Somethings Old, New, Green, Redo!: Gurley

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Sunday, November 8, 2015

NOSTALGIA: Antique Show Finds: Grannys' Ornaments

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NOSTALGIA! (2015 post revisit)

Sunday was a great day to visit a Antique Market at the Gray's Lake County Fairgrounds in Illinois. E snagged a cute little table...for $10 outside...there was a fierce wind and it was cold despite the brilliant sunshine in Chicagoland. So we headed inside.
(NOTE: this is November 2020 NOW---and I still don't buy for the Blog!)

I'm new to blogging and have decided to NOT buy for the blog, but only for myself, which is hard when you see so many wonderful things. I forgot the camera and the phone so no pictures of the show...but it was packed with Christmas.

(NOTE: this is November 2020 NOW---and I still don't buy for the Blog!)

But, I was on a search for these OLD Gurley wax ornaments from the 1950s.

Franklin Gurley was a candlemaker and started the W&F Maunufacturing company, and commissioned by an oil company (now ExxonMobil) to use up excess paraffin from oil refinery production. The Gurley's first products were marketed under the name Tavern and you will remember the wax lips and teeth we had in the 1950's for gag gifts and costumes. Then they began a small business making decorative and figurative holiday candles. Eventually this became the Gurley Novelty Company. They were very inexpensive and the ornaments soon followed. Gurley products were mostly sold in dime stores because they were so cheap during the 1940-1960's.

With the resurgence of 1950s vintage, they are collectible again and still quite inexpensive. Though holiday candles, Gurleys were seldom burned because the paraffin burned very quickly and made a pool of colored wax on the tablecloth or table. The ornaments were very thin and fragile, were painted and embellished with old silver glitter, and they melted if stored in the attic or a garage.

My husband and I come from different backgrounds and styles. The one thing we had in common was these wax Christmas ornaments from our grandmothers. Between us we had more than a complete set.

Somewhere along the line in our marriage all our treasured wax ornaments melted in storage. Each year since, we would decorate the tree and talk about who this was from, and on what trip did we get the pineapple, or star, or glass ornament, etc. But always the tree was missing our 1950's wax ornaments from our grandmothers.

My favorite was always the soldier. My family is Danish on my grandmother's side and Danes are partial to black-hats and redcoat soldiers. It is a recurrent theme in all Danish memorabilia.

My oldest cousin, liked the angel, but she was white-blonde just like her.

Yesterday at the antique show I saw many---in various states of yellowed, chipped, slumping and deglittered.

Finally I found these. I think the only one missing now is the the reindeer, which seems elusive even online. They aren't perfect, but neither were Grannys', we are talking late 1940's early 1950's here.

Hubby says the snowman was always his favorite...big smiles from him when I spread out my booty.

So our childhood memories are returned home to us. I'm sure they belonged to someone's grandmother. So, I will be fine calling them Grannys' ornaments again. I haven't cleaned them yet, or yet, decided to REDO or restore them.

What are your favorite childhood ornaments? I know we all have stories connected to these special holiday memories. Please share or post a link to your own Old, New, Green or Redo Christmas favorites in your comments.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own or I am in possesion of the originals,

I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or products used.

Please do not use my photos without linking back to this blog without my permission.

Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Thanks always for stopping by, I love to hear your comments.

I will be sharing at these parties:

Happiness is Homemade

DIY Sunday Showcase
Finding Silver Pennies