DesignNJ-Dec23Jan24-Digital Issue

stylenewjersey | ICONIC DESIGN
Shiny & Brite
Vintage ornaments with a New Jersey connection
tug at the heartstrings
BY REN MILLER
Family and friends swirl around the Christmas tree hanging shiny
baubles, sipping hot chocolate and nibbling delicious cookies.
This idyllic scene — sometimes a treasured memory, other
times an idealized future — fuels many activities this time of
year, perhaps none more so than hanging
those shiny baubles.
If you’re a collector, or had parents or
grandparents who saved ornaments, you
may know the trade name Shiny Brite.
The brand’s origins date to 1926, when
brothers Max and Ernst Eckardt retrofitted
their German toy factory to make blownglass
ornaments as Christmas trees became
more commonplace. Decorating a tree,
once considered a pagan custom, gained
respectability after British Queen Victoria
and her German-born husband, Prince
Albert, and their children were depicted
gathered around a Christmas tree in 1848.
Though not the first to make blownglass
ornaments, the Eckardts were smart
businessmen. Max emigrated to the United
States in the late 1920s and launched Max
Eckardt & Sons in New York City to import
ornaments from the German factory.
By 1937, Max sensed that World War II
was inevitable and knew that German
imports would be blocked from entering
the United States. He announced plans to
make and decorate glass ornaments in the
United States under the name The Shiny Brite Co.
Rather than start his own glassmaking factory here, Eckardt, along
with an executive of F.W. Woolworth Co., his largest client, approached
Corning Glass Co. They proposed that Corning modify some lightbulbshaping
equipment to make round glass “blanks” that would be shipped
to new Shiny Brite locations in four New Jersey towns — Hoboken,
Irvington, North Bergen and West New York — to be hand-painted,
packaged and shipped to retailers. In exchange, Woolworth promised
to place a very large order. Corning agreed and, in time for Christmas
1939, it produced more than 235,000 machine-made blanks that Max’s
factories decorated and Woolworth sold for 2 to 10 cents each.
Production quickly expanded to include other shapes in a rainbow of
colors, many decorated with flakes of mica “snow.” The brand’s heyday was
in the 1940s and 1950s. Sales declined as competitors introduced more
Clean glass ornaments with a soft cotton cloth or feather duster to
wipe away dust. Water and chemicals will damage the finish.
durable plastic ornaments in the 1960s and ornaments made of other
materials in the 1970s. The company went through several acquisitions,
but quality suffered and the last owner went out of business in 1981.
Famed ornament purveyor Christopher Radko bought the name and
reintroduced Shiny Brite ornaments in
new and vintage-inspired designs in 2001,
giving the brand a new lease on life.
Original Shiny Brite ornaments are
widely available in stores that sell vintage
items, online and at yard sales for about $20
per box of 12. Identifying them, however,
can be tricky because other companies
started to produce similar ornaments. Here
are some guidelines:
• Pre-World War II Shiny Brites have
silvertone metal caps stamped “Made in
the U.S. of A.” The earliest ones are ballshaped
with interiors of silver nitrate and
exteriors lacquered in primary colors.
Later ornaments in this period might be
decorated in pastel stripes or with handpainted
flowers in a range of shapes.
• During World War II, when metals
were rationed for use in munitions, Shiny
Brites had cardboard caps that were tied
to trees with string or yarn. No longer
silvered, the ornaments were transparent or
opaque, some with hand-painted lines and
tinsel inside, but even that small amount
of metal was eventually prohibited.
• After World War II, the metals caps returned and were crimped
with a scalloped bottom and stamped with “Shiny Brite Made in the
U.S.A.” The interiors were coated with silver nitrate and the exteriors
were machine-decorated with holiday scenes, symbols and words. An
adjustable hook would clip into place in two positions to hang higher or
lower, depending on the space between tree branches. This option was
discontinued in 1960.
Three things to keep in mind: Some styles bridge the decades so they
may not be as old as you think • People didn’t always return ornaments
to their original boxes so a Shiny Brite box may contain ornaments from
other makers. • Some people reuse caps from broken ornaments so a
Shiny Brite cap may be found on an ornament from another maker.
The most important thing to remember is that vintage ornaments
bring nostalgic enjoyment, and that’s their true value. DNJ
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