The Christmas Tree Ornament ~ Julie Lence

         

German-way.com

 Many of today’s Christmas tree ornaments are made from blown glass. The process to create blown glass originated in the 12^th century in the Thuringia region of Germany. Within that region was Lauscha, a small town located in a river valley that was rich in the elements needed to produce blown glass; timber for firing the glass ovens and sand. Lauscha began creating blown glass ornaments in the later part of the 16^th century, but before that the area was known to create drinking glasses, glass bowls and glass beads. They even created glass eyes in 1835.   

 

courtesy of Etsy

Christoph Muller and Hans Greiner are credited with establishing Lauscha’s glass production circa 1597. Fast forward to 1847 when Greiner’s descendent, also named Hans Greiner, began creating glass-blown ornaments in the shape of fruits and nuts. These fruit-shaped ornaments were created by a unique process that involved using molds, with the inside of the ornament appearing silvery. The process of making the inside look silvery began by using mercury or lead. Later special compounds of silver nitrate and sugar water were used. Greiner and his sons and grandsons continued manufacturing glass blown Christmas tree ornaments, often called baubles, and even created glass marbles.

 

courtesy of Pottery Barn

Greiner’s baubles were soon exported to parts of Europe. By the 1870’s, they were being exported to Britain, which had become very popular in the region after Queen Victoria’s Christmas tree was shown in the London paper circa 1846. F.W. Woolworth, the dime store millionaire from the United States, happened upon the baubles when he visited Germany and quickly began importing them to the U.S., selling more than $25 million worth of the baubles in the 1890’s. Following Greiner and the town of Lauscha’s success, other countries such as Japan began manufacturing and selling their own glass ornaments. Over the years, the bauble Christmas tree ornament has become very popular, paving the way for Hallmark to introduce their Keepsake Ornaments line in 1973. Today’s ornaments are manufactured in several different ways. Some are woven, some are still blown glass, and others are molded from porcelain or metal, all created to last for many years.