Every January, holiday boxes come down from the attic looking a little more tired than the year before, and it’s tempting to toss anything that seems dated or damaged while you’re already in a decluttering mood. Tangled lights and faded ornaments rarely look like collectibles.
But vintage Christmas decor has one of the most passionate collector communities around. Before your holiday boxes head to the curb, check for these seven categories.
Glass Shiny Brite Ornaments
Thin glass ball ornaments with simple painted stripes or glitter designs, especially in their original cardboard boxes, are some of the most recognizable vintage Christmas collectibles. Max Eckardt started the Shiny Brite company in 1937, and Corning made the glass on a converted light bulb machine, according to antique trade publications. The cap helps date a piece. Ornaments from the 1950s have crimped, scalloped metal caps marked “Shiny Brite” and “Made in U.S.A.,” while World War II examples have cardboard or paper tops and clear, unsilvered glass, sometimes with tinsel tucked inside. The same source puts single ornaments at roughly $5 to $89 and original boxes of twelve at $15 to $250, with the price depending on quality, age and rarity. Keep any original box, even a worn one, and store the ornaments in it. Skip the urge to scrub them, since the painted decoration is fragile, and don’t swap caps between ornaments, because a mismatched cap makes a piece harder to date.
Mercury Glass Ornaments
Heavier glass ornaments with a slightly cloudy, silvered interior finish are known as mercury glass, and they were produced for decades in a wide range of shapes beyond simple round balls. The Golden Glow of Christmas Past, a collector organization, calls the 1920s and 1930s the golden age of antique glass ornaments, when huge volumes were imported to the United States, mostly from Germany. Its list of themes from that period shows what to watch for: fruit and vegetables, Santas, animals, people, musical instruments and vehicles, plus clip-on flowers. Figural shapes like these tend to be more desirable than plain balls. Because the silvering can flake or fade with age, examples with strong reflective interiors and intact original paint are the most sought after. Hold each one near a lamp and look for dark or bare patches in the silvering. Set aside anything figural before deciding what to keep, and never polish or repaint a dull one, because that removes the original surface collectors want.
Bubble Lights
Strings of lights with liquid-filled glass tubes that bubble when warm were a mid-century novelty, and working (or even non-working) examples remain popular with collectors, according to vintage Christmas lighting resources. Carl Otis invented them, and NOMA Electric brought them to market for Christmas 1946, with Paramount, Royal Electric and other makers following. The details that matter are small. Tubes filled with purple, dark blue or blood red fluid are the hardest to find, orange and blue plastic bases are scarce, and early Paramount lights filled with oil instead of the usual methylene chloride solution are highly sought after. Original boxes add to a set’s appeal. Even a string with a few non-bubbling bulbs can be useful to a collector who needs parts, so don’t assume a dead strand belongs in the trash. Do check the cord before plugging in any old set. If the insulation is cracked or brittle, sell it as a display or parts piece instead of using it on a tree.
Blow Mold Yard Decorations
Large plastic light-up figures of Santa, snowmen, and reindeer meant for the front yard are frequently faded from years outdoors, which leads many people to toss them without a second thought. Vintage blow molds, however, have become a trendy collecting category, according to antique trade publications, which date their arrival in Christmas decorating to the 1960s. Names to look for include Empire Plastics, General Foam Plastics, which took over Empire’s molds, and Union Products, the company behind the pink lawn flamingo. Look over the back and underside for a company name molded into the plastic. The same report lists a 1970s Empire Santa sleigh selling for $121.50 and an Empire sleigh with nine reindeer bringing $3,485 in December 2024, which shows how much a complete set matters. Original paint and working lights raise the price. Cracks and sun-fading lower it, but an intact figure, even a faded one, can still draw interest. Don’t repaint one before selling, and keep the light cord with it.
Ceramic Light-Up Christmas Trees
Small ceramic trees with colorful plastic “lights” poking through drilled holes, often made in home ceramics classes decades ago, have become a nostalgic collectible. Prices swing with the season, so judge a tree by its features instead of a fixed number. Size is the first thing buyers notice, and both unusually large and very small trees stand out from the common tabletop size. A complete tree has three parts: the tree itself, a separate base holding the bulb and cord, and a full set of plastic pegs, often with a star for the top. Check that the base lights up, that the two ceramic pieces fit together without rocking, and that the glaze has no chips or hairline cracks, especially around the bottom rim. A built-in music box is a bonus if it still plays. Missing pegs are common but rarely a dealbreaker, since replacements are widely available. Demand peaks before Christmas, so list one in the fall.
Feather Trees and Vintage Artificial Trees
Small artificial trees made from dyed goose feathers wrapped around wire branches predate the tinsel and aluminum trees most people picture as vintage. The Golden Glow of Christmas Past traces feather trees to Germany in the late 1800s and says they were sold in American dime stores in the 1920s and 1930s until World War II cut off imports. Old ones were made with goose or turkey feathers in white, green, blue, light green or gold, on round or square wooden bases. Some have composition berries at the branch tips or holders for candles. American craftspeople began making feather trees again in the 1980s, so a clean, bright tree may be a later reproduction, and it pays to compare the wear on the base, wire and feathers. Mid-century aluminum “pom-pom” trees have their own following. With those, count the branches against the holes in the trunk and keep the box and any branch sleeves. Research an unusual small tree before assuming it’s an old, cheap decoration.
Vintage Nativity Sets
Hand-painted ceramic or composition nativity figures, especially sets made in Italy or West Germany decades ago, are more collectible than the mass-produced plastic sets sold in recent years. Start by turning each figure over. Look for a maker’s mark, a paper label or a country of origin stamped or inked on the base. A “West Germany” mark is a useful clue on its own, because that country existed only from 1949 to 1990. Next, judge the material and the paint. Hand-painted faces show small differences from figure to figure, while printed or sprayed decoration looks identical across a set. Lay everything out and take inventory: Mary, Joseph, the infant, the three kings, shepherds, an angel and the animals, plus the stable if there was one. A complete set with all original figures holds significantly more value than a partial one missing key characters. Chipped noses, reglued hands and repainted areas lower it. Wrap each figure separately for storage, and sell the set together instead of splitting it up.
