Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Vintage Christmas Photos Part VI: Books on Wheels

In 1949, the city of Los Angeles outfitted 4 large vans with 4,000 books each and sent them into housing developments, shopping centers, parks and schools in low income areas. Each van made twenty-eight 1-3 hour stops a week and between the 4 vans, 250,000 books were checked out per year.

These photographs were taken in 1955 by Joe Friezer, showing the vans fully decorated for Christmas.

Vintage Christmas Photos Part V: Then & Now

In the circa 1940 photograph above, the corner of Grand Avenue and Seventh Street in downtown Los Angeles was a vibrant thoroughfare with numerous pedestrians, automobiles, streetcars and thriving businesses, festooned with Christmas decorations.

Below, the same intersection today, courtesy of Google Earth, looks terribly boring.

An Advent Calendar Feature

We're very happy to have discovered that our advents are featured on a Spanish blog called Kireii.com!

Holiday Project Supplies

Crafting season is in full swing! If you're looking for supplies for creating everything from a gift to the paper to wrap it in, look no further than the Etsy Supply Street Team.

Vintage Christmas Photos Part IV: When He's Not Driving the Sleigh

In Independence, Iowa in 1913, no Santa Claus car outdid this rig, decorated with moose and deer heads, a tree and tinsel festooning.

New Putz House Styles

Snowy Putz Lighthouse

Here's a peek at two putz houses just added to our website.

We make our putz houses entirely by hand from scratch in our California studio. From design to construction to finishing, we spend hours meticulously detailing each piece with carefully chosen elements -- like vintage mercury glass beads, Dresden trim and natural mica -- to capture the charm and elegance of traditional vintage putz houses and the Christmas season.

With cellophane in the windows and a hole in back to accommodate a light, you'll be amazed at how our little houses can whisk you off to your own Christmas dreamland. We include a battery powered flickering tea light for illuminating your house safely.

Snowy Putz Schoolhouse.

Vintage Christmas Photos Part III: Christmas For All

The District Jail in Washington, D.C. didn't scrimp when it came to decorating for the holidays. This circa 1909-1932 photograph shows the inmates gathered around their Christmas tree.