When you think about gingerbread at Christmas, probably the first thing that comes to mind is the flat, spicy cookie that is made into men whose heads you bite off! Did you ever wonder why “gingerbread men” are shaped like men in the first place? The answer can be traced back hundreds of years.
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth I, who reigned from 1558-1603, is credited with the invention of the gingerbread man. (I am not kidding!) She loved throwing lavish royal dinners that included things like marzipan shaped like fruit, castles and birds. But, the Queen’s court also included a royal gingerbread maker. (More about these bakers a little later.) Elizabeth delighted in having her gingerbread maker bake gingerbread men made in the likenesses of visiting dignitaries and people from her court. I wonder if these gingerbread men were placed on a serving platter to allow guests to choose any one they wanted. Just imagine the satisfaction of biting off the head of someone you really did not like!
But, the Queen wasn’t the only person eating gingerbread men. Taking their lead from the Queen, gingerbread men were often handed out by folk medicine practitioners (often known as magicians and witches). These gingerbread men were created as “love tokens” for young women. The idea was to get the man you’d like to marry to eat the gingerbread man! Tadah! A trip down the aisle was in your future! Well that was what the magician/witch told you. A contemporary to Elizabeth was none other than William Shakespeare. In Loves Labor’s Lost, he wrote this, “An I had but one penny in the world, thou shouldst have it to buy gingerbread.” I guess William really liked gingerbread.
Royal Gingerbread Baker
So, how did gingerbread cookies become something to eat around the holidays? Through the ages, gingerbread was sacred and only specific bakers, all men, were given the exclusive rights to baking it. These men all belonged to baking guilds. The only time during the year that gingerbread was allowed to be made by the general public was during Christmas and Easter. So, that’s most likely why it’s seen as a Christmas food. It’s all in the timing! Once an association is established, it’s nearly impossible to change it. Eating gingerbread at Christmas might also be associated with the medicinal properties of the ginger root. It was believed that eating spices heated you up in the winter. Another explanation may be related to overeating during the holidays. Ginger is good at taming upset stomachs. Remember when you were a kid and you were given flat ginger ale when you had an upset tummy?
Queen Victorian and Prince Albert at Christmas
Cookie Molds
The popularity of gingerbread cookies and houses spread to colonial America. Recipes for the treat varied from region to region, depending upon what immigrants settled there. In 1848, it is said that Queen Victoria and her German-born husband Prince Albert, brought gingerbread cookies into the mainstream when they included them in with other German Christmas traditions they adopted and promoted as family centered traditions, like decorating a Christmas tree and the Yule log. It was during this time that gingerbread cookies became associated primarily with the Christmas holiday.
Tin Gingerbread Man Cookie Cutter
The development of tin cookie cutters in the mid-1800s also helped to establish gingerbread cookies in many kitchens and breathed new life into the tradition of gingerbread. The new cookie cutters proclaimed the end of the long-established and complicated cookie board used primarily in bakeries. Soon, these shaped cookies began to appear as ornaments on trees and as gifts for family and friends.
Today, gingerbread cookies are as popular as ever, becoming an established Christmas tradition in America. If reading this blog post has made you hungry for gingerbread men, perhaps you are off to make some for yourself. I have the perfect idea for enjoying them after baking them. Why not sit down with your favorite beverage and The Glow magazine? What a great combination!
“‘Twas the day before Christmas, and all through the hills… The reindeer were playing, enjoying the spills.” Sound a little like The Night Before Christmas? Well, that was not an accident! Everyone was already quite familiar with Clement C. Moore’s story and its rhyming tale. So, the author of Rudolph’s story decided to “play” off of that familiarity. He was an ad-man, after all!
It was at the end of the decade-long Great Depression and 11 months away from the next Christmas holiday; but, Montgomery Ward department store was thinking ahead. They had been buying and giving coloring books away to children for years at Christmas as a promotional gimmick. Montgomery Ward decided it could most likely save money by developing its own giveaway book. They asked 34-year old copywriter, Robert L. May, to create just such a story. You see, he was known as someone who could make up a limerick on the spot; so, his bosses thought he was the perfect choice.
