Christmas ornaments, baubwes, "christmas buwbs" or "Christmas bubbwes" are decorations (usuawwy made of gwass, metaw, wood, or ceramics) dat are used to festoon a Christmas tree. Ornaments take many different forms, from a simpwe round baww to highwy artistic designs. Ornaments are awmost awways reused year after year rader dan purchased annuawwy, and famiwy cowwections often contain a combination of commerciawwy produced ornaments and decorations created by famiwy members. Such cowwections are often passed on and augmented from generation to generation, uh-hah-hah-hah.
There was every kind of giwt hanging-ding, from giwt pea-pods to butterfwies on springs. There were shining fwags and wanterns, and bird-cages, and nests wif birds sitting on dem, baskets of fruit, giwt appwes, and bunches of grapes.
The modern-day mowd-bwown cowored gwass Christmas ornament was invented in de smaww German town of Lauscha in de mid-16f century.
The first decorated trees were adorned wif appwes, white candy canes and pastries in de shapes of stars, hearts and fwowers. Gwass baubwes were first made in Lauscha, Germany, by Hans Greiner (1550–1609), who produced garwands of gwass beads and tin figures dat couwd be hung on trees. The popuwarity of dese decorations grew into de production of gwass figures made by highwy skiwwed artisans wif cway mowds.
The artisans heated a gwass tube over a fwame, den inserted de tube into a cway mowd, bwowing de heated gwass to expand into de shape of de mowd. The originaw ornaments were onwy in de shape of fruits and nuts.
After de gwass coowed, a siwver nitrate sowution was swirwed into it, a siwvering techniqwe devewoped in de 1850s by Justus von Liebig. After de nitrate sowution dried, de ornament was hand-painted and topped wif a cap and hook.
Oder gwassbwowers in Lauscha recognised de growing popuwarity of Christmas baubwes and began producing dem in a wide range of designs. Soon, de whowe of Germany began buying Christmas gwassware from Lauscha. On Christmas Eve 1832, a young Victoria wrote about her dewight at having a tree, hung wif wights, ornaments, and presents pwaced round it. In de 1840s, after a picture of Victoria's Christmas tree was shown in a London newspaper decorated wif gwass ornaments and baubwes from her husband Prince Awbert's native Germany, Lauscha began exporting its products droughout Europe.
In de 1880s, American F. W. Woowworf discovered Lauscha's baubwes during a visit to Germany. He made a fortune by importing de German gwass ornaments to de United States.
The first American-made gwass ornaments were created by Wiwwiam DeMuf in New York in 1870. In 1880, Woowworf's began sewwing Lauscha gwass ornaments. Oder stores began sewwing Christmas ornaments by de wate 19f century and by 1910, Woowworf's had gone nationaw wif over 1000 stores bringing Christmas ornaments across America. New suppwiers popped up everywhere incwuding Dresden die-cut fiberboard ornaments which were popuwar among famiwies wif smaww chiwdren, uh-hah-hah-hah.
By de 20f century, Woowworf's had imported 200,000 ornaments and topped $25 miwwion in sawes from Christmas decorations awone. As of 2009, de Christmas decoration industry ranks second to gifts in seasonaw sawes.
In 1973, Hawwmark Cards started manufacturing Christmas ornaments. The first cowwection incwuded 18 ornaments, incwuding six gwass baww ornaments. The Hawwmark Keepsake Ornament cowwection is dated and avaiwabwe for just one year. By 1998, 11 miwwion American househowds cowwected Hawwmark ornaments, and 250,000 peopwe were member of de Keepsake Ornament Cowwector's Cwub. There were as many as 400 wocaw Keepsake Ornament Cowwector's Cwub chapters in de US. One noted Christmas ornament audority is Cwara Johnson Scroggins who has written extensivewy on de topic and has one of de wargest private cowwections of Christmas ornaments.
In 1996, de ornament industry generated $2.4 biwwion in totaw annuaw sawes, an increase of 25% over de previous year. Industry experts estimated more dan 22 miwwion US househowds cowwected Christmas ornaments, and dat 75% of dose househowds cowwected Hawwmark Keepsake Ornaments.
Post Worwd War II
After Worwd War II, de East German government turned most of Lauscha's gwassworks into state-owned entities, and production of baubwes in Lauscha ceased. After de Berwin Waww came down, most of de firms were reestabwished as private companies. As of 2009, dere are stiww about 20 smaww gwass-bwowing firms active in Lauscha dat produce baubwes. One of de producers is Krebs Gwas Lauscha, part of de Krebs famiwy which is now one of de wargest producers of gwass ornaments worwdwide.
Awdough gwass baubwes are stiww produced, as expensive good-qwawity ornaments often found at markets, baubwes are now freqwentwy made from pwastic and avaiwabwe worwdwide in a huge variety of shapes, cowors and designs. There are a warge number of manufacturers producing sophisticated Christmas gwass ornaments in Powand, which produce "bombka" or de pwuraw form "bombki"; and miwwions of gwass-bwown Christmas ornaments are made year-round in Twawpujahua, Michoacan, Mexico, and exported to Spain, New Zeawand and France. They are awso made in Chignahuapan, Puebwa, Mexico.
Handcrafted Christmas ornaments have become a stapwe of craft fairs and many smawwer onwine businesses owing much of de success to bof de internet and de growf of craft stores.
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En wa actuawidad hay cerca de 200 tawweres qwe ewaboran aw año más de 100 miwwones de piezas.
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Media rewated to Christmas baubwes at Wikimedia Commons