Some of my vintage Easter decorations

  HAPPY EASTER  

  EVERYONE!  

I decided to put out a nice big selection of my Easter decorations this year. We don't have a lot of space for displaying everything so usually it is just the mantle that gets decorated. Babies and toddlers definitely limit where things can be displayed. This year my wife is in Toronto for an extended visit with our daughter and her family helping with their brand new baby boy... I wish that I was there!

All of the images are fairly large so that you can see the items quite easily, just click on them for a better look.

As you can see all of the fun items are at the level that a child would love to get their little fingers into and rightly so these are childhood toys. This picture shows the left side of the display, the Easter baskets on the hearth, cardboard eggs in baskets, toys, decorations, and vases... I love it!

Here is a closer look at the items on the two trees. The trees were made from some branches that I built out of wire and painted cotton batting. I have used them over the years in window displays as well as at home. The narrow necked vases were filled with marble sand and then the branches stuck in the neck opening and then topped off with more sand. Vintage cellophane Easter grass hides the messiness of the neck opening. The sand is important, it gives a heavy base to stop the tree from toppling over.

Here is a close-up of the items at the base of the trees. The rabbit that is hanging from the tree is a box or little girl's purse from Japan.

This side view of the trees gives you a better look at the hanging cardboard eggs.

This is the view as you sit in the stuffed chair looking at the mantle.

The side table beside the stuffed chair has two metal baskets filled with cardboard eggs. A clear glass rabbit jelly mould rests on the table in front of them. Flip the top of the plastic eggs and the chick's head pops up making a tiny squeak as it emerges.

Of all of the cardboard eggs this is my favourite one. It is double sided and tells a humorous story. I have never come across another example like this.

Here is the mantle display, the close-up images are below. I didn't get fancy around the mirror, I kind of wish that I had, but time was short.

The bird standing by its nest is made of glue and sawdust I believe; I had to repair the section of the body where one of the legs enters the body and saw what it was made of. The nest is made of rattan woven with strips of loofa. It is standing on a base of cork tree bark. I bought this in the 1990's just after Christmas for around $1.75. The price may be wrong but it was not much more. The ribbon is still attached to it that held the chocolate egg in the nest. There is a foil tag that says, "Fry" on it, most likely Fry's chocolate but I could be wrong.

I have a few of my egg cups on display in amongst the rabbit candy containers.

The tall goofy looking buck toothed rabbit is English made of wired foam rubber. I wouldn't move the arms now to reposition it as I would possibly break off an arm or leg!

Two antique chocolate moulds stand in front of a white plastic rabbit, an advertising bank for Wamsutta Mills.

The centre of the mantle is a little less congested! The purple and yellow textile with hand-painted wisteria blossoms is a tea cosy. It is flanked on either side by two 1960's chocolate boxes. Standing in front of the tea cosy are two ceramic figurines marked Japan on the bottom that remind me of 1950's Italian fashion photography.

Centred between the figurines is one of my favourite items, this salt and pepper shaker set. The hand-painted detail is delightful. The heads are the salt and pepper shakers, lift one out, use it, place it back, and the head nods back and forth. Like I said this is one of my favourite items.

The plaque that is hanging under the mantle was in a bag of Christmas items that I purchased several years ago. It is made in Israel and depicts the moment that God tells Abraham not to sacrifice his son but that He would supply a lamb. Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket. I forgot to mention that God had asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son as a test to see if he trusted God and would obey Him.

^{Genesis 22 verse 15} The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, “I swear by myself, declares theLord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring^[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,^[c] because you have obeyed me.”

Jesus was the lamb that God provided mankind. Just like Christmas Jesus is the reason for the season! HAHAHA!!!! and I love all of the silly bunnies, chicks, and other decorations that have nothing to do with Easter but are such a delight to see.

I picked up these two jadite rabbits this year. Tucked in between them is the head of a rabbit covered in multi-coloured chenille. It was my mum's I think and all that is left is the head, I wish that I had the body to go with it, it would have been a wonderful piece.

The brown chenille rabbit with the red coat is another one of my favourite pieces. Who am I kidding I have more than "quite a few" favourite pieces! The blue rabbit pulling the pink cart was mine as a child. The celluloid friction toy "Easter on Parade" I bought in the early 1980's for $7.50, that was a lot of money back then, especially for a young family on a tight budget.

This shows the right side of the hearth and the raised display areas. The cardboard box in the shape of a train that is filled with the original plastic Easter eggs is from Australia, it was produced in the early 1960s I believe. The very realistic baby chick eggcup beside it looks contemporary but is marked Japan on the bottom, I think that it may be from the 1960s as well but I am not certain about that.