May’s job was personally a difficult one, not only because of the economic factors and the fact that Christmas was so far away; but, because his wife was struggling with cancer and the family’s bills were mounting. May really wanted to write the “great American novel”…not write ad copy for kids. He did, however, take on the project of writing an animal story related to Christmas. May wanted to make the main character an underdog, since he thought kids really loved and cheered for underdogs. Santa was not a problem. Everyone loved Santa! He thought a reindeer might be an idea since his daughter loved the reindeer at the zoo. When he presented his idea to his boss, his boss replied, “For gosh sakes, Bob, can’t you do better than that?” Well, he certainly did! He asked Denver Gillen, who worked in the art department, if he “could draw a reindeer with a big red glowing nose and make him look appealing.” He thought that might convince the boss. It worked!
It took May months to develop the story that he liked. He tried out several different names until he decided on Rudolph. In July of 1939, May’s wife died. His boss offered to hand off the project to someone else; but, May said, in later years, that HE needed Rudolph more than ever right then. May completed the story by August along with Gillen’s illustrations. Bob first read the story to his daughter and his wife’s parents. He could see in their expressions that the story had accomplished what he had hoped.
Montgomery Ward had high hopes for the 32-page illustrated booklet, which would be given as a free gift to any child visiting one of their 620 department stores throughout the country. They planned on an ad campaign in newspapers and circulars. It was thought that it would bring every one of its stores remarkable publicity and an unrealized amount of store traffic during the Christmas season. It did just that, and 2.4 million copies ended up in the hands of children everywhere.
Montgomery Ward’s Rudolph giveaway was a big hit during the 1939 Christmas season all across the country. The department store planned on printing another huge run of the booklet for the following Christmas; but, because of the paper shortage due to WWII, Rudolph was shelved until the war’s end. When Rudolph returned in 1946, he was more popular than ever and Montgomery Ward gave out 3.6 million copies of the book during the 1946 Christmas season.
During the time from 1940-1946, Robert May married again and became a father for the second time. During 1947, the Montgomery Ward Board of Directors, possibly because they didn’t see a long range future outside of Christmas for the red-nosed reindeer, signed the copyright for Rudolph over to May. Later, they probably wished they hadn’t done that! May quickly licensed a commercial version of the book along with a full range of Rudolph themed merchandise. Smart man!
In 1949, Robert May asked his brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, a prolific song writer, to put Rudolph’s story to song. Bing Crosby was first asked to sing the new song; but, declined.
Instead, rising star and singing cowboy, Gene Autry recorded the song, which sold over 2 million copies in the first year. It remains, to this day, one of the best-selling songs of all time. In later years, Johnny Marks once said that he thought his Rudolph song might have been the worst song he ever wrote! Marks wrote other famous Christmas songs as well… “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver and Gold,” and “Run Rudolph Run.”
In 1948, May produced a short film of Rudolph. In 1964, Rankin and Bass produced the ‘stop-motion’ animation, using puppets, that all of us have enjoyed for years. It was aired on NBC on December 6, 1964 and has become the world’s longest running and highest-rated television special of all time!
Through all of this and down through 80 years, the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has become a piece of modern folklore and an example of overcoming obstacles, embracing differences and recognizing potential in others and yourself. And as for Rudolph himself, well, you know… “He went down in his-to-ry!”
Pete Oehmen sitting behind the original five putz houses that got him started collecting.
The History of the Putz Village
and Cardboard Christmas Houses
By Pete Oehman
Most of us get a warm, fuzzy feeling when we think of Christmas and automatically reflect upon our childhood memories. Christmas trees bedazzled with lights and ornaments, wreaths, stockings hung by the chimney and all the wondrous decorations that would make any child’s heart flutter with anticipation. For me it was a visit to my grandmother’s house. Nanny’s house was a showplace for all things eclectic, but Christmas time was special.
As a small child, I was always drawn to the creche scene under the Christmas tree. After making sure the baby Jesus was safely tucked away in his crib, my eyes would gravitate to the village that surrounded the manger. Little cardboard houses were carefully placed atop the cotton-batting snow. The village was populated with Barclay lead figures. The skaters were placed on a mirror to create the illusion of a frozen lake. Street lamps and cars were strategically placed, and when lit up, the whole scene would be brought magically to life. I fell in love with the little cardboard houses. Every year I could hardly wait to see the new ones that had been added to the display. Those were the Christmas memories that later turned me into a collector of putz houses.
