Note: This is an archive of "Papa" Ted Althof's online tribute to cardboard Christmas "putz" houses and their history. At Ted's request, this archive was established in early 2012. Except for critical updates and announcements, it will remain as Ted left it in October, 2012.
For more information, please scroll to the bottom of the page.

WW I early Xmas shopper poster WW I early Xmas shopper 
poster

Note from Editor: Ted loved hearing from people, and he when he learned something new or saw a building he had never seen before, he often turned around and posted it for the rest of his readers. This is the page he used to ask people to use to send him e-mails. We have replaced Ted's e-mail address with a contact page for the CardboardChristmas.com(tm) site, on which this archive resides.

If you can't tell from the "alert" below, Ted was used to typing out long, thought-out answers to most reader questions, and it would frustrate him when he would spend a half hour on a response only to have it bounce because the original sender had their spam-filter set on "kill." I sympathize, since I've had exactly the same thing happen agains and again. But Ted never stopped answering questions until he was literally too sick to do so.

ALERT !!!

I have an occasional problem answering some customers whose e-mail filters and spam-blockers are not letting our replies get through. I am not ignoring you - I just can't get past your barriers and you would not be aware of that. When you e-mail an inquiry, be sure you set your filter or blocker to accept my e-mail address.
*******************

To contact the archivists for this site please use the following:
Contact Page




******************************
TABLE of CONTENTS




holly
For information about this site, please contact us at:
http://cardboardchristmas.com/papateds/contact.htm

Copyright 2000-2012 Theodore H. Althof,Jr.Except where noted, the contents of this website and all it's pages and submissions therein contained are the intellectual property of Theodore H.Althof,Jr. All rights are reserved. (Background musical selections are,of course, excepted.)

Note:
This archive was set up at Ted's request in early 2012, and, except for critical updates and
announcements, will remain as Ted left it in October, 2012.
The archive is kept online with the help of volunteers from the following affiliated sites and resources:
- Christmas Memories and Collectibles -
Visit the FamilyChristmasOnline site. Visit our collection of resources for collecting, restoring, and making your own cardboard Christmas houses. Return to the OldChristmasTreeLights Welcome page Visit Howard Lamey's glitterhouse gallery, with free project plans, graphics, and instructions. Visit Papa Ted Althof's extensive history and collection of putz houses, the largest and most complete such resource on the Internet. Craft and collectibles blog with local news of Croton NY.
- Family Activities and Crafts -
Click to see reviews of our favorite family-friendly Christmas movies. Free, Family-Friendly Christmas Stories Decorate your tree the old-fashioned way with these kid-friendly projects. Free plans and instructions for starting a hobby building vintage-style cardboard Christmas houses. Free building projects for your vintage railroad or Christmas village. Click to find free, family-friendly Christmas poems and - in some cases - their stories.
- Trains and Hobbies -
Visit the Internet's largest resource on choosing and displaying Christmas trains. Visit Lionel Trains. Click to see Thomas Kinkaded-inspired Holiday Trains and Villages.
Learn about backyard railroading with Family Garden Trains
Click to see HO scale trains with your favorite team's colors.
Resources for O gauge and On30 model railroading
- Music -
Carols of many countries, including music, lyrics, and the story behind the songs Wax recordings from the early 1900s, mostly collected by George Nelson.  Download them all for a 'period' album.
Best-loved railroad songs and the stories behind them.
Heartland-inspired music, history, and acoustic instrument tips. Own a guitar, banjo, or mandolin?  Want to play an instrument?  Tips to save you money and time, and keep your instrument playable.
The struggles and influences of early Jesus Musicians and others who laid the groundwork for the Christian music and worship that is part of our lives today.