The metal Easter half egg is early I believe but again I have never seen one before and do not have a date for it. The rabbit jumping over the red mushrooms is a florist vase or planter. The chicks standing between the egg shells are a salt and pepper set. The little ceramic rabbit beside the basket would have held a chocolate egg or a group of eggs but afterwards I don't know what the use would be as it is to large to be used for an eggcup.

I stuck the chenille chick floral pick in behind the little rabbit girl hand puppet so that it looks like she is holding it. I really like the florist vase with the little girl sitting on the fence as the blue bird looks at her singing merrily she reminds me of my wife.

The label on the plastic eggs on the wall says "A Lido Toy.  LOOK!  Eggs snap open and closed for easy filling. PLASTIC Easter Eggs." These are possibly some of the first plastic Easter eggs, the wording and the graphic presentation suggest this. The reverse is printed in French so it is obviously a Canadian item.

The gold foil duck and chick I purchased at a florist wholesaler in the early 1990s, I liked them and thought that they were interesting.

The three purple tulips are joined at the top of the stems just under the flower petls and form a vase with three openings.

And now down to the hearth. I have collected vintage Easter baskets over the years, I haven't seen any for at least ten years now. Most of these baskets are Japanese. The early Japanese Easter baskets are made of wood veneer, bamboo was used later and still is in use today. Bamboo is stronger and less likely to break, you can see that some of the handles on the veneer baskets have broken.

The dark baskets in the background are from the 1950s.

I have several halves of cardboard eggs. The other half may have gone missing over the years before I purchased it or possibly not. Chocolatiers would purchase the cardboard eggs and then use each half separately filling the half with chocolates and candy then possibly wrapping it in cellophane or a fancy ribbon. The cost of one egg would serve as a container for two items for sale on their counters.

The large box of chenille chicks may have been sold from the box along with the rest of the trinkets to create an Easter basket or it may have come from a candy store. I have no idea of the original store that it came from but it is fun to imagine a scenario around an almost full box of pastel chicks. Oh, I bought it from an incredible antique store that had tons of holiday items in stock. Unfortunately it is long gone, even the building has been demolished.

Lots of cardboard eggs and candy tins. I am not certain of the age of the egg shaped candy tin. The purple tin with the pansies is a British toffee tin. The pale blue tin with rabbit playing the violin is marked "Hong Kong" on the back.

In the centre of the cluster of baskets and other doodahs on the hearth I have tried to give some semblance of order with this tidy bit of a display. The rabbit wearing an Easter bonnet is a British toffee tin.In front of it are two hard plastic cake toppers. Two baskets flank it on either side filled with more chenille chicks, roosters, and rabbits. The yellow ceramic rabbit would have been filled with candies and chocolates. A pulp cardboard rabbit is on either side, they are identical except one is white and the other pink.

And that as they say is that! I have other blog posts showing Easter cards, postcards, egg dye packets, and a recipe for Hot Cross Buns. Click here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Three Feather Trees

Just a tad late for Christmas but here are three feather trees that are decorated with vintage and antique ornaments. I have them on display on the buffet. We have usually put the village there but it is taking a rest this year.

This 2' tall feather tree I picked up for $2.00 at a Saint Vincent de Paul thrift shop years ago. I almost didn't buy it for not recognizing how old it was. Its branches were loosely crushed up against the trunk, then wrapped with cheap decorations. After paying for it, removing all of the cheap decorations, and straightening the branches I realized that I had a 1920's feather tree.

It has been decorated with vintage and antique cotton batting ornaments for the most part. The green Santa was given to me by Robin, our oldest boy, when he was very young.

The little girl and the metal ball are Victorian. I'm not certain how old the chenille roping is.

I saw this Victorian wooden ornament that was made in Germany in a book about Christmas decorations and fell in love with it. A few years later I came across one at a flea market in Victoria. I bought it immediately!

This is the snowman Santa that was behind the wooden ornament above.

Here is one of the feather trees that I made years ago. Most of the ornaments on the tree and below it are celluloid.

The large red curved item is a hunting horn/party horn. Both this horn and the pink, white, and green horn still work. The large swan is a celluloid bath toy.

The clown head at the top is not made of celluloid, neither is the little girl in the snow suit. The clown is Italian.

The garland is very tatty isn't it, I love it though. It is made of metal tinsel and finely cut cellophane. I have not come across it since purchasing these two garlands. It is less than 1/2" wide.

The little girl in the red coat was bought at the same time as the girl in the snow suit. I think that they may be from the early 1960's. There are lots of celluloid animals on the tree. The angel, or if you are British, the Christmas Fairy, is made of hard plastic dressed in tarletan.

 Tarletan is similar to cheesecloth in the weave but is stiffened and came in a variety of colours. I have some folds of it from 1910, one with a beautiful chromolithograph on it of a costume that could be made using the tarletan and inexpensive fabric or crepe papier.

