Shiny Brite

Besides the glass negatives we inherited from Annie, we also got an aluminum Christmas tree and this beautifully illustrated Christmas ornament box with ornaments inside. Every year when I pull it out of storage, I always tell myself that I’m going to scan the box and never get around to it. Until today, that is! I adore the ornaments on this box and Uncle Sam shaking Santa’s hand! Out of curiosity, I Googled K&W Glass Works for fun and thanks to The Golden Glow of Christmas Past this is what I found:

In 1939 England was at war with Nazi-controlled Germany and the British Navy set up blockades that effectively stopped any exports from war-torn Europe reaching the United States of America. Many Americans found their first wartime shortage was to be Christmas decorations. Up to this point, most of the Christmas decorations used by Americans came from Germany, Czechoslovakia, or Japan.

To cover his shortage, the Corning Glass Company started to produce round clear glass balls that were blown automatically by machine rather than hand blown by mouth as their European counterparts had been. Corning produced these new American made ornaments 24 hours a day and by 1944 they were making 40 million round glass ornaments per year. Corning then sold these glass blanks to other companies such as K & W Glass Works, Marks Brothers, and Shiny Brite, who in turn decorated, capped, boxed and resold the finished Christmas ornaments to retail stores nationwide. 

And you can’t have ornaments without ornament hangers –

 

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2 Responses to Shiny Brite

  1. JT says:

    So……ummmmm….if we’re good, will you show us the ornaments ?

  2. Tina says:

    Define good.

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