My grandma always referred to these villages as a putz. When I asked her what that meant, she said, “It’s German for putting or placing things together to create a scene.” Later I learned it comes from the German word putzen which means to decorate or adorn.
The putz tradition had its start in Central Europe, including Bohemia and Moravia which are now part of the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Because the Moravian’s were part of an older Protestant church, they were persecuted by other religious movements. When their numbers dwindled, due to a series of religious wars, they immigrated to America. Once they were here they founded Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on Christmas Eve in 1742.
Celebrating Christmas was an important part of the Moravian culture. One tradition was the elaborately constructed Christmas scenes that portrayed the Christmas story or other religious themes. These scenes known as putzes have been traced to the late 1700’s in this country.
Some of the best examples of Pete Oehman’s collection of well over 3000 houses!
The original putzes started with family members, mostly the children, going out to the woods in late autumn to collect stones, moss, ferns, lichens and twigs. The large stones were used for mountains, small branches of cedar and pine for trees. In later years pieces of tinfoil were used to represent a waterfall; a mirror was used as a lake. All sorts of animals were added to bring the scene to life. There is no scale in a proper putz; a three inch all cat can sit beside a two inch tall cow.
The Moravians were known for adding villages to their scenes. From the late 1700’s until the late 1800’s simple handmade and elaborate castles decorated the landscape. It wasn’t long before small, hand-carved people populated these villages. At the center of all the creation lay the creche, the hallmark of the traditional putz.
The Industrial Revolution was about to add new dimensions to the putz scene. The Germans were already masters of the glass Christmas ornaments and the American people couldn’t get enough of these sparkling treasures. They also started making little cardboard houses with hand-stamped doors and windows. The exterior walls were adorned with hand-painted flowers and bushes. The Erzgebirge region in Germany was famed for its toy building and America was hooked.
WWI changed the way we did business. Germany was no longer meeting our needs for all things Christmas. The Butler Brothers of Chicago and F.W. Woolworth were two well-known proprietors that created the concept of the local “dime store”. These stores sold Christmas decorations that the average family could afford.
With Germany out of the picture they set their sights on other manufacturers and Japan seemed like the perfect partner. Although the Japanese did not understand our Christmas traditions, they used their industrious ingenuity to create many of our much sought after Christmas collectibles. The 1920’s found many of our Christmas trees ablaze with the new inexpensive string lights. With our fondness for bright and sparkly items the Japanese found many ways to satisfy our appetite and the phrase “Made in Japan” became part of our vocabulary.
Nobody knows for sure who brought the idea of making little cardboard houses to the Japanese. Somewhere around 1927-28 I’m sure a purchasing agent from one of the “Five and Dime” stores brought some pictures of American homes to a Japanese manufacturer and asked what they might be able to design and build. The first houses were box-like candy containers and later versions had a hole in the back for filling with candy. A moveable cardboard disk held the candy inside. No one knows for certain who came up with the ingenious notion to put a light into the round opening in the back of the houses and use them to create an illuminated village under the tree. I, for one, am sure glad they did!
Pete’s good friend Linda’s Putz Scene from 2012. Her beautiful Putz takes her weeks to build. She plans all year and starts decorating right before Halloween. Linda’s putz scene always centers around the Creche. That year we combined all of our “GIANT” Putz houses to create this elaborate layout. (The GIANTS are some of the largest, rarest and most expensive putz houses).
