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 exactly as Ted left it in October, 2012.
For more information, please scroll to the bottom of the page.

Christmas candolier animation Christmas candolier animation Christmas snowy scene animation
Christmas candle animation Christmas candle animation

Christmas candle animation Christmas candle animation Christmas holly bar graphic
PUTZES from 2010!

NEW PUTZES 2003
NEW PUTZES 2004
NEW PUTZES,2005
NEW PUTZES,2006
NEW PUTZES,2007
NEW PUTZES,2008
NEW PUTZES,2009
BOOKS and MOVIES
MAIN PAGE
TABLE of CONTENTS

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Antoinette Stockenberg -2010

Christmas village mantel panorama
Again, these are just a teaser - the "tip of the iceberg;" there is SO much more! Visit Antoinette's Home Page for an interactive tour of her new and even more spectacular Mantel Panoramas
- theme this year:
"A River Runs Through It"
with accompanying stories of each and every feature. She has added even more lead German flats, or "Zinnfiguren" and delightful fantasies for them all.

*VISIT ANTOINETTE'S HOME PAGE*

Better than ever this year!
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Dave Erickson

Christmas village display
Dave didn't say much, except"Love your website. Keep up the good work!" and sent these spectacular pictures.

Blowup

(Trying something new with "Blowups" in the Putz section. this year. What is your opinion?)

Christmas village display
Dave certainly knows "how to keep Christmas,if ever a man posessed the knowledge."

Blowup


Schwenkfelder Library
and
Heritage Center


Schwenkfelder Center Putz

Blowup

Schwenkfelder Center Putz.jpg
Blowup

November 24, 2010:
Greetings: I came across your website and wondered if you might be interested in some images of our annual Christmas putz. In our case, we don’t always use a tree (though this year we did). We are very fortunate to have the huge putz collection accumulated by one family in Allentown, PA – ranging in date from the 1920s to the 1970s -- to draw upon, and every year it can be different. I think we are the only museum that has an annual putz here in the U.S. – other than the Christmas museum!

This year’s theme is Alpine Village – last year (pictures attached) had 6 tables with different themes.

Please feel free to contact me with questions! We love our putz!

Candace Perry
Curator
Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center
Pennsburg, PA
Schwenkfelder Center Putz
Blowup


*VISIT Schwenkfelder Heritage Center*



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"Boxcar" Jack Ahearn

Pineville Christmas Putz
Jack sent these pictures of a compact, yet exquisite little putz - reminiscent of the simple-oval dealer displays of the early 1920s. The train is definitely of that vintage.
Pineville Christmas Putz
It proves that putzes needn't cover acres to acheive that "Christmas Feeling." I see a mix of everything here. "Pinevilles," pre-War Dolly Toy and Japanese as well as early Lionel trackside telephone and signal poles.
Pineville Christmas Putz
Jack and I share a special-favorite feeling for the peasant-hut with the passageway through the middle. I remember the day my Mom brought a set of "Pinevilles" home from downtown Johnstown, Pennsylvania - Johnstown's very central "Penn Traffic" department store. I have visual memories that can peg that year to 1945. My brother Jim had just been born the summer before and was just now crawling - a putz-Godzilla-threat-to-everything, and he drooled! They were so much more interesting than the simple white Dolly Toy set that had endured the War. Jack wondered why I christened them the "Pineville Set," but that was the name on the railroad station and they always told the town in which you had arrived. Aside from that, little is really known about the "Pinevilles." They are definitely American made Wartime production, appearing in mail-order catalogs as early as 1943. Whoever made them sold millions because they still turn up at flea markets and antique shops regularly, but as to what company made them and where? This remains to be known.
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Robbie Lucke
- of Montana


This is Robbie's for this year.
Miniature Japanese Christmas village houses
Miniature Japanese Christmas village houses
Miniature Japanese Christmas village houses
Miniature Japanese Christmas village houses
Miniature Japanese Christmas village houses
Miniature Japanese Christmas village houses
Miniature Japanese Christmas village houses
What more is there to say about Robbie's ever-growing collection, except to enjoy?"
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"Papa" Ted

This is a link to a Christmas Putz article that the Pittsburgh Post Gazette did on me this week (Dec.18 edition.)

PITTSBURGH POST GAZETTE ARTICLE
- - - - - - - - - - Dec.18, 2010

Gosh,that picture! Maybe you can bear it, but it's got me thinking I need to sell my collection and go shopping for a cemetary plot ...
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Barb Healy

Barb's annual hardware store window!
Christmas store window
The collection is growing by leaps and bounds!
Her theme this year is Santa looking down on the sleeping, peaceful town.
Christmas store window
Christmas store window

I am awaiting a story connected with this. All I know is how I envy that great "FlatIron Building" center. Would you believe "Papa" Ted hasn't got one? So - anyone out there with an excess of these cluttering up the place, please keep me in mind?
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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 exactly as Ted left it in October, 2012.
The archive is kept online with the help of volunteers from:

Visit the FamilyChristmasOnline site for Christmas music, stories, craft resources and much more.
Visit the OldChristmasTreeLights site for the history of Christmas tree lighting, including Bubble Lights and more.
Visit our collection of resources for collecting, restoring, and making your own cardboard Christmas houses.
Visit Howard Lamey's glitterhouse gallery, with free project plans, graphics, and instructions.
Check out  a very active, quality craft and collectibles blog (with local news of Croton NY).
Resources for making seasonal villages and model railroads for O, S, and On30 model railroading