The other feather tree that I made several years ago is decorated with a selection of chenille ornaments.

Lots of chenille Santas, candy canes, and animals decorate this tree.

The Santa at the bottom is about 8" long with bells on his feet. There is another one close to the top of the tree beside the trunk. The tree topper is made of two flower shapes made of silk bump chenille that are tipped with glass beads I put them together to create one large full star-like tree topper.

I hope everyone is still enjoying the holidays such as they are after Christmas. It is on to New Year's Eve.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, part 2.

This picture is from 1930’s English children's Pip and Squeak Annual that belonged to my dad that I now own. This single image has directed how I see holiday decorating and I am not just referring to Christmas; no matter what your home decor is like, the holiday should plonk itself over everything else like a welcome but eccentric aunt. I can remember looking at this picture and thinking that this is how I want to decorate for Christmas. Those garlands and Japanese lanterns had a big impact on me.

Here is a photograph showing the garlands on the ceiling at our home for Christmas. All of the garlands and lanterns are vintage.

As you come into the living room from the hallway we have the live tree. I do not like cultured trees; there is no room to display big ornaments. Trying to find a decent wild tree can be difficult but we put up with what is available and once it is decorated it looks just fine. Over in the corner you can see a Japanese lantern in the shape of a Santa Claus.

Last year I used three red and cream metal tubs to hold the vintage trees. Two of the trees are goose feather from around the 1920's and the third tree is a 1950's plastic tree.

Our buffet has a Christmas village on the bottom. All of the trees are vintage bottlebrush trees mostly from Japan but two of them are German. The houses are all vintage Japanese cardboard houses. The people populating the village are vintage Gurley candles. The large cake stand is one of my pieces. On the top shelf of the buffet are two goose feather trees that I made several years ago when I made the large tree that is in the hallway. The tree on the left is decorated with vintage celluloid decorations. I love celluloid. The tree on the right is decorated with cotton batting and chenille ornaments. I love chenille ornaments as well. Between the two trees is a chromolithograph Nativity scene as well as other assorted goodies.

This is how I decorated last year, so after the wedding the house will get transformed once again to welcome in Christmas Day.

More Antique Christmas Cards

These antique Christmas cards are made of celluloid, an early form of plastic. There is an inner lining of paper. They date to the turn of the last century.

The designs were used for various occasions. There would have been an appropriate sentiment printed on the inside to suit the particular occasion for which they meant. Some of these cards are very deeply embossed and are truly elegant.

Looking at these cards from a 21st century point of view it is a little difficult to see why these flowers and emblems were used. The Victorians loved to convey coded messages. Floriography, more commonly called the language of flowers, was used allowing individuals to express feelings that otherwise could not be spoken. Remember that Victorian England was very proper and the way in which you presented yourself was of utmost importance.

These are the symbols and flowers depicted on the cards. After reading the individual meanings that I have listed below see if you can find the sentiments that are hidden in these antique Christmas cards.

We associate the swastika with the Nazi regime, but this symbol has a long history in cultural design. It was adopted by them and now has a very unsavory image. The Nazi swastika also had the arms going in the other direction. Traditionally the reverse swastika has been used as a symbol of good luck, welfare, prosperity or victory.

The wishbone usually stands for a wish or desire.

The horseshoe stands for fortune or good luck.

The anchor was an early Christian symbol commonly found in the Roman catacombs. It was used on Christian tombs as a symbol of the hope we have in Christ beyond this life. Most likely the symbol comes from this verse:

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 6:19-20

Daisy – Innocence; loyal love; I’ll never tell; purity.

Ivy – Fidelity; friendship; wedded love; affection.

Aster – Love; daintiness.

Pansy – Thoughts; love.

Red roses – Love; I love you.

Bouquet of roses in full bloom – Gratitude.

Blue violet – Watchfulness; faithfulness; I'll always be true.

Don't forget to go to the NORAD Santa tracking site this evening.

Have a very Merry Christmas from me, Len Bentham at Happy Holidays.

Antique Christmas Cards

Early Christmas cards did not have the iconic images on them that we now associate with Christmas. This antique Christmas card is one of my favourites.

The main body of the card is handmade paper. The top right corner is folded over and held in place by a diamond shaped piece of card, covered in blue velvet. It reveals the smaller card inside the large card. Mounted on top of the blue velvet is an embossed die cut celluloid fan surrounded by violets. The bottom right hand corner has an embossed, die cut metal word "remembrance". There is a blue silk ribbon on the left-hand side with bows at the top and bottom.

The smaller card inside has two undulating lines of glitter at the top and bottom of the picture of the cottage. On the right hand side behind the violets is a die cut fretwork design in white. This would have been an expensive card due to all of the handwork involved.