Much to the delight of vintage Christmas collectors, such as Golden Glow members, these little houses sat next to hundreds of Japanese decorative innovations at the “Five and Dime” store and became just as popular as Christmas lights themselves. The variation and quantity that the Japanese produced in such a short time was amazing. When I first started compiling my Collector’s Guide, I believed there might be as many a 200, maybe 300, different houses. My collection, alone, has an unbelievable 3000 specimens and I see new styles popping up on eBay all the time. WWII all but put an end to the cardboard putz house. Germany and Japan were now our enemies which ended our commerce with these warring nations. Our country put a lot of material and energy into the war effort but that did not crimp our celebration of Christmas. The Dolly Toy Company and the Colmor Company started creating their own interpretations of the cardboard putz house. The “Made in USA” houses where never made with the same charm as the prewar houses, but we still had a supply to use in our putz villages. After the war, the Japanese started to make cardboard houses for the American market again. There was a small spurt of the original charm in these houses up until the early 1950s. After that, they became smaller, flimsier, and a lot simpler. Somewhere around the middle 1960s the little putz house had all but vanished.
In future articles I will go into more depth about the different time periods, classes, styles, structures, materials and collectibility of these little gems.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pete Oehman has been collecting and documenting the history of cardboard putz houses for years. He currently operates a wonderful website where he sells replacement cellophane doors and windows for old putz houses. You can order replacement doors and windows and read more about Pete’s hobby at cardboardputzhouses.com.
A Quick Primer on those Magical Bubbling Christmas Lights
by Gene Teslovic
Bubble-Lites or Bubble Lights? What’s the difference? For the purpose of this article, we will be talking about “bubble lights,” the category of antique Christmas lighting that started in the 1940s. When you see it spelled “Bubble-Lites” it refers specifically to NOMA’s proprietary name for their version of bubble lights.
Ever since the NOMA Electric Corporation of New York first introduced bubble-lites for Christmas of 1946, there has been an ongoing fascination with the bubbling liquid Christmas light. NOMA actually began their production in 1941 but due to WWII were not able to go into public production until after the war. The earliest prototype Bubble-Lites that were not actually marketed were fastened together with three little metal clips rather than glue. These early specimens are referred to as tri-clips. These were used on the first experimental NOMA 24-light C6 socket trees (see picture below). There are few of these 24-socket trees still available, and they do command a good price. The original tri-clip bubble lights are nearly impossible to find today.
Boxed set of NOMA Biscuits (1949-1950)
For December of 1946, NOMA Electric manufactured and sold nearly one million of their Bubble-Lites. Most homes in the US had some bubble lights on their trees that Christmas and for several Christmases after.
From 1946 through 1949, NOMA produced three different style boxes for their sets. The original 1946 box was a book type box with the NOMA girl on the inside flap (see picture.) This box contained the ‘biscuit style’ Bubble-Lite, a nine-socket, straight-line cord and metal socket clips.
Boxed set of NOMA Flats (1948)
The next box style was 1948 designed for their new style ‘flat’ type Bubble-Lites showing the NOMA boy on the inside flap (see picture.) The plastic housing for these lamps was too small to endure the heat from the bulb and they warped, discolored and were discontinued. The third box in 1949 was a lid type box with the NOMA girl on the cover looking at a bubble light (see picture.) The biscuit style Bubble-Lite continued to be used.
You will discover that some boxed sets contain nine lights and some contain eight lights. The eight-light sets were less expensive and sold in the 5&10s, while the nine-light sets were sold in the more high-end department stores. Both sets contained the same biscuit-style Bubble-Lites and an appropriate straight-line cord set with metal socket clips. The NOMA flat-style Bubble-Lite set was only sold in 1948 and 1949 exclusively as a nine-light set along with a nine-socket, straight-line cord and metal socket clips.
While it is clear that NOMA was the originator of the bubble light and produced their lights from 1946 to 1960, other Christmas light manufacturers wanted a share of the market with their original ideas.
Closeup of two bubble lights featured on the bubble light tree below: Left: Paramount Kristal Snow animated candle light, (1947). Right: Paramount Bubbling Light (1948-1950). These tubes are filled with oil and pumice, instead of the Methylene Chloride solution rival NOMA used at the time. The oil mixture creates a fine, champagne-like bead of bubbles. Oils are highly sought after by collectors today
Boxed set of Raylite’s “Sterling” brand Bubble Lights (1950s). These contained a Methylene Chloride mixture instead of the oil and pumice mixture used in the earliest lights manufactured with this base. The lack of a pumice slug and a thinner liquid in these later lights is a way for collectors to determine if the lights are regular bubble lights or the more collectible earlier “oils.”
