holt howard | Crazy4Me - The Modern Bombshell Lifestyle by: Yasmina Greco

Collecting Vintage Christmas Year Round

December 31, 2020 By: Fan

Yasmina Greco Crazy4Me Vintage Christmas

Hello again my friends, I hope you all had a marvelous Christmas and that Santa was good to you all!! As I put the finishing touches on post number six, the final post of our Vintage Christmas Collecting series, it’s New Year’s Eve as I sit at my desk surrounded by my vintage treasures (vintage Santa’s, snowmen, shopper girls, bottle brush trees and my vintage candy cane holders) and want to thank you all for your lovely comments and questions along the way of the collecting series. I have truly enjoyed putting the series together and hope you’ve benefited from some of my tips and enjoyed seeing pictures of my collections. I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope that 2021 is good to us all!!

I collect vintage Christmas all year round. As you know from my previous posts, I am obsessed with vintage Christmas items and the hunt is really part of the fun. As our digital worlds keep moving forward, it actually makes searching for vintage Christmas items a little easier and simpler as we have access to wonderful resources that are available 24/7 and 365 days a year and spans the entire globe!!

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Collecting Vintage Christmas Angels

December 18, 2020 By: Fan

Christmas is just one week away!! I don’t know where the month has gone but in one week it will be Christmas. I hope you have been following my Vintage Christmas Collecting Series where I have been sharing my collections and providing tips on collecting vintage Christmas items and I would love to hear from you so please send me an email or reach out to me on social media @crazy4me or @spicyatomicprincess and let me know.

Holt-Howard Ermine Angela Salt and Pepper Shakers — Holt-Howard Ermine Angels Salt and Pepper Shakers

Today’s blog post is for week four in our Vintage Christmas Collecting Series and today it is all about collecting vintage Christmas angels as Christmas and angels really go hand-in-hand. The majority of vintage angels in my collection date to the 1950s and were made in Japan by Napco, Norcrest, Ucago, Holt-Howard and Lefton when mid-century modern and kitsch were all the rage. Some angels have no markings and some are marked Japan or have a paper label that says Japan. Vintage Christmas angels have a lot of the similar spaghetti trim detailing with sponged gold accents like the Christmas decorations made during the era. Some angels are in the form of bells, Noel sets, salt and pepper shakers, and others are figurines. So far, in all my years of collecting, I have only ever come across only a couple of brunette angels and all the others have been blondes so, the brunette haired ones are the rarer ones.

Here is a super darling trio of baby angel boys made by Lefton and they each hold a holiday element like a present, candy cane and stocking and a wreath.

This brunette beauty is made by Napco and she has her eyes lowered, holds a lovely Christmas greetings wreath and presents. This angel is quite fancy with so much spaghetti trim on her robe that has the lovely gold sponged details and her wings are one of the most ornate pair I have seen on an angel as they are highly detailed and so very intricate.

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Collecting Kitschy Christmas: Noel Sets

November 27, 2020 By: Fan

Yasmina Greco with her Vintage Christmas NOEL Collection

Christmas is one of the loveliest times of the year. For me, one of my favorite things to do is pull out the vintage and kitschy holiday decorations I’ve been collecting for years and display these vintage treasures as I get my home ready for Christmas.

Yasmina Greco’s Vintage Christmas NOEL Collection Kitschy Mid-Mod Decorations

Today’s blog post features some of my vintage Noel collection that dates from the 1950s-1960s and features Noel candle holders, Noel bells, and Noel figurines. When it comes to vintage Noel collectibles there are so many varieties and themes from Santa Claus, Elves, Poodles, Snowmen, Angels, Candy Canes, and even Clowns, that there really is something for everyone and you can easily have a theme each year for your holiday decorating too!!

WARNING!! Blog has a lot of photos.

One sure way to any collector’s heart is items that come with their original boxes. For me, the box can also be used as part of your vintage holiday decor as they usually have timeless graphics that add so much charm to your displays. Since these vintage items are usually 70 yrs old, if you do find an original box it will probably have some wear and tear or even water damage from being stored in basements and attics and that is completely okay and in my opinion, adds that much more to the story and history of the item.

Here are five of my very favorite Noel sets from my personal collection and I think they are just dynamite. Each set is so unique and has loads and loads of vintage Christmas charm. I actually have them up year-round in my cabinet and they always make me smile when I stop and admire them.

1950s Grimco Japan NOEL Bells Vintage Christmas

This 4 Piece Noel bells set of boys and girls made by World Creations by Grimco Japan 1950s. This set is hard to find and very delicate, made from very fine ceramic so there may be light hairline cracks if you do come across a set. The facial expressions on these kids are so darling. In today’s market expect to pay $275-$325.

2. Christmas Cowboy Santa Noel Candle Holders set by Menschik Goldman in the 1950s. Santa is wearing his western hat with green and red holiday flair, his red suit complete with holster and pistol and his body spells out NOEL. This set is very rare, I have only come across it one time and in today’s market expect to pay $299-$350.

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Vintage Christmas Collecting Series

November 23, 2020 By: Fan

About the Vintage Christmas Collecting Series: This six-part series of blog posts and pictures focuses on vintage and mid-mod Christmas collectibles from the late 1940s-1960s, giving you the insights on starting a collection with tips on prices and where to find these treasures as well as tips for adding to your collection and scoring the rare and hard-to-find pieces. Both new and seasoned collectors will learn new things so they can enjoy collecting vintage Christmas items year-round.

Posts in the Vintage Christmas Collecting Series:

• Collecting vintage NOEL Christmas candle holders, figurines, and bells
• Vintage Holt-Howard Christmas collectibles
• Pretty Ladies – Vintage Christmas Head Vases and Planters
• Collecting vintage Christmas angels
• Have yourself a Mid-Mod Christmas
• Collecting vintage Christmas year-round

Some photo highlights from the vintage Christmas series below

Vintage Christmas Head Vases and Planters

✨Collecting Holt Howard Pixieware and Whimsical Kitchen Kitsch✨

August 16, 2020 By: Fan

Yasmina Greco with her Holt-Howard Jam ‘n Jelly Pixieware Jar and matching T-Shirt

There aren’t many kitchen collectibles from the 1950s and 1960s that excite me as much as Pixieware does. From the jam ‘n jelly jars with their little tongues licking the sweet jelly residue from their lips, to the instant coffee pixie jar, relish pixie jar, or the jolly girl set, manufacturers like Holt-Howard, Davar, Lefton, Lipper & Mann, Norcrest, Napco and Menschik Goldman to name a few, displayed creativity at its finest and what thinking outside the box is supposed to be when it comes to dreaming up the colorful creations of the era. Pixieware has been a hot collectible and the enthusiasm continues till this day!!

Holt-Howard Relish Jar with Spoofy Spoon 1958

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Under the Sea: Collecting Vintage 1950s Mermaids and Fish

May 18, 2019 By: Fan

Yasmina Greco Vintage Mermaid Collection Crazy4Me

I am having a grand time enjoying my vintage mermaid and fish collection. These pictures are some of my collection I wanted to share with you. 1950s mermaids are so fabulously retro and kitschy that I am completely obsessed with them and have spent years scouring antique shops, flea markets, estate sales and online market places for the hopes of finding one of these rare sirens of the sea.

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