1930s 1940s 1950s Vintage Christmas: Decoration and Tree

A vintage style Christmas is popular and you can choose to capture a 30 year period, perhaps from the late 1930s through the early 60s-or you can choose to be a bit more focused about your vintage Christmas and choose a particular decade to emulate.

The strangest thing is that many things haven't changed when it comes to Christmas, so in order to make things vintage, you'll have to focus on the little things and the signature items of a particular era. You also might want to throw in vintage pictures made into ornaments just to make it clear.

Research. You can look specifically for Christmas traditions of the era-or you can look for the most popular art styles during the time. Art Deco, Abstraction, Neo Daddaism or even a single artist (like Norman Rockwell) can be your inspiration.

Vintage Ornaments. You can find these online or at a local vintage or antique store. If you find you like a certain style, you can google the name and you'll often find reproductions for your vintage Christmas.

Old Magazines. Look for Christmas issues of old women's magazines. They'll generally have pictures of what a Christmas tree looked like back in the day. The internet is a powerful tool-you can use it to find these images.

The Tree. Feather trees were popular from the 1920s through the early 60s. http://www.hometraditions.com/ They were the first alternatives to real trees. The limbs are generally sparse. The original versions were actually made from feathers, but soon manufacturers used other materials. The actual feather versions are very expensive, and they weren't used for long.

Popular Ornaments by Era.

The 1920s-1930s were a popular time for glass ornaments. They were often silvered and even flocked for a fuzzy texture. A glass Santa might have white flocking for his white hat edge.

Go to this café press site for some nifty 1940s inspired ornaments: http://homedecor.cafepress.com/1940s_ornaments

Large, shiny and brightly colored Christmas balls are still popular today. They were all the rage in the 1940s and 50s, as you can see from this vintage site: http://www.hillstock.com/greetings/vintage-christmas-ornaments.htm

Christmas Lights

Vintage bulbs are thicker and heavier than the pansy stuff we're used to. You can get vintage-style reproduction Christmas lights instead of the small modern ones we generally buy. You can find them on a retail store shelf if you look hard enough.

A vintage Christmas can be really fun, though it does take some work to find everything you need!