ornaments

This time of year there are lots of television shows, magazine articles and blog posts on decorating for the holidays. Just look at how awesome Wanda’s display of vintage holiday and greeting card boxes is on the mantel. I’m super jealous — and not just because I dig another person who collects empty old boxes.

Wanda's Mantle Display Of Vintage Holiday Boxes

Everyone mentions the fireplace, with family snuggled ’round the fire and the mantel laden with everything holiday, right down to the frankincense and myrrh. I’ll admit I have fireplace envy. Warm family moments of the emotional variety are nice, the winters here in Fargo are brrr-awful (you’d think they’d be standard up here, right?); but the real reason I covet a fireplace is for the mantel’s display space.

Not only does a lofty perch above the fray of family activity (including the wag of a dog’s table-clearing tail) hold out more hope for the survival of collectibles, but said higher placement makes the collection more visible — to my own appreciative eye and, hopefully, guests’ too.

But before I become a mantel-case, let me continue with some tips on holiday decorating which are also good ideas for display of collectibles in general — fireplace mantelpiece or no.

This year, I was delighted to discover how to put those empty vintage sleighs found at thrift stores to good use, holding non-seasonable collectibles.

Kitschy Poodles Go For A Sleigh Ride

The bad news? I feel a vintage sleigh collection coming on. (I can totally rationalize additional purchases because they are ’storage’ pieces.)

Of course, sleighs are a bit seasonal… But the idea can be twisted. In fall, I could place collectibles in (and spilling out of) cornucopias. And, sticking with the transportation theme, perhaps I could move all my poodles into dump trucks.

Also at Gadabout, Katelyn Thomas shows how to use tiered stands to display ornaments; suitable for any season and any smaller collectible objects.

Katelyn's Tiered Ornament Collection Display

So keep an eye on the holiday decorating tips; who knows what ideas you’ll find for ways to display your collectibles?

After reading my Collectors’ Quest article on chalkware, Luke M. Vaillancourt, of Vaillancourt Folk Art contacted me — and if that name seems familiar, it’s because Luke is the son of founder & artist Judi Vaillancourt. The family business has been creating chalkware figurines in Massachusetts for the past 25 years.

Original Father Christmas Vaillancourt Chalkware Piece

Vaillancourt Folk Art was founded in 1984 by Judi Vaillancourt, a formally trained illustrator and architectural historian, and her husband Gary Vaillancourt, who came from the computer imaging industry. Judi used three of her antique chocolate moulds by pouring them with liquid chalkware and handpainting the resulting figures. During the last 25 years the company has sold to such retailers as Nordstroms, Saks, Neiman Marcus and many more. More importantly to Judi, she has also created product and programs with museums such as Colonial Williamsburg, The Boston museum of fine Arts, The metropolitan and many others. Today the company employs approx 25 employees in their Sutton, MA. Studios. Visitors can see the painters creating the Vaillancourt originals, tour the Vaillancourt Christmas museum and adventure through one of America’s most interesting retail galleries.

Since one of the goals of VFA is to create pieces that will be collected and passed down for generations, Luke naturally agreed to an interview here at Collectors’ Quest so that you all could become smitten and begin collecting. *wink*

Luke, what was the first piece made?

The first Santa made was the VFA Nr. 101, Original Santa in a Red Coat, using an Anton Reiche chocolate molds.

Have there been any special pieces, limited editions, etc., that have become very popular (and perhaps pricey) with collectors on the secondary market?

There have been many special limited editions made over the last 25 years but two stand out: Every year for the last 20 years the Vaillancourt’s have made a Santa that benefits the Starlight foundation. The piece is produced each year from May until Christmas and it is then retired. The first Santa done in 1990, which sold for $95, sold last year on the secondary market for $2,300. This series tends to be the most highly sought after collection.

1st Annual Starlight Santa by Vaillancourt Folk Art

The other rare item is the two versions of chess sets that Judi did in the late 1980’s. Both sets sold out very quickly and are also highly sought after on the secondary market.

Chess sets?

My mother first started doing folk art and historical restorations (the company started as Vaillancourt Folk Art & Friends), so her first few chalkware pieces were a Noah’s Ark that she created from wood and hand painted (accompanied with chalkware animals), wooden (followed by chalkware) clock faces, a Parcheesi game board with pieces (VFA Nr. 1004), and then two different Chess Sets.

