Posted 2 years ago
rhineisfine
(17 items)
(It's December 1st, so now I can do this :)
This is a beloved old Christmas ornament from my childhood -- the only one I still have from that time. It dates at least from the early 1960s, and possibly predates even that. (My parents bought an aluminum Christmas tree in the fifties when it was fashionable, and they put it up long after it went out of fashion!)
The red reindeer is suspended within an openwork green globe that is decorated on some of its joints with holly-spray reliefs. Both elements are made of some kind of rigid, coloured plastic. It's fairly large: nearly 4" in diameter. As it feels like it is brittle and could easily crack, I wrap it very carefully to store it each year. To me it is still very magical!
P.S. I've never seen another one like it, so if anyone has an idea of source, provenance, exact age, I'm all ears!
EDITED 2022-11-26: I found out the maker! Recently I came across a vintage "Sputnik-style" star ornament in a hard green plastic with a metallic sheen. Its style and material reminded me strongly of this globe, and I've uploaded a pic of it here for reference. I brought it home, Googled, and found a matching star ornament on a Pinterest page for Bradford plastic ornaments. Armed with the name "Bradford", I was then able to find one other example of the reindeer cage-style globe. According to the collections' names, they date from the 1950s. Judging from the paucity of reindeer globes, I think mine is very rare indeed.
I also found a Facebook page (by the Grande Prairie Museum) that talks at length about the Bradford Novelty Company and its (now vintage) Christmas concoctions. It features a fabulous photo of a goofy Sputnik "star of Bethlehem" treetopper -- which I remember seeing in my childhood, although it did not survive the years. The entry mentions that Bradford created the Sputnik treetopper in December 1957 to cash in on the Sputnik craze. A really fun read!
https://www.facebook.com/GPMuseum/photos/a.330533023642722/4045938825435438/
Lastly, there are some interesting tidbits about Bradford and its period decorations in this Worthpoint article called "The Heyday of Trimming the Tree":
https://www.worthpoint.com/articles/collectibles/the-heyday-of-trimming-the-tree-with-plastic
In any case... Mystery solved!
lovely...
Beautiful reindeer in globe ornament, a wonderful family memento to treasure
RichmondLori, Newfld, thank you for your kind comments!
Thank you for the love:
Newfld
vetraio50
RichmondLori
fortapache
ho2cultcha
I do seem to remember something like it, but it has been so long I know we do not have anymore as my step sisters took all my fathers ornaments. I remember the very rigid pieces this strikes a chord with !~
@Bruce99, PhilDMorris and @vynil33rpm, thank you for the 'love'.
@PhilDMorris, thank you also for the kind comment. Yes, those old pieces were rigid and rather brittle! I don't think too many of them can have survived the intervening decades.
I remember seeing 1 or 2 break, they are so delicate, sometimes they could break in your hands so easily and it is kind of like a miracle that this beauty is still whole. The plastic or whatever it is resembles the most ultimate thin china, I hope it lasts your lifetime as it is a joy to see this one. I remember we had one just like it. Sometimes they would move like they had joints !~
@PhilDMorris, thank you, that is most interesting! As you say, it's like thin china, delicate and easily broken. So I hope this lasts my lifetime, too! Because of its fragility, at the end of the Christmas season I tuck it carefully away in a hard-sided box with plenty of bubble wrap for cushioning. Hopefully that will do the trick, and my family and I will have it for many years to come. Because honestly, it would be a shame not to take it out and enjoy it each year, too.
EDITED 2022-11-26: I found out the maker of this reindeer globe!
Recently I came across a vintage "Sputnik-style" star ornament in a hard green plastic with a metallic sheen. Its style and material reminded me strongly of this globe. I brought it home, Googled, and found a matching star ornament on a Pinterest page for Bradford plastic ornaments. Armed with the name "Bradford", I was then able to find one other example of the reindeerglobe. According to the collections' names, they date from the 1950s. Judging from the paucity of reindeer globes, I think mine is very rare indeed.
Mystery solved!
Thank you all for the love (and sorry about the repeats -- the order seems to have gotten juggled a bit!):
Vynil33rpm
kwqd
Newfld
PhilDMorris
Bruce99
racer4four
GianaMZ
aura
Cokeman1959
vetraio50
RichmondLori
fortapache
ho2cultcha