I have been collecting the old Shiny Brite Ornaments for a number of years. A few here, a few there..after all they are just little..and so pretty. I recall them on our tree when I was growing up. I loved how they caught the light and it was bounced back in all directions. I love all the different colors!!
Some came from antique shops..
Some came from garage sales..
Some are one of a kind singles..
Some are sets of twelve.. these are special ones to me. When I was growing up we had a lovely neighbor lady and her very stern husband ..he was a Constable or a Deputy..he had a gun, he laid his gun and holster on the counter just inside the back door. Sometimes it was hung up near the back door..it had to be ready just in case he had to leave quickly. I remember the day that a few no goods tried to kill him by slitting his throat ear to ear..he didn't die. It was a miracle that he lived. He died a number of years later..he was a big man, I had the utmost respect for him..and I may have looked closely at his gun..but I never touched it. ( My nose may have been just two inches away from it to get a closer look..but I never, ever touched it.) I had cookies there often..it was only about a half a mile from our farm, and she was a good baker and liked kids that stopped by for cookies..they had a very spoiled dog..a Pekingese..I cannot remember it's name..I do know that I loved that their dog was allowed in the house. It was a big old farmhouse too..white..two stories and probably had a large attic. Anyway..back to the Shiny Brites..one day I was at a garage sale..this lovely lady was widowed by this time..she lived in a nearby little town if you can call it that..one of those blink and you might miss it towns. She lived on the east side of town..I stopped there at her garage sale one day..she was clearing out some of her "Junk." When I admired the ornaments, she said "Oh yes, those were quite the ornaments in their day." I bought both sets..I have hung a few of them on my Christmas Trees over the years. They are in their original boxes...I am not quite sure why I felt the need for two boxes... maybe just because I liked them...maybe it was the price..the garage sale price was 25 cents..the original price was a whopping $1.19..it is written in grease pencil on the package. The original strings are still on the ornaments.. just ready and waiting to be hung on a tree...but still two boxes..what was I thinking?
Shiny Brites were manufactured until 1962, more popular unbreakable ornaments took over about then. . Shiny Brite ornaments were originally made by Max Eckhardt. In the last few years a fellow by the name of Christopher Radco has reintroduced a new line of retro ornaments... they market the new line as a trip down memory lane. It is and was for me..the new ornaments ..are just that ..new memories in a box. Menards has them..probably other stores too.. I think I will purchase myself a box. There are lots of different designs..I imagine that I will have to stand there like an idiot for twenty minutes..looking at them..searching the deep recesses of my mind to see which ones evoke the most childhood memories:)