The first Chess Set (VFA Nr. 1000) consisted of a wooden board that fit over the bottom that held the pieces that she had constructed and painted with a Christmas theme. The pieces used miniature chalkware figurines and was created as a limited edition set of 25. The sets sold out at a retail price of $3,000. One recently was found on eBay being sold for $7,500.

Vaillancourt Christmas Chess Board #1000

Vaillancourt Chalkware Chess Pieces, Set #1000

The second chessboard set (VFA Nr. 1003) was introduced a year later (1989) and was a limited edition set of 25 also selling retail for $3,000.

Vaillancourt Folk Art Chess Board #1003

Vaillancourt Holiday Chess Set #1003 Chalkware Chess Pieces

It is also worth noting that Judi had licensed several designs to Gorham Silver (1986) which manufactured another set of chess boards and pieces that sometimes surface on eBay. “Vaillancourt Folk Art for Gorham” was sold after a year of producing several small ornaments and Vaillancourt Folk Art ended it’s relationship with foreign manufacturers.

Do you or your mother collect chalkware?

Personally, I have about 75 – 100 chalkware Santas, Halloween figures, and rabbits. While I do have some favorites that I buy, most of them have been given to me from grand parents that have passed. To have a piece that was cherished by my grandmother or grandfather makes it all that much more special to me. And that is really our goal, to create an heirloom that can be passed on to family members.

Do you have a favorite Vaillancourt piece? If so, which one & why?

I always seem to change favorites with each year… I always find one that I love, but once my mother designs a new piece for the following year, I seem to adopt a new favorite. My current favorite is the Small Father Christmas because of the size, shape, color, rosy cheeks, and the amazing silhouette city on the back of the coat.

What &/or who inspires your mother’s designs?

Judi’s designs are often inspired by history. She studies constantly and whether it is an antique post card, fabric sample or architectural element it works into her designs. She is never influenced by what sells best (much to my father’s chagrin) but what moves her at the time and looks good! She is always using for historical references in design.

Judi Vaillancourt At Work

Why make chalkware rather than items made of resin, etc.? Doesn’t the fragile nature of the material make for more fragile heirlooms?

The reason chalkware was chosen was because of the painting surface that it has. It is smooth and lends itself like a canvas to the fine detail of our oil paints. My mother was the first to use this surface as a canvas for oil paints.

Come back tomorrow for Part Two of the interview — and find out what really, really impresses me about Vaillancourt Folk Art!

Kitty Cane Ornament

You know the old saying, “With friends like that, who needs enemies?” Well I’ve got friends like that. Actually, that’s unkind — I’m sure she didn’t mean to do what she did…

She sent me a sweet gift, a pick-me-up between friends; she likely had no idea that she’d set the collector’s illness a-flowing through in my veins…

She sent me Kitty Cane (complete with red glitter and a pink poodle), one of the adorable, risqué pieces from the Alley Cats series.

The Alley Cat series of “glamour pusses and sex kittens rolled into some tough hair balls” is by Margaret Le Van Dominguez of Margaret Le Van Designs.

Daisilyn Monroe Alley Cat

If that name sounds familiar, you might remember the designer from her line of hand painted evening bags and custom totes (sold through MooRoo Handbags) which were seen on Friends and even made Oprah’s “O” List.

Prior to handbag fame, Margaret Le Van Dominguez was a professional decorative artist, specializing in faux finishes, trompe l’oeil murals and hand painted furniture. Now she splits her time between creating fine art and licensing her paintings, illustrations and other designs, including the delightfully whimsical Alley Cats.

Alley Cats are the purr-fect combination of humor and classic film glamour, so they hit all my hot buttons. Each feline has her own story, or bio — rather like (but shorter than) my other glam obsession, Gene Dolls — which fuels my fascination.

The polyresin Alley Cats appear on red carpets and even as domestic divas — always keeping their girlie glam. And there even are swanky male Alley Cats too!

Male Alley Cats

My Kitty Cane is an ornament, a product of Kurt S. Adler, Inc., but Artisan Flair, Inc. began producing the Alley Cats line in 2004 — which means I am four years behind!

