DATING YOUR VINTAGE & ANTIQUE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS AND DECORATIONS

There's nothing we vintage Christmas collectors like better than being able to pinpoint the origin and or date of our vintage and antique decorations and ornaments. There are a number of sources for finding this information. One of the best is the Wishbook Flickr site. This site contains scans of many of the catalogs we so looked forward to receiving during the holiday season--from places like Sears, Montgomery Ward, etc. The earliest currently available is the 1948 Sears Wishbook. You can see them at http://www.wishbookweb.com/

Another great source for dating this material came from right here in Croton, courtesy of Amy's "& Antiques". In fact, the Cotton women, Amy and Cornelia, run a shop that is chock full of researching opportunities in almost every corner. (All under one roof too: "& Antiques", "The Old Book Room", "Cornelia Cotton Gallery"--111 Grand St. 271-6802).

Here are the Christmas pages from the 1916 Sears Fall catalog, a recent purchase. While this is one of the more common catalogs around, we've specifically concentrated on scanning only those pages that center around Christmas lighting, ornaments, honeycomb decorations, and more--much of it made in Germany, Europe in general, the U.S., and some Made in Japan items too. Here are the links. Enjoy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22283683@N07/5242928514/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22283683@N07/5242913340/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22283683@N07/5242299885/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22283683@N07/5242875084/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22283683@N07/5242870634/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22283683@N07/5242817610/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22283683@N07/5239575570/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22283683@N07/5238970385/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22283683@N07/5238939987/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22283683@N07/5238926961/