The next to come on line was Raylite Trading of New York with their Paramount brand bubble lights. Their first production in 1947 was called Animated Kristal Snow, a slightly longer glass tube filled with an oil material that did not actually bubble but slowly fizzed like champagne bubbles. The plastic base was a very Art Deco style with a plastic housing to cover the bulb and a transparent colored plastic saucer around the base. These first oil-filled lamps always had a white housing to cover the bulb and hold the tube and a transparent colored plastic saucer. This was the only year of production. In 1948, Raylite changed the oil bubble light bases to solid colors and shortened the tubes to match the length of NOMA’s Bubble-Lites. These sold under the trade names of Paramount and Sterling. By 1950, Raylite discontinued the oil-filled tubes and replaced the fluid with same methylene chloride as all other bubble lights and redesigned the plastic base to a more bulbous biscuit style. Eliminating the oil mixture and beautiful deco style plastic base were for a cost saving measure in what was becoming a very lucrative and competitive bubble light market. Raylite continued to manufacture bubble lights through 1972.
Peerless “Shooting Star” C6 (1947-1948)
Royal Electric of Pawtucket, RI quickly followed with their own style of bubble lite called Sparkling Bubble Lights with a plastic base similar to NOMA but with a concave top. They came in assorted solid colors and assorted double colors, the top being one color and the base being another.
Bubble Lights pictured (left to right) Royal Crown C7 (1948-1955) – NOMA “Snap On” C6 or C7 (1949-1952) – NOMA “Tulip” C7 (1948-1960)
Another novel light was produced in 1948 called the Good-light or Peerless Shooting Star. This fluid tube had a mixture of chemicals, which would produce a slow, rising and falling action of bubbles. The original box has a boy and girl on the box cover saying, “Watch them rise. Watch them fall.”
Several companies quickly followed and produced various styles such as Reliance, Spark-L-Light 1949 to 1951, USA lite 1949 to 1956, Peerless 1950 to 1955, Alps, Glass, 1954, NOMA Rocket Ship style 1961 to 1962, Holly 1957 to 1974, World Wide 1970 to 1974.
During the early period of bubble lite manufacture there were 16 different styles produced, all with a miniature or C6 base, the kind where if one goes out, they all go out. There were also 12 different styles produced by the same companies with a candelabra or C7 base, which light independently.
A rare ALPS Bubble Light from Japan (Early 1950s). An unusual bubble light in that the base is actually an outside-painted figural lamp with a bubble tube attached to the top, as opposed to the traditional plastic base containing a small light bulb.
As a collector of electrical Christmas and specifically Bubble Lites, I realize that we all have a special style or manufacturer that becomes a favorite. Along with the NOMA biscuit style, I also like the Royal C6 and the Royal C7 referred to as a ‘Crown’ and the USAlite C6 and C7.USAlite had an interesting base with a geometric pattern.
Darker color plastic bases and fluid tubes were eliminated by UL because they thought darker colors would produce more heat and cause a fire. The hardest fluid tube colors to find today are purple, dark blue and blood red. Orange and blue plastic bases are also harder to find today.
BUBBLE LIGHT TREES
Many of us are familiar with the pre-lighted Christmas trees that are marketed today online and in home centers, lighted with mini lights or LED lights. This seems to be something new but the concept is really not that new.
A 1950s Raylite 9-light Bubble Light tree featuring two generations of Bubble Lights; Paramount oils from the 1940s and NOMA’s colossal failure from 1961-1962; Rocket Ship Bubble-Lites.
In the 1940’s, NOMA experimented with a pre-lighted tree using the miniature base C6 technology of the day. The first pre-lighted tree that was developed had 24 miniature base C6 sockets but was not marketed due to the war years. The prototype bubble lights of the day were in this tree and not glued together but rather held together by 3 little metal clips that fastened through the air vent holes. This tree was in the possession of Mr. Carl Otis, the inventor of bubble lights.
A rare 1946 NOMA 24-light Bubble-Lite tree with an original box of NOMA biscuit bubble-lites held onto their bases by tri-clips.
