NOTES FROM THE RECENT GOLDEN GLOW OF CHRISTMAS CONVENTION IN RYE

As many of you know, the Golden Glow of Christmas held their recent annual convention, this time on the East Coast--in Rye, New York. Not all of us could go, but we did have a correspondent there. Here's some of the highlights, courtesy of Barbara H: 

--Martha Stewart’s “senior collections editor” was there--which gave those planning to take part in the "All Things Christmas" auction no small measure of pause.

--The first activity Barbara attended was the sales event, where Golden Glow members bring items to sell to other members. It was a fantastic array of vintage Christmas items… everything you could think of, including putz houses! A family member purchased a wonderful, HUGE putz church with an embossed glossy roof topped off with cotton  (click on the photo).

--Next up was the “Under the Tree” contest, where Golden Glow members decorated to the theme of Under the Christmas Tree, and then other members voted for their favorite. The standout display, in Barbara's opinion, was an absolutely incredible putz display which took up almost an entire wall. The owner had the most amazing collection of houses she had ever seen… including many "House of the Month" examples from Papated's site. (Flat Iron Building, “Big Blue” clock house, “Martha Stewart house”, incredible full coconuts and loggies, all of them in absolutely pristine condition). She did take some photos but claims they didn't do the display justice. We look forward to seeing them anyway!

--The big news from the display was that Barbara saw at least a ½ dozen houses that she has never seen on Ted’s site, or anywhere else. It made her realize that the variety of houses out there is vast, and no doubt about it--there are plenty of undiscovered HOM contenders just waiting to be found! She did get an opportunity to talk to the owner of the display, who has been collecting for about 20 years and said that he acquired most of his houses in Pennsylvania. Exactly where in Pennsylvania I don’t know. 

--Next stop: the “Museum Rooms”, where Golden Glow members display the best of their collections of antique Christmas. This was a really spectacular display, and an incredible opportunity to see and study vintage ornaments, figures, Belsnickles, tree lights, feather trees, a Noah’s ark from the 1800’s, you name it. There was a very cool display of German “vertical” putz displays, for lack of a better term. It was a cardboard display that had two tiers, and “1/2” facades of houses displayed along the tiers, with twigs inserted into the cardboard for trees, glitters and such. There was a space in the back for the display to be illuminated by a candle, (which may explain why Barbara had never saw one of these before – they’ve probably all gone up in flames!) 

--Another great activity that she attended was a lecture by The Spaeth Group. They decorate the Christmas windows at Saks, Lord & Taylor, etc. in New York City. They gave a great talk about the process of doing the window from schematics to constructing a mockup in their warehouse to installing the final product, complete with a slide show and video of completed windows. Barbara got lots of ideas for her hardware store display…and will be on the look out for some animatronics!!!

--Last event: the auction, where Golden Glow members auctioned off items from their collections. There were some great items to be had… and some great prices realized!!! For instance, ONE “Matchless Star” Christmas bulb sold for more than $300 … various Belsnickels went for nearly $1,000 …. And a four foot high feather tree for over $900. Barbara won a lot of what was listed as “Japanese houses” but in fact contained two wonderful candy containers among the “houses”… for not much money! 

--The next five years of golden Glow Conventions will be nowhere near our neck of the woods. But Barbara says it was a really worthwhile event, and strongly encourages you to go if a future convention is held near you. Photos soon.

8/1 UPDATE - AS PROMISED--PHOTOS! http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2011/08/photos-from-2011-golden-glow-of.html