Sample Summaries for Lectures

Any topic tailored to your group's needs.

The Glass Christmas Tree Ornament and Its Evolution

Hans Greiner and Christoph Muller, two of the founding fathers of glass ornament manufacturing in Lauscha, Germany, started work in glass production as early as 1597. As early as the 1840s the first commercial glass ornaments were produced in this area developing in a commercial industry well recognized the world-over for its quality, glass creations. Each ornament is a hand-crafted piece of art prized for its beauty. Sparkling like bright jewels in the tree branches, figural glass ornaments were among the earliest of tree ornaments. Glass ornaments reflect American social and political history recording such figurals as President Taft, Foxy Grandpa, Mary Pickford, Al Jolson, Toonerville Trolley car, hot air balloons, and even zeppelins. Reaching out from Germany, other European countries such as Poland, Czechlosovakia, and even Italy have produced artistic, creative glass decorations for America's trees. This illustrated slide lecture will trace the history of glass ornaments from their early infancy stages in Lauscha to their production today in Germany, Poland, Italy, and Czechlosovakia. The actual process of creating ornaments as well as a history of their makers will be included.

The Christmas Tree- Its Rich Cultural Heritage in America

From its early origins in the Middle Ages, the decorated tree as a focal point of Christmas celebrations has developed a rich history of diverse ornamentation. From edibles and hand-crafted decorations to commercially produced ornaments, these antiques have become highly desired treasures for collectors today. Both European and American artisans have created collectible treasures including Dresdens, wax angels, cotton fabrications, chromolithographs, glass figural ornaments, metal and wood decorations as well as early lighting devices and later electrical lights. Through a detailed, illustrated slide lecture employing black and white photo images of historical trees in past decades and color illustrations of colorful, rich Christmas tree decorations, all Christmas enthusiasts and collectors will gain a historical prospective and more complete understanding of the artistically crafted Christmas antiques now being preserved by collectors across America. In addition, a detailed chronicle of America's tree decorating customs will be woven into this illustrated slide lecture. An up-to-date bibliography of resources in Christmas antiques will be made available to all attendees.

The Nifty Fifties: New Identity through an American Christmas

While the nifty fifties are ancient history to some, to others this decade is but a recent period of rich American history in which we sought a new identity for Christmas: Plastic, aluminum trees, bubble lights, lead icicles, and so much more. Who could forget The Lone Ranger, The Mickey Mouse Club, and Roy Rogers. Looking at the fifties from a historical point, we will look at a decade which had a profound effect upon America's decorating tastes and customs. As Americans, we turned from our European counterparts to create our own identity. This slide lecture will examine this new direction through historical images of homes and trees decorated for Christmas, catalog pages illustrating toys and decorations, images of the ornaments, trees, and decorations themselves, and a brief look at some of the customs of this period through narrative and highlights from cultural history of each of the 1950s years. An up-to-date bibliography of resources in Christmas in the 1950s will be made available to all attendees.

Halloween: A Rich American Tradition.

While many individuals equate Halloween with Dracula and Frankenstein and other such scary creatures, there is so much more. What is the meaning and symbolism behind bats, Jack o'Lanterns, witches, skeletons, ghosts, and black cats? This slide illustrated lecture traces the history of Halloween, its symbolism, and its rich traditions explaining the existence of this holiday, the rich traditions around trick-or-treating,, and why it falls on October 31st. In addition, Halloween decorations, costumes, and especially ideas for decorating houses at Halloween will be a portion of this talk. An up-to-date bibliography of Halloween sources will be made available to all attendees.

Valentines and St. Valentine's Day: Romantic Fantasy

Who is Saint Valentine? Although the name of St. Valentine appears on calendars, the Church does little to observe him. In fact, only America and England keep his memory alive to any extent. The date for Valentine's Day was changed to February 14 by Pope Gelasius in 496 to coincide with the date of the execution of Valenisus, therefore de-paganizing Lupercalia by changing both the name and the date. These same historians feel that the popular belief as early as the fourteenth century that the birds begin to pair on this day eventually developed into the custom of young men and women choosing each other for Valentines on February 14 and then sending each other letters. It is this tradition that most doubtedly led to the popular custom of sending Valentine cards as we do today. Over the years, thousands upon thousands of Valentines have been sent and received. This lecture will explore the decades and explore the types of valentines sent as well as customs surrounding this holiday.

Post World War II Christmas in America: 1940-1969

These three decades were a period of history which has seen rapid technological changes, worldwide global concerns and partnership, and unbelievable changes in Christmas decorations and in decorating customs. The war years were ones of mixed emotions, but when it came to Christmas there were scant few who felt this holiday should not be decorated. In fact, adults attempted to create that "perfect" Christmas for their children. Immediately after the war, Christmas was to change with the advent of technology. What about bubble lights, plastic ornaments and decorations, midget lights from Italy, Corning ornaments from the USA, the aluminum Christmas tree with the revolving color-wheel floodlight? All these trends and more will be covered in this illustrated slide lecture which is a nostalgic look at our American Christmas today as reflected in our past. A bibliography of books helping to gain a better understanding of these decades will be given to all attendees.

More sample summaries will be following. If there is any topic dealing with the celebration of holidays in which your group is interested, please relay that topic to me and I will provide a summary of such a presentation.