Following the war prelit Christmas trees began to hit the market, produced by NOMA, Raylite and Royal Electric. They were introduced as the easy way to decorate, simply remove it from the box, place it on display and plug it in. Trees were wired both in miniature base C6 and candelabra base C7. NOMA trees held 9, 17, 18, 20 or 21 sockets, Paramount trees held 9, 17 or 21 lights and Royal Electric trees held 9, 11 or 17 lights. Most trees were equipped with bubble lights, but others also had C6 or C7 Christmas lamps. Early trees were also developed with horizontal sockets containing little miniature base T4 or G4 lamps with 10, 17, 28 and 32 sockets. These trees we refer to today as Matchless Star trees. In the mid-1950’s, in addition to green, white, pink and blue trees were sold. Blue trees had blue lamps and pink trees had pink lamps. In the late 1950’s, Raylite developed a revolving bubble light tree holding nine of their Paramount saucer type bubble lights and including a music box. Few of these revolving trees have survived due to an electrical defect in the revolving mechanism which caused it to flame and burn!
So, when we see or purchase a pre-lit Christmas tree today, we can remember that while the technology has changed, the concept goes back almost 70 years.
I hope this brief introduction to Christmas bubble lights helps you in identifying and collecting these treasures.
– Gene Teslovic
About the writer: Gene Teslovic is a long-time Glow member and one of our best experts in the field of vintage and antique Christmas Lighting. Many of you know him by his Facebook persona “La Cage Noel.” In Gene’s next article in this series, he will show us some rare Shooting Star Bubble Lights in action and give us a quick lesson on how to tell new reproduction bubble lights from old ones. Stay tuned!
First Meet at the Kubicki’s Farm near Dayton, Ohio in June 1981
Stepping Back in Time…to the Glow’s Beginning
by Jerry Ehernberger, Founder
Hello and welcome to the Golden Glow of Christmas Past!
What you see now is a far cry from our humble beginnings! It all goes back to my earliest memories and being fascinated by Christmas lights. In kindergarten I knew how to find the burned-out series lamp on our little tree and by fourth grade I had an unorganized collection of unusual light bulbs.
Then in December, 1967 General Electric released an article on Christmas light history, and I was hooked. There were no antique stores in my tiny hometown of Bushnell, Nebraska (population 224) so I went door-to-door asking friends if they had old Christmas lights; I especially preyed upon the elderly.
Diane and Bob Kubicki
Two years later The Nebraska Electric Farmer carried an article on my collection; I was only 14. Shortly afterward my contact at Westinghouse put me in touch with another Christmas light collector, Gil Kaufman in Pittsburgh. Then in December, 1973 a brief mention of my interests in The Spinning Wheel magazine resulted in additional contacts with other collectors across the country (plus one in Australia!)
I moved to Chicago in 1977, continued snail mail with this handful of collectors and somehow got my collection displayed at the Museum of Science and Industry.
One day my supervisor suggested that I start a club. A what? Me? Why?
But by 1980, it became more apparent that we needed to be formally organized to get everyone on the same page. My little “core group” was very supportive, so in July, 1980 I sent out our first crude newsletter. For several years it was created on an IBM Selectric typewriter with hand-sketched figural lights. “Cut-and-paste” meant just that. The photocopied newsletters were folded, stuffed into hand-addressed envelopes and mailed with real stamps.
First Meet at the Kubicki’s Barn
There was no internet, e-mail or Facebook. But there were fervent, word-of-mouth and frequent mentions in the media. Icouldn’timagine 25 people on the mailing list, but then we reached 100 and then beyond.
After the first five years we decided to open up the forum to cover all vintage Christmas and after another six years I began stepping down as editor-in-chief, turning over the responsibilities to others more qualified.
In our first year members Diane and Bob Kubicki organized our first annual “convention” on their property near Dayton, Ohio in June, 1981. Two dozen members from all over the country gathered in their hot and dusty bee-infested barn for one memorable weekend of socializing, exchanging information and buying and selling. Over the years the conventions have grown and traveled around the country. They are enjoyed by hundreds of collectors and last for several days in elaborate bee-free hotels with air conditioning and running water!
I’m grateful to be Founder of this group that has brought together so many Christmas collectors!