And so that’s where my sweet, well-meaning friend has gone and done something she never meant to do — she’s got me thinking I can’t stop at just one… And I can’t even just settle for the new releases, but must be on the prowl for all the Alley Cats. So that’s what she’s done; she’s started me on another addiction, another collection. I honestly couldn’t be more thrilled — she’ll just have to live with the knowledge that she’s now my enabler. *wink*

Alley Cats

I recall one of our earlier garage sales. Our daughters were 5 and 6 and had a lemonade stand in the driveway leading to my mother-in-law’s garage. We were renting at the time and since her home had a basement, nice garage and lots of storage, having a sale at her place worked well for us.
Our daughters sat in their little sun dresses, lovingly made by my mother-in-law (a story for another time), hair in pigtails and sweet little faces. Folks would come and go and most were charmed by them, often giving them a dime or two whether they had a cup of the tart liquid or not.
Out of an old, worn-out Cadillac came a very tall gent. He had a baseball cap, long white beard and was chewing on a cigar. He took long strides, walked up to the lemonade stand, very purposefully and questioned in a loud voice “Got any FOBS?” The girls looked at each other and just stared. He was quite imposing, but also what had he asked? The younger one asked him “what did you want to know?” He said it again, this time with even more gusto “Got any FOBS?” By then, I had finished wrapping a customer’s purchase and walked toward them. I overheard his question and replied “Sorry, no we don’t.” He abruptly turned and got back in the car, driving off.
The girls still sat there, not sure what had just happened, and then they started to giggle. Then they chuckled, quietly at first and then it erupted into a full blown belly-laugh! Before their imaginations could lead them in a wrong direction, I went to the table and explained that the man had meant ‘pocket watch fobs’, generally medallions or ornaments that were attached to watch chains from years ago. These would aid in removing the watches from the vest pocket. At that time, they were highly collectible and sought after.
Through the years, this episode has brought some laughs. We have repeated it to friends and when the girls hear we are setting up at a flea market, one or the other inevitably asks “got any fobs?” We generally do, because they do not seem to be as collectible as in years gone by.
We’ve listed some on ebay recently and of the four we put on, only one sold. The other ones went to re-listing, and eventually, back to their box in the ‘inventory room.’ Most of the examples we have had through the years were advertising fobs, from companies such as Allis-Chalmers, Harnischfeger, Cutler-Hammer and the like. We also had quite a few from fraternal groups such as the Masons, Odd Fellows, Elks, Eagles and Modern Woodmen of America. Others were from insurance companies, banks, religious groups and various college fraternities.
We have a reproduction of an 1896 Marshall Field & Co. Catalog. There are quite a few “high end” fobs shown. The ones with 10 karat gold mountings went for $5-$11, the lesser ones for $1.50 to $3.00.These were also given to valued employees as presentation pieces, perhaps for long service or reaching a company-set goal.
Fobs were made of many materials including gold, platinum, sterling, leather, cloth even human hair. These hair pieces were lovingly made by the wives who saved strands in hair receivers on their vanities, then wove them for their husband’s cherished pocket watch. These still sell today, but more for the hair-jewelry-concept.
A few years back we were offered the chance to buy a collection of 700+ fobs, all of them advertising for manufacturing firms in the mid-west. We realized that these were not selling as readily as in the past and also that there are TONS of reproductions out there and these are not highly valued. So we passed. It is one of those things that you just never know for sure. But in hind-sight, we are glad we did not take them. We are just not seeing the sales where they should be. We mentioned this to a dealer-friend. He shook his head and said – who do you know that wears a pocket watch today? Even if they have a new one, or grandpa’s, with casual attire at work being so popular, you don’t see suits and vests being worn. Plus, many of the companies are gone and unknown to the collectors who are starting out today. I repeated our garage-sale-story to him and he laughed. He said a lot of younger folks would be laughing at that request today.
There are still a lot watch fob collectors out there, and from what we understand, an active group known as the International Watch Fob Collectors Association as well. But they do not seem to be as popular as years gone by. We wonder if they will make a come-back and we’ll see them proudly displayed by our grandsons – but it is doubtful.
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I vividly remember getting ready to go to my grandma’s house on Christmas Eve! Our family consisted of mom, daddy, my older brother Mike, younger sister Vicki and me! We would all get dressed in our “Sunday best”; the girls in dresses, my dad and brother in a sport coat and dress slacks; often a tie. Mom was clever because she’d pack more casual attire for after dinner so we could be more relaxed. But she tried to impress upon us how important it was to dress for the occasion.
Mom tried to ‘hasten the pace’ and keep us on some type of schedule, but usually one of us would pose a problem. Oftentimes it was Mike. He was not a ’social butterfly’ by any stretch and would balk at the idea of getting dressed up, or being told to put his sports collectibles away for the night. He hated it when the aunts and uncles would make comments such as ‘how you’ve grown since last time we saw you.’ Often it was only a few months since we’d been together, but Mike seemed to be a ‘constant grower’, which was an exception in our family. Dad was only 5′9” and Mike ended up at 6′3”! But somehow, we’d all be ready to go, presents neatly stacked in the trunk, mittens located and coats on, ready for the ride.
Of course, we sang carols along the way, all the favorites! The windows would be pretty steamed up by the time we got there. In attendance were my grandparents, 5 sets of aunts and uncles, 8 cousins, a few good friends of my grandparents that we’d call “aunt” and “uncle” out of respect.

