Christmas still is the most collected of all the holidays and people look for everything from ornaments to art. Santa Claus images are especially popular and some of the most valuable appear on postcards. Among the highest-priced are Santas whose robes are colors other than red -- like blue, green or even black.
The holidays are the time of year for family gatherings and in today's What's it Worth? we answer questions from readers about their collectible and antique Christmas decorations.
Q. This colorful print has been in our family since I was a child and dates back to at least the early 1950s. On the back is printed "Made In Sweden, copyright, Stockholm." There is an artist's signature printed on the front, "Aina Stenberg." We've always used it as a Christmas decoration; but know nothing about the artist. Can you gives us possible value and some background, please? It measures 14 inches long by 4 3/4 inches high. -- Chris in Benton City
A. While many families have "traditional" holiday decorations, not many are based an Swedish traditions.
This print is by a well-known artist whose work has become collectible in the United States and Europe.
Starting just after 1900, several generations of Swedes grew up up with Aina Sterberg's red-cheeked tomte (elf or gnome) children. Born in 1885, she was the second youngest of a Stockholm merchant family with 12 children. Stenberg's father liked telling folk stories to the children and was anxious the girls would get jobs.
When she was 10, Aina began drawing Christmas and Easter cards. She boldly walked up to a publisher with her first Christmas cards and had them accepted. She received 15 kronor (about 25 cents in that day) and her artistic career was launched.
After studies at the Swedish Academy of Arts, she lived in the countryside with her husband and two daughters. It was there she heard the same folk tales her father used to tell and began illustrating the stories. A prolific artist, she drew about 6,000 various designs for Christmas, Easter and New Year cards, as well as Advent calendars.
This print illustrates the Swedish country tradition of driving horse-drawn sleighs to Christmas morning church services and it would sell in a shop or at a show for about $25.
Q. These old glass ornaments decorate our tree every year. The curled horn is about 6 inches long. It came from my mother. The smaller stocking-shaped one is made up of small blue glass beads and was my grandmother's. Do they have any collector value. Both are in pretty good condition. -- Mel in Kennewick
A. Glass ornaments are one of the many German and Austrian Christmas traditions that took root in this country. Germany also gave us tinsel and the Christmas tree. The song Silent Night (Stille Nacht) is Austrian.
Ornaments in glass were first made in the rural German provinces as early as the late 1600s, but they were not used exclusively for Christmas. Some of the small family-run glass houses that produced them still are in business today.
The Christmas tree ornaments weren't used as holiday decorations elsewhere in Europe and England until the mid-1800s. They became popular and a "must-have" item in London after newspapers published illustrations of Queen Victoria's royal tree in 1846. The glass decorations had been imported from Prince Albert's native Germany.
Just before the 1880 holiday season, a traveling salesman convinced American merchant Frank Woolworth he should take a chance and carry a few glass tree ornaments in his Lancaster, Pa. store. They were an immediate hit and Woolworth went on to become a millionaire -- partly by selling as many as 200,000 ornaments each year.
While ornaments like these are a cherished part of many families' holidays, they can generally be found in good condition for $20 or less.
-- Terry Maurer, a Tri-Cities personal property appraiser, is a member of the Certified Appraisers Guild of America. For possible use in a future column, direct questions on your antiques and collectibles to What's it Worth? by email tchwhatsitworth@gmail.com
