Decorating trees during what has become known as the Christmas season began in Germany during the early 1800‘s. Nuts coated with sugar, apples and other pieces of candied fruit hung among the evergreen branches were the first German Christmas ornaments. Ornaments cut from gingerbread dough and marzipan also became popular. Later eaten by the children, these expensive treats were out of reach for all but the wealthy.

By the mid 1800‘s the glass-blowers of Lauscha began to produce hand-blown glass ornaments to mimic the fruits and nuts the wealthy were hanging on their trees. Long known for the quality of their glassware (medicine bottles, barometers, marbles and eye glasses) the glass-blowers expanded the ornament business into a cottage industry with the men doing the actual blowing of the ornaments, the women doing the silvering of the insides (early in the industry with either lead or mercury, then later on with a mixture of sugar-water and silver nitrate) and the children painting the outside. Thus began the tradition of the beautiful glass ornaments that Germany became famous for.

Lovely glass spheres aren’t the only German Christmas ornaments that valued by collectors. Dresden began producing gaily painted, embossed paper ornaments. Decorations of pressed tin with brightly lithographed pictures were being produced in other parts of Germany and thin strips of metal called “angel hair” began to show up on trees around the country. This “angel hair” is what we now lovingly call “icicles”. Ornaments were also made out of wood, walnut shells, pewter and wax.

Queen Victoria’s Prince Albert (a native of Germany) introduced the glass ornaments to England and by the 1870‘s German Christmas ornaments were being exported to Great Britain. Ten years later, F.W. Woolworth (the American Five & Dime giant) discovered the lovely glass ornaments during a trip to Europe and began importing them to the United States.

Though the popularity of the ornaments declined during both WWI and WWII, Germany still imports some ornaments to the United States every year. German Christmas ornaments, especially the older ones are still valued by collectors. The most popular German Christmas ornament shapes are Santa and Mrs. Claus (or St. Nick), Mary and Joseph, rocking horses, soldiers, pinecones and, of course, the German Christmas Pickle.

Of the many contributions that the German culture has made to modern society, perhaps one of the most beautiful and enduring is that of the Christmas tree and decorations.

- Sherry Law

by Debora Dyess
When I was a kid (more years ago than I care to recount) my daddy always made sure we each had a personalized Christmas ornament every year. He used a fine liner paintbrush and model car paint to meticulously write our name and the year on a Christmas ball, along with some memorable thing that happened that year. ‘Me, too!’ my ball reads for the year I was two. My sixteenth year ornament reads ‘Off to England!’ They are treasured keepsakes.
Options for personalizing Christmas ornaments have come a long way, baby. While the hand-painted Christmas messages are still a wonderful way to individualize holiday heirlooms, there are so many more ways available today to create your own personalized photo ornament. Here are simple instructions to help you create a homemade photo ornament using Microsoft Word and some simple materials.

Materials:
- Clear glass Christmas ball ornament
- Overhead transparency sheet (office supply store)
- Digital camera
- Computer and printer

Directions:
Open a new document in Microsoft Word. Open the drawing toolbar (view – toolbars – drawing), select an oval and ‘draw’ it onto your document.
Right click inside the oval; select ‘format autoshape’. Select ‘color and lines’; choose ‘no fill’ as the color. Click on ‘size’, and type in both height and width to match the size printed on ornament box. (NOTE: Because the ornament is a circle, height and width will be the same. If only one number is listed on the box, it is both.)

After closing the ‘format autoshape’ option, copy and paste the circle to cover the document, creating as many as you need. Insert the picture(s) by going to ‘insert’. Select ‘picture’, ‘from file’, and browse until you find your pictures. Insert pictures in circle document, resizing as needed to fit the balls. You will lose whatever doesn’t fit into the circle, so resize carefully.

Print onto transparency paper (a copy shop can do this for you). Cut out circles. Roll individual photo-circle around a skewer and insert into opened Christmas ball. Make sure the bottom of the picture is at the bottom of the ball. Once the photo is inside, it will open and fill the Christmas ornament. You may add glitter or confetti for a fun look, or decorate the outside of the ball with paint pens. Make sure not to obstruct the photo.
Using formal portraits or candid shots will change the character of the personalized photo ornament, as will how you choose to decorate each ball. You may even wish to combine the ‘old school’ method of personalization with the new, adding a name, date and words or event to remember to the outside of the ornament with a careful hand.
These personalized photo ornaments are sure to saved and cherished for many years.