Merck Family's Old World Christmas is just a fabulous company. Their ornaments are detailed & bright, all glittery & joyous. When I had my general store, I couldn't order too many &, without fail, every single ornament went out the door with very happy customers. Sometimes 20-30 at one clip. One of the best memories I have of the store was day, every March, when my MASSIVE first order of the year would arrive & there would be boxes, floor to ceiling, in my office. Glitter, everywhere. The kids who worked for (with) me would all make their way into the office over the next few days while we checked stock, pulled one or two of each different ornament display ... and, of course, do a little shopping, pre-season.
But as wonderful as the ornaments were (and *still are*, I'm quite sure), their cards were simply spectacular. Laced with glitter. I'm sure you've seen the Christmas ones. Those classic vintage illustrations for the season. I see those images in Etsy shops every day, incorporated by collage & altered art artists into their pieces in the most clever & beautiful ways. Around the Christmas holiday, they appear with almost every Etsy Seach I run.
They are classic. They are beautiful. And, whether or not they depict a Christmas that ever was, they surely present a vision of Christmas that our hearts remember.
As much as I enjoyed the Christmas ornaments & cards (and sold the bejeebies out of, I have to say), it was really the *other* holiday ornaments & cards that I loved. Easter, St. Pat's, Mother's Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving ... and Hallowe'en. Especially Hallowe'en. Wonderful, wonderful Hallowe'en. 
My favorite ornaments are & will always be the painted macaroni & glued cotton ball & paper chain ornaments from my daughters. My favorite cards? ... their ornate construction paper & glittered paper doily creations. Of course. Every mother will say this. And not just as a nod to sentimentality. We say it because it is true.
But, after finding the Merck Family's Hallowe'en card above, how could I not melt into a puddle of motherly sentiment? This is my youngest daughter, aged 3, riding a merry-go-round for the very first time at our county fair. She could have been the model for that 100 year old illustration.
And, to this day, now 16 years later, I cannot see anything Old World Christmas without getting a tremendous pang of nostalgia ~ for holidays before, for my general store & those glittering March days & ~ most of all ~ for my daughter's sweet toddlerhood.
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