Christmas Collectibles at Roger's Garden

It's that time of year when we trim our homes in preparation for our Christmas holiday celebration. 

 

A visit to Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach, California is like going to a holiday fantasy land. Themed Christmas trees, wreaths and holiday accoutrements are displayed to feast on and draw ideas from.

Natural or fabricated, the holiday items certainly make delightful Christmas eye candies. 

Taking a look at the decorating details gives one ideas as how to decorate just about most parts of the house and how to use everything you may find in your own home.

 A unique way of decorating - large metal trivets have been positioned about a foot apart from each other, vertically to the tree trunk, making them the perfect aid to hung the ornaments from.

 The Christmas tree themes range from the holiday designs of the winter season, hobbies and professions...

 to the Holy Family.

Christmas collectibles are a big thing among the clientele here.

 Father Christmas

Father Christmas started out as a European tradition. The true-to-life character behind this figure is St. Nicholas - a bishop who lived in the 4th century in the former Asia Minor Territory of Myra, which is now our present-day Turkey. Orphaned at a very young age and left with a fortune, he grew up to be a kind man who devoted his life in the service of God. He earned a good reputation as he was known to help the poor, giving secret gifts to people in need. He became legendary during his time.

One popular story told about him suggests the origins of when hanging stockings became a practice at Christmas time. There was a very poor father with three daughters who could  not get married because he could not afford to give a dowry. Once St. Nicholas found out about this, he dropped a bag of gold down the chimney into the poor man's house, that landed straight into one of the stockings hanging to dry. This enabled him to marry off his eldest daughter. Again, the same thing happened a second time, enabling the middle daughter to get married. Wanting to find out who the benefactor was, the father hid every evening until he saw St. Nicholas, one evening. Even after St. Nicholas had begged for the man to say nothing about the incident, the word got out. Everyone concluded from then on that when anyone received a secret gift, it was assumed that it was from St. Nicholas.

St. Nicholas was canonized  a saint. He is considered the saint for children and for sailors. The miraculous survival of some Turkish sailors who prayed to him while in the midst of a terrible storm is attributed to His intercession, as he appeared on the ship's deck and commanded the sea to be calm.

St. Nicholas was a victim of Emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians. He was banished and imprisoned away from Myra. It is believed that he died on December 6 in the year 345 or 352 AD. His bones were stolen from Turkey by an Italian merchant sailor. His remains are now housed in the Basilica San Nicola in Bari, Italy. On his feastday which is celebrated on the 6th of December, the sailors of Bari carry his statue out to the sea and  petition him to bless the sea that they may all have safe voyages all-year-round.

The traditions regarding St. Nicholas waned in the 16th century. The gift giving role of St. Nicholas was taken over by other figures to deliver gifts to the children at Christmas time. In England, the character of "Father Christmas' from old children's stories, replaced the legendary and traditional gift-giver, St. Nicholas. In France, he became known as "Pere Noel," and as "Christ Kind" in Germany. In the early days of the United States, he was known as "Kris Kringle." Eventually, the Dutch settlers who brought the traditions of St. Nicholas with them. changed Kris Kringle to "Sinterklass" which we now say as "Santa Claus."

Still to this day, December 6 is celebrated as St. Nicholas' Day in Europe. Children leave their clogs or shoes to receive presents. St. Nicholas' popularity was rekindled with the publication of a poem during the old Victorian era entitled "A Visit from St. Nicholas" or "T'was the Night Before Christmas," in 1823. From this came the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in 1949.

Father Christmas figures in the European traditions continue to be popular among collectors.

Creations from Byers' Choice LTD - a handcrafted American tradition

 Byers' Choice Carolers

What started out as home-made Christmas decorations have now become known as the Byers' Choice Carolers. It was in the late 1960s when Joyce Byers decided to make her own holiday decorations that reflected her memories of Christmas. With a degree in fashion design, she easily came up with her own original designs using some fabric scraps, a part of a fur coat that belonged to her mother, cut hair from her children, a coat hanger, plus plaster and some paint. What she came up with were figures of Christmas carolers dressed in plaids with cheerful, singing expressions. The first set of carolers she made were set up in the dining room table that Christmas and she received so many compliments from those who got to see them, mostly her relatives. The following year, she decided to make more carolers to give away as Christmas presents. 

A neighbor had suggested to Joyce to take some of her original Christmas carolers to a local store which was part of a Federation of Woman's Exchanges, and right away they sold. Soon, Joyce's items were introduced to other exchanges all over the country, and orders for more poured in.