The house was always warm and welcoming, a real Christmas tree with lots of ornaments (many of which I wish I had today), a fire in the fireplace, decorations everywhere. My grandparents lived in the upper of a duplex that my aunt and uncle owned and the celebrations were held in the lower part and basement. (I was much older when I learned that my grandparents had borrowed my aunt and uncle the money for the house with the proviso being that they could live there as long as they wanted. And both grandma and grandpa lived to be in the late 80’s.)
We’d start out going up to grandma’s place and turning the stairway, we’d always rush quickly past her sewing room. She had a dress form near the window and we’d always imagine she was a person standing by the window – at the time, pretty darn spooky! We’d enter the room, getting hugs from everyone. We were a very affection family. (Years later, my new sister-in-law would comment “you people hug every time you leave the room to go to the bathroom!”) I loved to sit in the big chair by grandma’s crystal lamp. It had a really pretty pattern, looked like prisms. I found out that when my parents were newlyweds, they had given it to my grandparents for Christmas. And as luck would have it, my grandma gave it to me for our home when we were newlyweds. We have it in our bedroom and it still makes me smile to look at it. It is a treasure.
When everyone was there, we’d have a toast to “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year” and the kids would have ginger ale in a fancy wine glass so we’d all feel special. It bubbled like champagne and tickled your nose. Then came the moment we’d all waited for – opening of the presents! One year was really special.

My grandparents gave each of their 6 children an envelope (this was way before the times of giving gift cards, so no one had a clue what was inside.) I clearly recall all of the adults hugging, kissing and even crying when they opened them up.

The kids were confused and nothing was said for quite a while. I found out several months later that my grandparents had decided to give a little of the ‘estate’ early so they could actually watch the faces of their children, rather than being gone and unable to do that. They gifted each couple $1,000, which was huge in those days and still is a lot today. We got a new TV, one that did not need to be pounded to keep the picture still, and each of us got a new winter coat, even mom, who often was the last to get new things.

I think of that often, the concept of being able to see the reaction ‘in person’, it was a wonderful gesture and for my grandparents who came here from Austria in the early 1900s with virtually the clothes on their backs and a duffel bag, this was quite an accomplishment.
After the gift-giving we’d head down to Uncle Al’s basement/rec room for dinner.

Nicely decorated with a tree, lots of lights and the Christmas cards all hung on a ‘line. There’d be more toasting (a few of my uncles probably really got ‘toasted’) and they’d play the stereo and we’d dance for hours. About midnight it was time to go home, exhausted, happy and filled with more memories.
Today I sit here smiling, waiting for my family to arrive. Two beautiful daughters and their wonderful husbands, five gorgeous, beloved grandchildren, all ready to be hugged and welcomed. We try to keep some traditions but I am looked at in disbelief when I suggest Christmas carols, especially by our youngest granddaughter who suggests that we ’sing tomorrow grandma.’

But the gift-exchange, story telling and reminiscing go on for hours. I look at each one and thank God for them and for having these sweet memories, from the past, and the present.
Wishing all who read our blogs a wonderful holiday season and marvelous memories.