Vintage and Antique Christmas Decorations Throughout the Ages

When you hear that jing-jing-jingling ringing out around town, you know it's time to decorate your home with vintage Christmas decorations. This year, start your preparation early and head to your local antique mall for some one-of-a-kind designs that will make your spaces feel merry and bright all season long. Whether you're looking for aesthetic inspiration from decades past or searching for a unique holiday gift for a loved one, you’re sure to find it at a vendor mall.

Why Decorate Your Home for Christmas with a Vintage Touch?

While we love gathering with our loved ones during the holiday season, it's easy to forget how wasteful Christmas can be. If you're searching for an environmentally friendly way to reduce waste as you shop for décor, let us remind you that shopping secondhand is a game-changer. Buying pre-loved items at Melbourne antique malls gives them a second chance at life, keeps them out of landfills, and makes our Earth a little happier.

Buying vintage and antique holiday decorations is also the best way to ensure that your house has the most unique décor on the block. Anyone can go to their local retailer and buy the same cheaply made lights (that inevitably go out halfway through December, anyway), but what's the fun in that? If you want to show off your personal style, taking the time to find rare and timeless vintage Christmas decorations is essential.

If you value sentimentality and nostalgia, you'll love shopping for vintage and antique holiday décor. When you're mindful about every item you bring home, you're curating a collection that you and your children (and their children, and their children) will cherish for decades to come. The more memories you make with these staple decorations in the background, the more emotionally valuable they become.

The Difference Between Vintage and Antique

As you're shopping, you'll notice that most Christmas decorations are considered either antique or vintage—but what's the difference? The official definition claims that vintage items must be at least 20 years old, while antique pieces should be over 100 years old. When it comes to Christmas décor, designs manufactured before 1920 are antique, with everything between then and the early 2000s categorized as vintage.

How Do I Know if a Vintage Christmas Decoration is Valuable?

If you're wondering about the price tag of a specific collectible item, it's best to get it appraised by a professional. Value can depend on a variety of factors, such as condition, age, rarity, and brand. In general, the more mint condition an antique or vintage item is, the more valuable it becomes to your collection. If you’re looking to sell antiques someday, consider this as you shop!

5 Ways You Can Upgrade Your Current Christmas Décor with Antiques:

1. Add vintage Christmas glass ornaments

2. Hang vintage stockings on the mantle

3. Feature rare holiday kitchenware in your cabinets

4. Invest in a vintage metal Christmas tree

5. Bring secondhand presents to holiday events for your friends and family

Shopping for Holiday Décor by Decade

Every decade has its own stylized look. Some people who subscribe to the maximalism aesthetic prefer buying a mishmash of items, regardless of the date of production. If you want to curate your Christmas look based on a specific era or are just curious about when something you own was made, it's a good idea to research each time period before your shop at a Highland antique mall.

Harken Back to Tradition with Early 1900s Christmas Decorations

If you adore that simple, old-fashioned aesthetic, you'll love collecting pieces from the 1900s and 1910s for your home. While Christmas has been celebrated in various forms predating this decade, designs from the 1900s tend to be the oldest antiques you can find on the market. In this Victorian era, people used sturdy clips to bind real lit candles to their branches (a fire hazard we may not recommend trying nowadays) and wrapped their doors with hand-woven wreaths to create a simple but effective festive atmosphere.

Original Advent Calendars

The tradition of counting down the days leading up to Christmas morning has been around for a while. Advent calendars have taken many forms over the years, but they first emerged in the earliest years of the 20th century.

The first printed versions were produced by Gerhard Lang. Each one was illustrated with fantastical festive and religious scenes, with little paper doors opening to reveal a new image every day to celebrate Advent. They didn't include chocolate treats until a couple of decades later!

Celebrate Christmas with Rip Roarin' 1920s Holiday Décor

If it's extravagance and glamor you're after in your home this season, consider stocking up on decorations from the 1920s. The Art Deco era was all about lavish dinner parties, over-the-top decorations in every room of the house, and extensive gift-giving to every loved one on your list.

Embrace the opulence of the time and lean into this glitzy aesthetic. Create your own collection, from tree skirt to vintage Christmas tree topper and everything in between, for a 1920s Christmas setup you’ll cherish.

Common Decorative Elements in 1920s Christmas Designs:

• Art Deco shapes

• Feathers

• Crepe paper

• Metallic accents

• Santa Claus (rose in popularity as a figure for décor and gatherings!)

Crepe Paper and Festoons

Crepe paper was a delicate yet versatile material used for all kinds of decorations in this era, from festoon banners to party hats to flowers and more. When manufacturers realized they could print iconic seasonal designs on each sheet, it became a staple in this decade’s home décor. If you find it at your local antique mall near Chicago, make sure to treat it with care to prevent tearing.

Embrace the Rustic Tone of 1930s and 1940s Christmas.

The '30s and '40s were fraught with economic and societal tension, from the Great Depression to World War II—but that didn't stop people from preparing for Christmas. Though most families could barely afford enough food for a feast, a few timeless and stylish designs were produced around the world that are now considered Christmas collectibles.

World War II Ornaments

If you grew up admiring the vintage glass ornaments hanging on your grandparents’ tree, you've probably seen an original '30s or '40s design. These baubles were crafted around the globe and have now become a popular choice for Christmas collectors everywhere. Even in the face of war, companies such as Shiny Brite and Kugal could turn out beautiful vintage glass ornament designs.

