I need help. I have purchased these putz houses. They finally arrived. but need advice. I have one stamped Japan anyone have a date? It is the church. Badly Damaged but can be fixed. then I have 8 stamped the republic of china Tiwan(sp). in blue and black ink.
then I have three not stamped at all. I am looking for age. I want to know if I brighten them up if I take away from the age. Never going to sell them just want to have information for my kids so they do not get thrown out should I pass. Aint happening but I will make sure information is in box with houses. As I have already built my own. Never thought I would be able to purchase any. Most older putzes in my experience start at $20-100 depends on age. Any help would be appreciated. Below I will add pics.Cant add to this post cause to big

church damage and stamp

its ok...I didn't realize I should never come out of corner...back I go

Laurie,

Unfortunately the site's software doesn't reduce photo sizes like Facebook does. I tried to update to a version that does and lost everything so I had to go back.

I resized the photos to 800 pixels wide, which will show on most people's devices. I couldn't tell what you meant by republic stamp, sorry.

At first take, I would assume that all the houses with the brick pattern were part of the same set originally. Probably Japanese, even if they didn't all have stamps.

Obviously your church is Japanese. Maybe someone here can point to a copy that isn't damaged in that way, or point you to directions for fixing the damage.

I see a couple in the "group photo" that you didn't take closeups of. The one with the scalloped roof is fairly common, probably Japanese. I think it would have had plain red cellophane rather than patterned windows, but I could be wrong.

Anyone who really knows this stuff want to chime in?

The blue house that sits at an angle is one I don't know very well. Also, is there one like a church without a steeple? I don't know that one either.

Laurie...

I’ll defer anything I’ve mwritten here to the more knowledgeable collectors and historians on the forum…but here are my slightly educated guesses…unless otherwise stamped, I would say they are all Japanese…values?…unknown…but I don’t think that’s why most of us are in the hobby in the first place…it’s not about the money…

I see the following…

Six red brick printed houses…possibly from the same set…1950/1960 vintage…

Blue with red and white check roof…year?…the skewed walls do make this small house interesting…

White building…no architectural features on roof…possibly a church?…year?…

White box shape house with scallop top, grayish blue slant roof house and the blue one with a front entry roof…possibly from one set…1950/1960 vintage…

Tall white and red church with tower that needs repair…year?…this is definitely from the category know as “Green Spots”…

There is an extensive history, with representative photos of the different categories and broad year span details, on Papa Ted’s site…you might want to take a look around…go here…https://cardboardchristmas.com/papateds/

Hope my very basic analysis helps…but like I said…I’m more of a maker of reproductions and not a true collector or historian…

Howard…

Hello Laurie, Here's what I can help you with...

Six red brick printed houses are part of a set but also came with mixed sets with those other flimsy flat bottom houses. The little white church with the feather trees goes with the other three flat bottom houses. All are early 1960's. Two years ago these where selling on Ebay for $3.00 each. Now they're fetching $5.00 to $9.00 each. I don't know why because they are extremely common. More than likey the Japanese were selling these cheap set to the USA but where probably having them made in Taiwan?

Blue with red and white check roof id from the early 1950's. Part of a large group called the "Checkers" The checker pattern can be on the roof, the bottom of the house or around the parameter of the base. This is made in Japan. Today's value from $6.00 to $9.00

The tall white and red church with tower that needs repair is definitely from the category know as “Green Spots" This one is from the Post WWII variety. All pre-war Green Spots have Fuzzy Windows and a Round Paper Label on the bottom the says "Made in Japan". Your's is from the late 1940's to about 1954. This group of Post War Green Spots have some of the largest houses made for the period only out done by the "Cotton Toppped Churches". Your Tower is wrong, you have a mushmosh there. Here's the right configuration... In great shape these will sell from $12.00 to $22.00