Joyce asked the help of her husband and 2 sons to fill the orders, by helping her make the products in the dining room, to be ready by autumn. With the downturn in the economy, Bob - Joyce's husband, saw the potential in making the carolers into a full-time business, thus it became in 1978, as they hired their first employee and turned their garage into their workshop. After college, the two sons also took key positions in the company. A team of 180 trained artisans in Pennsylvania now work the production line. 

The carolers, with their distinct look and handcrafted quality have become collectibles through the years. Carried in fine gift stores in many parts of the world, the company - since day one, continues to produce their unique Christmas line of products at an affordable price. At Roger's Garden, a special presentation by the Byers representative introduced the 2012 holiday line of the carolers, plus their Advent calendars, at the start of the holiday season.

Collectible Nutcrackers

Invented by the Greeks more than 2000 years ago, the nutcracker is a device used to crack open the shell of a nut to get the meat inside. The decorative nutcrackers began to appear in Europe in the 16th century. An Erzgebirge wood craftsman, Fuechtner, was the first to design a decorative nutcracker in the mid 19th century.

 Steinbach Nutcrackers

The Steinbachs, originally from Austria, had moved to the town of Erzgebirge, Germany, around the 13th century. This family of successful professionals had been threatened by wars and religious persecutions during the medieval age. After they established themselves in Germany, life was good for them in Erzgebirge, until the mines dried up in the 18th century. 

Erzebirge means "Ore Mountains" as it was rich in metallurgical deposits. It's harsh weather conditions are enfluenced by the cold Russian winds from the east. Its picturesque countryside of castles, snow in winter has made it a popular winter, holiday,  destination. Their traditions were brought in by the early settlers in the 13th century.

The cultural traditions in the Ore Mountains were shaped by the mining industry that dates back to the middle ages, in the different aspects of their lives - from the landscapes, lifestyle, handicrafts and folk art, and cuisine. Their customs and traditions at Advent and Christmas time are showcased in their mountain folk art - in their "smoking figures, Christmas pyramids, candle arches, nutcrackers, miners' and angels' figures," which they all use as decorations. Traditional Christmas mining celebrations, Mittenschicht  and Hutzenabende, have been visitor drawers during the holiday season, as the Ore Mountains turn into Weihnachtsland (Christmasland). Christmas markets and other folk festivals are also part of the Christmas traditions. 

Back to the Steinbach family, it was under Herr Christian Steinbach that their companies in Hohenhamelin in Northern Germany and Marienberg (built after the fall of the Berlin wall) had flourished. The Steinbach nutcrackers and other wooden collectibles have been produced in the last, almost two hundred years. With the passing of Herr Christian Steinbach in 2007, his daughter Karla - a sixth-generation Steinbach family member, took over the reigns of the company, Steinbach GmbH. Last November 30, there was a signing event at Roger's Garden with Karolin Steinbach.

The traditional  Erzgebirge nutcrackers are designed after authoritative figures from the18th and 19th centuries, like policemen, kings and soldiers. What made the Steinbach nutcrackers appealing to a worldwide audience was the range of design that included famous people, legendary characters, literary and folkloric characters, as well. For the U.S. market, portraits of generals and some U.S. presidents have been added.

 Gunter Ulbricht Nutcrackers

 

The Ulbricht family - another family from Erzgebirge - has  been in the business of making nutcrackers, since 1928. Their line goes as far back into the 17th century, where their roots can be traced in the German village of Erzgebirge, known as "Ore Mountain" rich in gold, silver, and tin deposits. It was a wealthy community of miners whose hobbies included wood turning. When the mines dried up in the 18th century, the miners turned their wood-turning hobby into their sources of livelihood, making nutcrackers, incense smokers, Christmas pyramids, candle arches, wooden music boxes, and other figurines and ornaments.

Otto Ulbricht was a very talented wood turner. He had set up his business in 1928. He had a successful business, had moved to Seiffen to have a larger factory, but had to move again at the end of World War II in 1945 as his factory was on the East German zone, under Soviet control. He and his family relocated to Bavaria. Upon his death in 1968, his son Christian successfully took over the business. With the fall of the Berlin wall, the family property in Erzgebirge was regained. 

With factories in Erzgebirge and Bavaria, Christian Ulbricht had added new designs to the nutcracker line, aside from the traditional designs of kings, soldiers and policemen. His nutcracker line includes the more modern designs, such as the mouseking, George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt, Pope Benedict and Martin Luther. 

Other third generation members of the family are now active in the business. Inge Ulbricht, apart from designing most of the ornaments, is in-charge of production in the Seiffen factory. She and her brother, Gunter, organized the Christian Ulbricht Collectors Club in 1998. Gunter Ulbricht, who inherited the family's creative genes, is responsible for most of the nutcracker designs now available. A signing event was organized last December 8th. Gunter made a personal appearance at the garden, met and personally signed the pieces chosen by the guests.

