All about glass Christmas toys

When they talk about the New Year, the tree, Olivier and Santa Claus with the Snow Maiden are immediately remembered. No Christmas tree will shine and look festive without glass toys. Consider the history, design and production of Christmas tree decorations.

Christmas trees began to decorate as early as the 19th century. They began to imitate Europeans and decorate trees in 1860. In Russia, at that time, Christmas tree decorations were not yet made, so they could only be obtained in other states.

Even earlier, young Peter I, while in Germany, drew attention to an unusual Christmas tree, which was hung with various sweets. After becoming king, he introduced a tradition - to celebrate the New Year in the likeness of some European countries. After the death of Peter I, they began to forget about the decree, and the wife of Nicholas I resumed the tradition.

The custom of setting up a Christmas tree and giving gifts has become popular throughout Russia. Let's remember how the first toy appeared. Once the German people had a lean year, as a result, there were no apples, which were the main decoration for the New Year trees. Residents turned to glass blowers with a request to make apples out of glass for decoration. This is how the glass toy first appeared. German craftsmen perfected themselves and learned how to blow a variety of figurines.

Molybdenum glass is used in the production of toys. It is distinguished by its heat resistance and flame resistance. Initially, the future ball looks like a glass tube (glass tube). Each type of jewelry has its own caliber of glass tube, which differs in diameter and wall thickness.

Toys are created in two ways:

• molded blowing;

• free blowing.

Free blowing begins with warming up a part of the glass-walled glass on a special burner. The master brings the glass to softening with a uniform rotation. Then through one of the free ends - the mustache - he blows in air until the desired shape is obtained. After that, the mustache is also heated, twisted and torn off.

Thin and painstaking work requires a lot of experience. To create a ball of the required diameter, the specialist draws in the lungs as much air as is needed for one product. To create the relief, the master uses a special seal, heats the desired side of the ball, softens the glass and presses the surface with a stamp, while drawing in excess air.

Before starting work with molded blowing, they draw a sketch, make a toy from plasticine, and then from plaster. Only after that metal molds are made and production begins. Form blowing begins by heating the "pellet", which is placed in a metal mold, the glass blower blows air and pulls the glass figure out of the mold. The last stage is burner firing.

The next process is silvering. The glass is coated with a thin layer of silver to reflect the light. There are two methods for this processing.

• Cold. Suitable for toys with two ends. The process is rather slow.
• Hot. Applies to products with one end. A silver solution is placed inside and the toy is sent to hot water.

Next comes the process of capturing. The end is cut off and a cap is put on, into which the thread will then be threaded so that the toy can be hung on the tree.

The final stage is painting. In the work of the artist there are several blanks at once. The masters who work with the drawing have a special education, but the illustration on each toy still turns out to be individual. An artist's hand cannot paint two absolutely identical pictures, which is why manual labor is so valuable.

The design of Christmas tree decorations can be absolutely anything. The variety of toys cannot but cause delight - these are tops for Christmas trees, plain balls, hand-painted balls, all kinds of figured products, garlands and beads from small balls. Some old toys have a clothespin instead of a thread cap. The most popular were balloons with the symbols of the year. Handicrafts can be painted in traditional and modern styles, the difference is only in the color scheme.

The main requirements are durability and safety. To avoid disappointment with the choice, you need to adhere to a few rules.

• Places of purchase of jewelry. You should not buy toys in questionable places (crossings or metro). If the storage conditions are violated, cracks and stains on the coating are possible. There are no certificates for toys in such places either, which is a violation.
• Marking. Quality factory products must have a sticker. Or the toys are packed in a wrapper with manufacturer information.
• Fastening. The strength of the mounts for glass toys is especially important. Before paying for the purchase, you need to get the glass jewelry out of the packaging and pull it by the eyelet. If you managed to disconnect it, it is better to refuse such a purchase.

The optimal size of balls for a public street tree is 10 cm, for a house tree - 6 cm, for miniature ones - 2.5 cm.

Ready-made jewelry sets can greatly facilitate the choice of the buyer. One box contains a whole series of toys.

And also do not forget about the style of the tree, for example, whether the decorated tree will be in harmony with the interior of the room.

In Russia, the first glass toys began to be made during the First World War, when the captured Germans showed how to create beautiful balls, beads and garlands to decorate premises.

The theme of the toys corresponded to the events taking place in the country. For example, since 1935, when the New Year holidays were again allowed, the first spruce was decorated with balls with portraits of Politburo members. Currently, jewelry made in 1937 is considered a rarity. Various famous people were depicted on the red background of these toys.

During the Great Patriotic War, the trees were hung with figures of soldiers, toy tanks and airplanes with red stars. Even postcards were issued with the image of Santa Claus beating the Nazis. Nowadays, jewelry of the same color with the image of fairy-tale characters or the symbol of the year is considered an excellent option.

How Christmas tree decorations are created, see the video.