Mid-Century Christmas Collectibles Sparkle Anew
Collectors chased aluminum trees and Shiny Brites in Atlee Raber’s festive sale.
girl elf 6 1/4 in. by 6 1/2 in., $186.
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.
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 1960s media such as 1965’s A Charlie Brown Christmas, with its now-iconic sad-looking but beloved tree.
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.
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 8-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.
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 4-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 1960s, 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.
or flocking to some of the vintage trees, $279.
There was a wide array of other Christmas ornaments offered that bidders clamored for, especially several lots of Shiny Brites. These hand-blown, hand-painted glass ornaments, introduced to the U.S. market in 1939, remain among 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.
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 or flocking, that sold for $279; and a pair of large-size red and green Christmas Elf figurines made in Japan that sold for $186.
Prices include a 24% buyer’s premium.
For more results, visit atleeraberauctions.com.
Images courtesy of Atlee Raber Auctions.
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