Glass ornaments

Ne'Qwa Art Ornaments

In Mandarine, Ne'Qwa refers to the "artistic tradition of reverse painting on the inside of mouth-blown glass." This art form flourished in the 17th century when snuff bottles were in vogue in China.

There are only a few groups of Chinese artisans living in remote villages who are skilled in the art of reverse painting. Ne'Qwa Art, which was co-founded by Jim Sexton - and who also happens to be their head designer, aims to revive this ancient art form tha is over a thousand years old, with the collaboration between internationally known artists and the Chinese artisans.

Ne'Qwa Art has its own art school in China. There they train new artists in the painting tradition hat has been passed on by the Chinese artisans.

The Ne'Qwa Art Ornament event was held last December 9 at Roger's Gardens. Trieste, the only American artist trained in the centuries-old art form of reverse painting in glass, was on hand to personalize ornaments for those who came. 

A set of Christmas-themed Ne'Qwa glass ornaments

This was my favorite set of Christmas ornaments. It told the story of Christmas. These pieces are works of art and are highly collectible at reasonable prices.

Bejeweled trees and globes

These creations are unique. Each piece is handcrafted with antique-looking jewelry pieces. Pricey at hundreds of dollars each.

The holiday look with plants

Ivory-colored poinsettias and white hydrangea

moss-covered containers

 Wreaths and garlands

Poinsettias and Amaryllis in Christmas red

                                           shells, cones, twigs, evergreen branches and a live Christmas tree

topiarys

garlands of lights for the trees and garden hedges

With just a couple of weekends before Christmas,  you can still spruce up the house and the garden to give it that festive look. Keep it simply elegant!

Decorating for the Holidays

It's that time of year when we change gears and go into decorating for the holidays, from Thanksgiving to Christmas. A trip to Roger's Garden in Newport Beach, California,  made me think of how I was going to decorate the house to celebrate our favorite time of the year.

 Lots of ideas are presented here.

Decorating for the holidays goes back to centuries past. The use of light during the Christmas season has been  a tradition among Christian and non-Christian cultures.  In the mid 17th century, small candles were used to light up a Christmas tree. Glued with melted wax to the branches of the tree, they festively lit up the tree. 

When electricity was discovered n the 19th century, Edward H. Johnson - who had become the president of the Edison Electric Light Company, had Christmas light bulbs of red white and blue made especially for him, which he then hand-strung together. He headlined in the papers as having had the first electrically illuminated, revolving Christmas tree, which was pretty, elaborate, and entertaining to his children and his guests. He soon became known as the "Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights."  

At the White House, President Grover Cleveland had the family Christmas tree illuminated with multi-colored light bulbs, in 1895. It was a luxury reserved for the wealthy as it is estimated that it cost about $2,000.00 to light up one Christmas tree, in the early 1900s, when General Electric started to market the Christmas light kits.

It took a fire in New York in 1917, due to the use of candles on the Christmas tree, for change to happen. Albert Sadacca, then a young man of fifteen years, was moved by this tragedy that he persuaded his family who owned a novelty lighting company to manufacture Christmas lights that were to be sold at a reasonably affordable price. First, sales were poor, but as electricity became a household utility, the use of electrical Christmas lights eventually became popular and part of decorating for the holidays. Albert and his brothers organized National Outfit Manufacturers Association in 1920 - a trade organization, which later became the  NOMA Electric Co. Their associate members, together, cornered the Christmas light market until the 1960s.

In 1932, the practice of lighting the National Christmas Tree on the south side of the white House to commence the holiday season celebration was initiated by President Calvin Coolidge. Then, with the stellar attraction of a lit up, giant Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center in 1956, many more Americans got enthused to decorate for the holidays, indoors and outdoors. 

The trimming of the Christmas tree is a take off from a pagan practice. In the pagan tradition, boughs of evergreen branches were decorated with gold and silver and brought into the home to honor the winter solstice between December 20 and 23. As the days were getting shorter, the pagans feared that the world would come to an end. With the evergreens staying fresh, it gave them hope.

Our present-day tradition of decorating the tree dates back to the 16th century in Western Germany. It has different symbolisms for different people and faith traditions. In the Christian tradition, it is pointed to heaven above - a reminder to us to seek heavenly treasures more than earthly ones. 

For both religious and secular interpretations, it is the "Tree of Humanity." The decorated Christmas tree only became popular to the western world in the 19th century. From paper ornaments to glass balls and Christmas lights, they now come in a variety of themes as depicted by ornaments made from glass, plastic, resin, paper and other materials. Once only measuring about two feet and set up on the dining table, it was in America that decorating taller trees gained popularity.

