Prior to this innovation, postage was based on mileage and paid by the receiver when mail was delivered. Now the sender could bear the postage with a single rate.

The first commercially printed Christmas card is attributed to Sir Henry Cole, the first Director of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

By the 1850s improved printing techniques allowed the expansion of the card business and cards could be trimmed with a wide variety of cut and embossed papers.

 

 My chalkware figures are not vintage, but have a vintage charm. . .

 

Christmas Collectibles  is a fact-filled guide to Christmas collectibles and offers information and full-color photographs of Yuletide items from the Victorian era to the present. Fun to peruse, it is both a catalog of delightful objects and a fascinating investigation of every aspect of Christmas~ from the origins of traditions and festivities, to the technological innovations that affected the manufacture of favorite ornaments.

“One of the first Christmas window decorations was a lighted candle in a window. The candles were placed there to guide ‘special’ travelers, who vary in different countries and cultures, from The Holy Couple, Mary and Joseph, to The Christmas Stranger, or The Christmas Visitor. In time, the reason was forgotten, but the candles had become part of the holiday. Eventually the candles were electrified, allowing greens to be used safely in the windows. Although various arrangements appeared in windows, the most enduring was the wreath made of evergreens and trimmed with pine cones, berries and ribbon. The first artificial wreaths were made of chenille or cellophane and for some reason were mostly red instead of green.”

I love the nostalgia these vintage items evoke~  memories of Christmases of yesteryear. . . a few pieces from my collection of vintage Christmas items~ lights, children’s records, Shiny Brite ornaments, Sparkle Snow. . .

These children’s records were personalized Santa-Grams, with Santa’s 10 Rules for Good Little Boys & Girls. . .

1. Listen to your Mommy & Daddy

2. Mind your teacher

3. Be neat & clean

4. Go to bed early

5. Be kind to animals (my favorite one :-)

6. Brush teeth twice a day

7. Be careful crossing streets

8. Don’t be selfish

9. Be courteous

10. Go to church

 My vintage Santa punch bowl & mugs are accompanying a plate of Linzer cookies I made for Food for Thought.

 A vintage choice for a cookie :-) based on the same recipe as Linzer torte, created in Linz, Austria in the 17th century. Linzer torte is the oldest known torte recipe and a holiday classic in Austrian, Hungarian, Swiss, German traditions, often eaten at Christmas.

Christmas Collectibles will evoke memories of your own childhood and give you a glimpse of how other generations and other people have celebrated Christmas over the years.

Thank you for your visit, I’m joining:

•  Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for providing disaholics everywhere a place to play ~

• Suzanne, The Coloradolady for Vintage Thingie Thursday

• Debra at Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

•  Jain  at Food for Thought, a delicious blog for readers with an appetite for the written word~