5 Popular Types of Vintage Christmas Ornaments:

1. Unsilvered: since metal was rare in wartime ration, ornament manufacturers could not coat the final product in dazzling silver, resulting in a simple and fashionably dull look.

2. Free-blown: these delicate glass pieces can be made into any shape and are often one-of-a-kind.

3. Indented: glittering colorful orbs that feature inverted indentations to reflect light and add sparkle to the tree.

4. Figural: from Santa to pinecones to toy soldiers and more, these figure-shaped fragile ornaments are extremely collectible.

5. Beaded: either storebought or made at home, these sparkling vintage ornaments are the very picture of elegance.

Rock On with 1950s Holiday Decorations

Christmas gatherings in the 1950s were picture perfect: large family gatherings where everyone was dressed up in their best Jackie Kennedy pearls, homemade feasts set out in matching cookware on the table, and above all else, elegant decorations in every room of the house. If you ever dreamed of a home that looks straight out of a vintage Vogue, this is the era for you.

Aluminum Christmas Trees

Inspired by the Space Age aesthetic of the time, aluminum Christmas trees were first manufactured around 1950 in Chicago. This trend quickly spread to homes across America.

Inspired by the older tradition of tinsel trees, where people would place thinly sliced silver strands on their branches to create a metallic look, aluminum trees had foil needles instead of the classic pine green. Most people would decorate their aluminum tree with their family's collection of vintage Christmas glass ornaments or handmade popcorn strands and paper baubles, all of which can be found at a vendor mall in Florida.

Colorful Bubble Christmas Lights

The tradition of colorful vintage Christmas bulb lights began in the '50s, when companies began producing "bubble lights” to brighten up both traditional and tinsel trees. These were made in a variety of shapes, from candles to balls and more, and were filled with a liquid that bubbled up when heated by the internal light bulb, producing that dreamy and vintage glow we love so much.

Pro tip: If you do find a box of unopened bubble lights, make sure to take it to a professional for a closer look before using, as certain discontinued lines can contain harmful chemicals.

Swing into the 1960s with Vintage Christmas Décor

Christmas in the '60s is known for being a little more homespun, prioritizing family time and handmade vintage Christmas cards over flashy and new designs. If you love the feeling you get when you listen to a vintage Bing Crosby album or watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, consider decorating with the 1960s values in mind, complete with a few signature collectible items, of course.

Crystal and Ceramic Candy Dishes

Candy dishes were an essential item in houses around the country during the '60s. You wouldn’t be surprised to find clear-cut crystal glasses on the dining table and charming ceramic designs painted with festive illustrations in the living room – all filled with sweets.

Candy dishes were placed where guests could easily access them during a gathering. If you find one at an Indiana vendor mall, you can fill it with whatever hard candy your heart desires!

Useful Color Wheels

Many homes chose not to string vintage ceramic lights on their aluminum trees, opting for color wheels instead. These small plug-in designs sat on the floor underneath the branches, and rainbow lights were projected up at the boughs. If you hate untangling your light strands year after year, this is the perfect solution!

Get Groovy with 1970s Holiday Decorations

Christmas in the '70s was a transitional period for Christmas décor. If you're collecting vintage and antique designs for your own home, you may remember this aesthetic from your childhood.

Gatherings were a little groovier and more laidback than in previous years, and tree decorations such as garlands, ornaments, and ribbons were even more maximalist. The vintage toys gifted to the children remain one of the more sought-after items from this decade.

Vintage Blow Molds

Vintage blow molds had been popular for a few decades, but some of the most famous

designs were produced in the 1970s. These plastic figurines were made by pouring melted plastic into a mold and inflating it with air to produce a lightweight and outside-friendly decoration. You can almost always snag one of these iconic holiday figures, such as snowmen, Santa Claus, and bright green Christmas trees at your favorite Illinois vendor mall.

Collect Awesome 1980s Christmas Décor

From ugly Christmas sweater parties to visiting Toys R Us for the children on your gift list, Christmas in the '80s was a time of bigger and better. Companies were trying to bring traditional decorations into the modern era, from the colorful lights to the tree baubles and more. Mass production meant that most decorations of this time were made from colorful plastics, and they remain quite easy to find in our antique malls around the country.

Foil Ceiling Decorations

In a time when synth-pop music and big hairdos were all the rage, you had to have something equally larger than life in your holiday home décor. One of the most popular collectible vintage decorations of the '80s is foil ceiling decorations. These shiny garlands and orbs hung from the ceiling, creating a colorful and whimsical look in any room of the house.

Where to Find Vintage Christmas Decorations

Believe it or not, vintage Christmas decorations can be found just about anywhere. If you're interested in collecting different designs from decades past, consider scouring your family's homes and specialized shops to find exactly what you're looking for. We love to search for vintage and antique pieces in:

• Attics

• Storage units

• Garage sales

• Thrift shops

• Antique malls

• eBay

• Online forums

Christmas is a time of cheer and celebration, and you deserve a home that reflects your personal style all season long. Whether you plan to collect items to mimic one specific decade or love an eclectic mix-and-match look spanning across time, America's Antique Mall is the perfect place to start your search. Get your holiday shopping started early and swing on by—we can't wait to help you!