 

 

The theme for the "reason for the season" - the birth of our Lord in the manger scene.

Collectors' items:

 

What makes an item collectible? For what reason does one start a collection? We all started collecting something when we were still young. When we look at what we have gathered, each piece brings back a memory.

In collecting Christmas ornaments, the artist's style is much liked by the collector. Each piece added to the collection, year after year, is carefully chosen based on one's taste. Some may collect from a singular  designer's work, while other's may collect from a number of designers. The collection maybe thematic or random, depending on what appeals to the collector. As time goes on, each piece is likely to bring back memories.  For others, collecting is an investment that they plan to cash in, in the future.

After visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York one Christmas season, almost 12  years ago, I was inspired to collect a Christmas nativity village. Through the years, I was able to add a major piece or two from the Fontanini Collection. This year, in place of the usual big, decorated Christmas tree, I have set up the nativity village in a cascading manner, in one corner of the living room. This design came to mind when I remembered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Israel, which was built around the different levels of the whole mountain side - where the markers of where Jesus was nailed to the cross, died, and was buried have been incorporated. 

At the top of my display is the Emperor's Pavilion under guard by a soldier, and below it is the census taker at the Census Building, then the village people going about their daily lives. Next to the right is the Holy Family with the Weaver's Tent above it.

The manger scene

The nativity of our Lord - the crèche, has always been the major theme and focal point in our Christmas decorations at our home. It is the retelling of the story according to the Gospels of Luke and Matthew.  Matthew 1:21: "She will bear a son and you are to name him 'Jesus,' because he will save his people from their sins.”

The commercialism of the celebration of Christmas is nothing new. During the middle ages, St. Francis was inspired to create a nativity scene when he saw some shepherds and their flocks on the hills in Greccio, Italy, and also his visit to the birthplace of our Lord in the Holy Land. He envisioned a live production of the manger scene - the birth of our Lord, to bring the biblical teaching about the birth of our Savior to the people, that they may have a deeper experience about the Christmas holiday being celebrated. This was to inspire the worship of Jesus.

He proceeded to Rome to get permission and Pope Honorius lll gave his consent for St. Francis' elaborate plan to recreate the nativity scene. With the help of a rich nobleman from Greccio, Giovanni, the production cost was funded. And so it came to pass in a cave in the countryside, in Greccio. People were hired to play the parts of  Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, with a life-size wax figure representing the infant Jesus. To complete the scene a manger, straw and live animals - the ox and donkey, were added, under the direction of St. Francis. In the meantime the local town's people noticed all the goings on on the countryside.

On Christmas eve, in 1223, the local inhabitants came to the hillside to worship, and they began to understand the meaning of the first Christmas in Bethlehem. Just like the shepherds, angels, and the three kings, they came to adore the Infant Jesus. According to St. Bonaventure's writings based on the eyewitnesses' accounts, St. Francis was overjoyed for the people, for the deeper religious experience they had gotten out of this.

The nativity scene, at Christmas time, is the most precious to me as it gives meaning to what the Christmas celebration is all about. We have St. Francis to thank for this tradition of displaying the nativity scene at Christmas time. It is a great reminder of God's love for us, when he sent his Son to be among us, to save us. 


This nativity set gets set up on my coffee table. When my kids were still young, I assigned each one of them to play the role of one of the magi. They took each king with them and they were supposed to travel and make it to the table on Christmas day. As I looked around a couple of days after, one king had landed on the bar, another one was behind the bedroom door, and one was by the front door. That was an interesting journey for the kings who eventually made it on time to join the shepherd and his flock, to adore the new babe wrapped in swaddling clothes.

In December, 2009, I had the blessing of visiting Rome. At St. Peter's Basilica, this manger scene displayed on the side of the church received center stage attendance among the pilgrims.

In the family room, I livened up some sections with... 

 Christmas village scenes - on a side table...reminiscent of the days we used to go up to Lake Arrowhead for the kids to enjoy some winter play in the snow...

and on my piano.

When I started decorating, I decided that I was not going to buy anything and will just have to do with what I had and could find around the house. For the snow cover, I used paper towels; for the mountain backdrop I used the paper bags from the super market - cut them out to lay flat, then crumpled them in no particular fashion and stretched them out to drape around the areas I wanted to cover. For the the piano winter scene, I sprayed the crumpled paper lightly with white paint in a well ventilated area.

A choir of angels on my fireplace mantel

Decorating during the holidays helps put us in the spirit. For merchants, it attracts the consumers to their stores. However you prepare for the holidays, may it be a meaningful celebration for you and your family. Happy holidays and have a blessed, merry Christmas.