MILLVILLE, NJ – The Museum
of American Glass at
WheatonArts presents, “Ornaments Through Time: A Handmade Christmas,” a new
holiday exhibit opening November 24 and continuing through December 31. Twelve decorated
trees in the Special Exhibition Gallery illustrate the use of handmade
ornaments such as cookies and marzipan, paper chains, scrap paper, cornucopias,
straw, cotton, greeting cards, yarn, crochet, birdseed and glass.
The tradition of decorating a Christmas tree was
first brought to this country by German immigrants in the late 1700s. These
early trees were decorated with cookies, fruit and nuts. By the 1850s, the
custom of decorating a tree was still not widespread. In fact, by 1900 only one
in five American families had a decorated Christmas tree.
Although commercially made ornaments, produced in Germany, were
imported on a limited basis by the 1870s, most families made their own
ornaments. All manner of decorations were made utilizing materials readily
found around the home. The most common were made of paper and embellished with
cotton, wire and tinsel. Presents were attached to the branches, as were
natural objects. Nuts and pine cones were gathered year-round and gilded. The
most unusual were wishbones saved throughout the year, decorated and used as
good luck symbols for the coming year.
Magazines in the 1870s through the 1900s, such as
“Ladies’ Home Journal,” “Godey’s Lady Book,” and “Peterson’s Ladies’ National
Magazine,” published articles about decorating the home and making ornaments.
Children were encouraged to participate. By today’s standards, many of these
large and elaborately decorated ornaments appear overdone, but they suited
Victorian taste.
The first glass ornaments were heavy balls called
“kugels” imported from Germany
in the 1870s. By the early 1900s, American companies were mass producing glass
ornaments. Today, contemporary glass artists are creating their own handmade
Christmas ornaments.
The Museum of American Glass houses the most
comprehensive collection of American glass in the country. Over 6,500 objects
are on display, ranging from Early American bottles and flasks, Mason jars and
paperweights, to Tiffany masterpieces and contemporary studio art glass. The
museum’s major exhibition, “The Fires Burn On: 200 Years of Glassmaking in Millville, New
Jersey,” will also continue through December 31.
WheatonArts (formerly Wheaton Village)
is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., through December 31.
Admission: $10.00 Adults, $9.00 Senior Adults and $7.00 Students. Children five
and under are free. It is free to shop and stroll. Admission includes the Museum of American Glass,
Down Jersey Folklife
Center, Glass Studio in
the T. C. Wheaton Glass Factory, Ceramics, Flameworking and Woodcarving Studios
and museum stores. WheatonArts will be closed Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
For more information, call 856-825-6800 or 1-800-998-4552, or visit www.wheatonarts.org.
WheatonArts
strives to ensure the accessibility of its exhibitions, events and programs to
all persons with
disabilities. Provide two weeks notice for special accommodations.
Funding has
been made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department
of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, by funds
from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Geraldine R. Dodge
Foundation. WheatonArts received a general operating support grant from the New
Jersey Historical Commission, a division of Cultural Affairs in the Department
of State. Additional funds provided by the New Jersey Cultural Trust.
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