c1880's 7" Antique Kugel Christmas ornament Mercury glass ball. Very thick antique glass guaranteed authentic. Good condition with no chips, cracks, or
dings, slight loss to 140 or so year old mirroring.
Holiday trees in 1840 were adorned with apples, gilded and natural fruits and
nuts, cookies, popcorn and cranberries, as well as homemade paper items,
candles, cornucopias, and presents. It was during this decade that the first
commercially produced Christmas decorations appeared. In 1848, the first glass
ornament, a kugel, appeared in Germany. The kugel was a large hollow ball
ranging in size from 1 inch to 18 inches. Smaller ones were used for tree
decorations. The blown, molded, figural glass ornaments that we are familiar
with today evolved from the tradition of blowing kugels. These ornaments were
not sold in America until 1880.
Kugel is a German word that means "ball" and can be used to describe any type of
ball-like object. Collectors used this term to describe any early thick glass
ornament with a decorative cap. Early Kugels were too heavy to hang on tree
branches; instead they were suspended from the ceiling. Soon after their
invention, the Germans decided small Kugels should adorn tree boughs in shapes
such as grapes, berry clusters, apples and pears. F. W. Woolworth is given
credit for bringing Kugels to America in the 1880s. His initial investment of
$25 turned into sales of at least $25 million worth of Kugels over the next
several years.
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