I recently had the pleasure of meeting antique Christmas ornament collector Jennifer Wells at a holiday program at Trinity Methodist Church for the Valley Hills Garden Club in Madison, Indiana. What a treat! She led us through her collecting inspirations and the evolution of her areas of interest, which were showcased in six beautifully adorned tabletop trees.

Jennifer refers to herself as a “chaotic” collector. She hasn’t restricted her collecting to just one particular period in time, one type of ornament (like Santas), or one individual ornament variety in all of its known color variations. She collects what appeals to her personally. Discovering a few boxes of her grandparent’s WWII-era Shiny Brite Christmas ornaments sparked Jennifer’s love of vintage ornaments. After displaying her first small artificial tree with her family’s mercury glass treasures around 2001, it wasn’t long before she was searching garage sales and flea markets for more. On a subsequent visit to the Antique Christmas Exhibit at Cincinnati’s Taft Museum with her mother, Jennifer met avid collector – and that day’s exhibit tour guide – Greg Gregory. He walked Jennifer and her mother through the full exhibit, pointing out different types of ornaments from different periods. As Jennifer says, “That’s when I fell in love with antique Victorian Christmas ornaments!”

Encouraged by Mr. Gregory to join the Golden Glow of Christmas Past, an international organization of collectors, Jennifer began to study several of the fabulous ornament collections from the U.S and Europe. Over time, she refined her tastes and began focusing her collecting on ornaments of the late Victorian period through just prior to World War II. “In a full circle moment,” Jennifer explained, “Mr. Gregory and his wife invited me to join them in exhibiting at the Taft’s 2019 Antique Christmas Exhibit.”

Of the six trees on display for Valley Hills Garden Club, two were recreations similar to Jennifer’s showpieces as described in the Taft’s 2019 Antique Christmas Exhibit display signs.

A Holiday Forest

Fanciful Wire Wrapped Ornaments Tree. Ornaments of this tree featured wire that was shiny bright silver when new, but now appear as darker aged metal. There was just enough silver in the wire to tarnish and turn color. Bird Tree. This ornaments on this tree are birds, or ornaments that feature birds, and tarnished tinsel garland.

Tree with Wire Wrapped Ornaments
The Bird Tree

The Golden Tree

Most of these ornaments were handmade by families – some made to be sold, some from a family’s own tree. The Puss in Boots ornament, one of Jennifer’s favorites, is also one of her most valuable. SO cute!

Fruit and Vegetable Tree (below, right side) is interesting, but not one of Jennifer’s favorites. Might be a “phase” thing! The Flower Tree (below, left side) is decorated with ornaments from the late 1800s-1920s in the shapes of flowers and a few butterflies. One of the special and most valuable ornaments on this tree is double sided, featuring a flower on one side and a femal face on the other.

The program and exhibit were delightful, and it was a wonderful way to jumpstart the holiday season. We were all amazed at the total number of tiny fragile ornaments on the miniature trees. Even more amazed by how long it must have taken Jennifer to trasnport, unpack, decorate, repack and transport home! How lucky we all were to have a chance to see Jennifer Well’s museum quality collection of antique Christmas ornaments! Now, to set up my four tabletop trees…

Written by

sallymcw

One thing that makes my journey unique is that all of my interests are driven by a joyful and genuine curiosity. I delight in finding less expensive ways to make something or creative ways to enjoy something longer. Finding and creating joy - and sharing it - is core to who I am.