Mid-Century Christmas Collectibles Sparkle Anew
Collectors chased aluminum trees and Shiny Brites in Atlee Raber’s festive sale.
A 114-piece vintage dead stock Christmas cards and envelopes, assorted designs and sizes, $155.
As Christmastime rocketed into the mid-century Space Age, postwar America’s sugarplum dreams were on full display. New prosperity and technologies created an optimism that made anything seem possible.
Four 1956 Napco Japan porcelain angels spelling “NOEL,” 4 in. to 2 1/2 in., $155.
The holiday season in the United States was characterized by a booming consumer culture and a focus on suburban family life. New traditions, including visiting shopping mall Santas, emerged alongside popular 1950s and ’60s media like 1965’s A Charlie Brown Christmas, with its now-iconic sad-looking but beloved tree.
A 26-piece Japan Putz Christmas set with gnomes, horses, a snowman, and trees, Japan ink stamp on the base of some of the buildings and figures, mica glitter or flocking to some of the vintage trees, $279.
Kitschy and whimsical decorations also created a magical mid-century wonderland, including colorful Shiny Brite glass ornaments, gleaming aluminum Christmas trees paired with color wheels to create a dazzling effect, bubble lights, little ceramic spaghetti angels, and Holt-Howard‘s winking Santa mugs.
A pair of large-size mid-century red and green ceramic Christmas Elf figurines, Japan stamp, boy elf is 6 3/4 in. by 6 in., girl elf 6 1/4 by 6 1/2 in., $186.
These decorations are now highly prized by collectors, who had a treasure trove to choose from at the “Early Christmas, Halloween, and Fine Jewelry” sale presented by Atlee Raber Auctions of Dundee, Ohio, on October 9.
The top two Christmas lots, each selling for $868, were an eight-foot-high 209-branch silver aluminum “pom pom” tree with red and green pom poms by Handy Things Manufacturing Company of Michigan and thirty pink glass ornaments in a variety of designs made in Japan, the U.S., and West Germany.
An 8-foot-tall silver aluminum pom pom Christmas tree shown with green and red pom poms on half of it, $868.
Mid-century pom-pom Christmas trees, also called “Sparklers,” were a popular type of aluminum tree from the 1960s. They were known for their reflective, shiny silver branches, which starkly contrasted with traditional trees. The fluffy pom-pom tips on their branches were created by splitting and curling aluminum foil.
Another popular aluminum tree was the glossy Evergleam, first made in 1959 and known for its futuristic aesthetic. A four-foot example with 58 metal branches sold for $279.
Aluminum Christmas trees had a short but brilliant run. They reached their peak in the early ’60s, but fell out of favor by the end of the decade, thanks in part to A Charlie Brown Christmas special’s depiction of them as artificial and over-commercialized. Today, they are back in a big way with collectors.
A 12-piece set of vintage Shiny Brite glass ornaments with glitter and hand-painted detailing, $310.
There was a wide array of other Christmas ornaments offered that bidders clamored for, especially several lots of Shiny Brites. These hand-blown and hand-painted glass ornaments that hit the U.S. market in 1939 remain some of the most sought-after for their beauty and nostalgia. A 12-piece set of ornaments in different designs and colors mainly including pink, teal, and silver, with glitter and hand-painted detailing, brought $310; a 12-piece set of teal blue ombre ornaments with various glitter-striped decorations sold for $279; and a trio of Shiny Brite boxes holding 36 cotton candy pink glass bulbs, with a small flocked baby pink tree decorated with golden orbs and a pink bow, fetched $248.
Twelve vintage teal blue ombre Shiny Brite glass ornaments in original box, including a double indent, flocked snowman couple, glittered, and striped, $279.
Other holiday highlights included a 1994 Lenox China Jewels porcelain Nativity Christmas vignette, with 20 beautifully detailed porcelain figurines, a large wooden stable backdrop, and a metal Star of Bethlehem on a wire stand that brought $341; a 26-piece mid-century Japan Putz village including gnomes, a snowman, various houses, and trees, some with mica glitter flocking, that sold for $279; and a pair of large-size red and green Christmas Elf figurines made in Japan that sold for $186.
A China Jewels porcelain Nativity set by Lenox, 1994, with 20 figurines, a large wooden stable backdrop, and a metal Star of Bethlehem and wire stand, $341.
Prices include a 24 percent buyer’s premium.
For more results, visit atleeraberauctions.com.
Photos courtesy of Atlee Raber Auctions.
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