Old photo of putz display

Post by **Cindy** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 3:12 am

I found this picture somewhere on the internet..not sure where, but copied it. I hope it is okay to post here??

Post by **paulrace** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 9:25 am

Cindy, I love these old photos. Sometimes it's a great exercise to take a photo of one's own putz, and use your image processing software to turn it to black and white, then compare your putz to the old ones and see how close you are getting to the traditional setups. I like doing this with some of Howard's stuff, too, and sometimes it's amazing.

Also, it's FINE to post them here. Thanks,

Paul

Post by **BrianB** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 1:23 pm

This such a great pic!! I cant believe it has the certain church in it. My Grandma bought that church in 1946 the year my dad was born and was the first Putz house my family owned that started her/us collecting. Incidentally I also have the porcelain characters in front of it that I won 2 of by chance in another Putz auction and one of them now resides with my dad who has the church.

Post by **Laurie** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 2:31 pm

What a fun picture; thanks for posting. Looks like a nice little mix of houses too.
- Laurie

Post by **maria** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 8:43 pm

LOVE IT!

Post by **Tom Hull** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 9:43 pm

I have all these pre war houses. I notice what appears to me some sort of mechanical Ski lift in the middle right background. Notice the lovely little steam engine Toy Sawmill on the upper left. Wish I had it for my steam engine! I understand that sometimes people put mechanical things in their tree village which they would operate with a toy steam engine - usually heated with an alcohol lamp!

Post by **paulrace** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 8:27 am

Cindy,

It also gives us a chance to see these structures before someone repainted them garishly and added cheap Chinese trinkets to sell them as "like new" on eBay.

Post by **Cindy** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 11:35 am

So glad I posted it now...I am glad you liked it. Tom I also noticed the ski lift, etc. How fun it would be to have seen this in person.
Paul, I agree, I am most annoyed with some of these old cardboard houses showing up with added glitz and glam. To each his own I guess, but I like them just as they are even if they are showing their years. That is why restoring the high school scares me a little...I hope I am able to do it justice.
I am posting another picture. This was my aluminum tree this Christmas. I have put it up off and on over the years. It is similar to what my grandparents had. My grandfather would have fit right in here...my goodness. He had one room in his house reserved for things he found at "rummage sales" as he called them. He also had a shed where he collected, of all things, old irons...you know for ironing clothing. It was a good sized collection once he died, I often wonder who ended up with it. He loved the Charlie Weaver bartender and other funny tin type toys. He was so proud of his aluminum tree, he got more of a kick out of it than grandma did.
Anyway, here is a pic of mine with the little shiny brite houses like they had on their tree when I was a kid. You can also see a few of Papa Ted's mini coconuts hanging there. My granddaughter was immediately drawn to the shiny brite glitter houses...just as I was as a kid...funny how that is.

Post by **Kathi** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 8:40 pm

I love the stories of the "starter" houses for a collection. I have four houses that were my grandma's, and instead of being in the putz scene (so paltry pre-ebay, and so distant from the putzing mecca Pennsylvania) they were the centerpiece on the dining table. Maybe we all need to submit photos of our "starter" house(s).