There were two estate sales in our neighborhood over the weekend so we went and took a look. I think estate sales are incredibly sad. These were especially so. We saw piles of photographs of the people living their lives. There was a pile of scrapbook pages. One of the pages held a portrait of a handsome young man with the handwritten caption “almost married him.” What a story that must be! Yet there they were in boxes being sold for whatever the family could get. Very sad.
I really like the shapes and the stylized indentations.
I was pleased to see, and buy, these ornaments, though. My grandmother had a tree full of them when I was a kid and I loved them. She also had strings of metallic beads she used as garland. She got rid of them all in a frenzy of cleaning because they were too old. It made me sad. I have been collecting old fashioned looking ornaments, like the Christopher Radko type ornaments. These are the first I have of this type.
Shiny Bright is a common brand from the 50’s and 60’s that are similar to your new finds. I have some of my Mom’s old ones. Though not so shiny anymore, they are still so much nicer than most newer ones I see. Congratulations on yours!!!
These are are wonderful collection of Shiny Brite ornaments. They are mass produced … the process developed by Corning Glass just before WWII. If you are fortunate to find transparent ones, those date from the war years when metals were in scare supply. Some even have paper caps.
Watch out! Collecting these is addictive!
Like Sherri, I have some that were my mom’s. I am slowly passing them onto my children being sure to explain their importance. They don’t look like much anymore but I want them to know how special they are.
I would love to see pictures of the ornaments that you have. I am really enamored of this style.
Jaye,
I have long collected these, you can find them often at flea markets and antique stores. I mix them with what I have from my parents and grandparents. Lucy(11) and I always pick a theme for our Christmas tree, sometimes just a predominant color (when she was 4, it was a predictable pink), sometimes a mood or style (fancy, happy, rustic) and last year it was monkeys. Yes, monkeys. We use the ornaments we have and often have a tree trimming party (we were snowed in/out this past year), but you’d be surprised what you can do with a collection of special shiny things. Perhaps I was a magpie in a former life!
The themes are subtle and sometimes guests can’t quite tell, but we have fun with it, and love to go on a hunt for new ornaments that might help us come up with a new idea.
Jessica! Thank you so much for commenting! I love hearing about your Christmas traditions. I guess another thing we share is a love of these type of ornaments.