On the tree

the story behind Shiny Brite ornaments.

I knew the story of "they're not silvered inside because WWII....I have a book on Christmases past that covers this. And yeah, think about it.....Christmas in a time where material goods were more difficult to come by, even for more "middle class" people like my dad's family (My mom's family was poorer, and I doubt the rationing of WWII meant as much to them - they did not have a car, for example, to worry about gas or tires for).

We had a few, inherited from my dad's family. One broke a few years ago when the Christmas tree was badly-positioned and went over.

I admit, when I bought ornaments for MY tree, I sought out a set of modern reproductions (the old ones can be hard to come by, and can be expensive, and I don't trust the mail enough to order them off Etsy).

It is possible, if you have either a steady hand and the right kind of paint, or specialized narrow colorful tape, to make your own - plain glass balls can be bought at many craft stores.

I tried to find a written link online because I kind of dislike these YouTube explainers that take longer to watch than reading directions would take, but couldn't find any, but here's a video. Except, they use silvered balls, and like I said: in my mind the typical "WWII" style ornament is a clear ball with narrow paint stripes:




(And that one isn't even for the ornaments I know! Anyway: with the right paint or tape and a steady hand, you could do it. Or you could put in thin lines of double-stick tape or good glue and then use glitter to get glittered lines....)

Christopher Radko still offers molded-glass ornaments under the Shiny Brite name, but for me, I think of "Shiny Brites" as JUST the clear-glass-with-stripes ornaments. Though I guess the company was more than just that.

Lots more pictures of the original Shiny Brites are here