Author: Eric Grundhauser / Source: Atlas Obscura
Many of the best holiday decorations are ultimately more like artifacts, cheerful objects that are passed down within families and accumulate sentimental attachment with each passing year. Recently we asked Atlas Obscura readers to show us their personal holiday heirlooms, and the spirit of the season was in full force in every response.
You sent us stories about all sorts of magical trinkets and heart-warming ornaments, each one doing its part to help make your holidays special. Among them were Christmas lanterns, a hanukiah made from welded coins, and a… Sasquatch.
For those still looking to get into the spirit of the season, you’ll find some of our favorite submissions below. Oh, and happy holidays!
Christmas Lantern Ornament
“This lantern ornament once lit up. It belonged to my mother’s grandmother, and has survived multiple moves, for over a century. It joins all the other glass ornaments I inherited from the elderly women in my Detroit neighborhood growing up, from all over Europe. It is history on a Christmas tree with a Shiva on top.” — Joan Winslow, Salt Lake City, Utah
Heirloom Hanukiah
“The hanukiah is made of old silver coins from various countries, some going back to the 18th century. The story is that in the village in Poland, near the Ukraine border, members of the congregation supported the rabbi by giving him money. Sometimes the rabbi would bless a few coins and return them to the donor. Since blessed coins were special, they were saved. Eventually, looking for a way to display them, the crafting of the hanukiah was commissioned. In the 1950s, when oil was replaced by candles, the hanukiah started to come apart. We think the flames were too hot. Whenever a repair was attempted, the solder would melt and it would fall apart even more because the silver conducted the heat.
In the 1990s we found a jeweler who knew the ‘cold solder’ method required to repair it. By then, some of the coins had been lost. The jeweler used his own coin for a foot, so that the hanukiah would stand. The coin is from Uruguay.” — Nitza, Connecticut
Grandfather’s Crèche
“My grandfather made a crèche, which our German-American family always called a ‘crib,’ in 1935. He made it from discarded orange crates (roof and floor) and rods used to ship tires, and added electric bulbs to illuminate it. My mother was in kindergarten at the time and was so thrilled that she went to school and told all the nuns, who, of course, roped my grandfather into making one for the convent. She treasured it for her whole life in Kansas City, Missouri, and before she died, she passed it on to me. We decorate at the beginning of Advent, but we only put the figure of Jesus in on Christmas Eve. I have a picture of me putting the figure in every year throughout my childhood, and have carried on the tradition with my daughter.” — Valerie Gotaskie, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Dad’s Christmas Village
“Before my dad passed away in 1997, he made a small holiday village using balsa wood for both my sister and me. He added a snow blanket and small items like snow-covered evergreen trees, small street lights, and an ice skating pond with a bridge over it. It is my most cherished holiday item. It wouldn’t feel like Christmas without it. I am planning on handing it down to one of my children, who have always enjoyed it. It makes me feel close to my father at the holidays!” — Amy Dahn, Aurora, Illinois
Homemade…
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