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Welcome to Cardboard Christmas!

Your ticket to Christmas past!

Putting little villages up around the nativity or Christmas tree is a centuries-old tradition.  In the late 1800s, cardboard candy boxes shaped like little houses found their way to many of these Christmas villages.  Then, when electric Christmas lights became affordable, the candy boxes were replaced by sets of little houses with holes in the back to accommodate the new light bulbs.  For nearly forty years, many North American homes had at least one set of these little houses, though their popularity faded when houses stopped having parlors and started having television sets. 

Nowadays collectors and fans of vintage Christmas items in general are procuring, protecting, restoring, and reproducing theses charming, once-inexpensive treasures.  While researching articles for FamilyChristmasOnline and other sites, I came into contact with collector Ted Althof (owner of Papa Ted’s Place), and cardboard Christmas house designer Howard Lamey (owner of LittleGlitterHouses.com).  Soon I got to know other collectors, designers, and fans.  I even wrote a number of related how-to articles on this and related topics. 

But I also realized that much of the best information on these little houses and the Christmas villages they comprised for four decades is scattered in hard-to find places.  People new to the hobby have to work through a maze of links to find out what he or she wanted to know.

So this year, I’ve decided to start a new page to:

  • Provide as many useful links as I can to existing resources,
  • Add discussion forums for folks who want to ask questions and share ideas, and, eventually
  • Host articles relating to these little houses and related Christmas traditions.

Several  of the planned features are still unavailable at the moment.  But at least we have a “placeholder” page that makes it easy to find resources now and to add any new resources in a more organized manner.

So, stay tuned, enjoy your hobbies and your holidays, and  especially enjoy any time you have with your family this season!

Paul Race and Family

 


Visit our Sister Christmas Pages
Buyer's Guide Pages
Visit Family Christmas Online Click to return to the Old Christmas Tree Lights Table of Contents Page Free plans and instructions for building your own vintage-style cardboard village. Unique Christmas Gifts and Decorations Big Christmas Trains: Directory of Large Scale and O Scale trains with holiday themes Classic O Gauge Trains
Collectible Villages and Trains

Click to see collectible Christmas villages and trains.

 

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