Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Christmas Decorations & Ornaments from Vintage Catalogs

While down-and-out last week with the heebie jeebies, I had a little bit of time to scroll through some of the pins I've made on my Pinterest boards. I have lots of Christmas catalog pins on my Showcase board, so I thought I would do a holiday-themed post of vintage Christmas décor from old catalogs. I just can't believe the intricate details in the illustrations done for the very early trade catalogs. The decorations from the 1940s, '50s, and '60s are more my style, but I am so drawn to the earlier items, too. So beautiful! Here are some of my finds... Enjoy!


1934 French catalog


1936 German trade catalog; beautiful package illustrations! (see more here)


1936 German trade catalog; organized so neatly! (see more here)


1936 German trade catalog; look at the composition--it's mesmerizing! (see more here)


1940 Sears Christmas Book


1947 Sears Christmas Book


1947 Sears Christmas Book; love the illustration of the Bubble Lite!


1952 Sears Christmas Book; neato little graphic in the center


1956 Sears Christmas Book; the smoky shiny effect is so pretty...and look at that garland of glass beads!


1956 Sears Christmas Book


1958 Sears Christmas Book cover


1958 Sears Christmas Book; look at that Candy Tree, and the Candy Church looks like it's covered in Meltaway mints...mmmmm...


1958 Sears Christmas Book; cool bottle brush tree (only $3.97!), but things are starting to get plastic...


1958 Sears Christmas Book


1958 Sears Christmas Book; note the fluffy, pink, flocked trees


1958 Sears Christmas Book


1966 Penneys Christmas Catalog


1968 Montgomery Ward Christmas Catalog; at first I thought $2.88 was kind of expensive for those plastic snow globes, but looking closer I see that's the price for a set of six!


1968 Montgomery Ward Christmas Catalog; those "Italian Petal" lights were popular into the '80s


1969 Sears Christmas Book; not very fond of the faux stained glass decal, but hurray for the blow molds!

For more Christmas catalog images, check out Wishbook on Flickr.

6 comments:

  1. I recognize a few of the ornaments from the 1956 and 1958 catalogs from my childhood. I think I might even still have a couple of them.

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  2. Oddly, I own quite a few of these ornaments, including the 1958 Sears Olympic skier.

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  3. They're all gorgeous and look so fragile, especially the 1958 figural ornaments. I try to buy them whenever I find them at sales. They look so neat together on one tree.

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  4. Pretty ornaments I especially like the ten Maine Lobsters for 22.00 I want!!!

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  5. You know, I hadn't noticed those before! That's a great price for live lobster! Not to mention only $4.97 for the Emmet Kelly Cheese Pack, complete with a framed print--what every home needs! Thanks for checking out my blog!

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  6. I have the church from the 52 Sears Christmas catalog. I believe I have a few of the ornaments in some of the lists

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