Glass Christmas decorations: made in Russia

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The first associations that a person has when mentioning the New Year are associated with a Christmas tree and fragile glass decorations on it. These are the most pleasant childhood memories.

Unfortunately, modern Christmas decorations, mostly made in China, made of plastic or foam, are no longer fragile. They no longer evoke that quivering feeling when you hang an ornament on a Christmas tree with trembling hands, trying not to break it. But thanks to the work of domestic glass-blowing factories, the popularity of glass toys in Russia is beginning to revive, and their products are becoming more beautiful and interesting.

History of glass Christmas decorations

Germany is considered the birthplace of glass Christmas decorations. It was here in the 19th century in the city of Lauscha that the world's first apple-shaped ball was made. The choice was not random. For Thuringia, 1848 turned out to be a poor harvest, and very few apples were harvested. Therefore, local glassblowers decided to make glass fruits, after which they successfully sold them at the fair. From that time on, mass production of toys was organized to decorate fir trees and houses with them the day before. Christmas and New Year celebrations.

In the same 1848, the first glass-blowing factory was opened in Russia, where serfs made dishes, bottles and other products. Its location is the Moscow region, the city of Klin. During the war, the plant was almost completely destroyed, but by the beginning of the 50s, the pre-war level of production was reached by local residents.

Glass Christmas decorations continue to be produced today at the Yolochka factory, but already in the neighboring village of Vysokovsk. Not far from the location of the former plant, there is the only museum in Russia, Klinskoe Compound.

Production technology

In most factories that operate today in Russia, toys are made by hand. This process is quite laborious.

The first stage of production begins in the glassblowing shop. The starting material for the manufacture of toys is glass in the form of thin tubes about 50 centimeters long. Then it is heated to a temperature of 1000 degrees and blown out with the help of a worker's lungs. The result is a transparent glass toy that still needs to cool before moving on to the next stage of production. From one such tube comes 20 round balls or 5-10 icicles or tops per Christmas tree. The maximum balloon size that can be blown is 15 centimeters in diameter.

The second stage is silvering. It consists in the fact that a special solution is injected into each ball, consisting of silver oxide, ammonia and distilledwater. Then the toy is dipped into hot water and shaken, while the silver settles on the walls, and the figure ceases to be transparent. Then the ball is painted in one color and dried.

At the third stage, glass Christmas decorations are hand-painted. After the drawing is applied, the figure is covered with a special transparent glue and sprinkled with gold chips.

The fourth step is to cut off the long "neck" of the ball with a diamond wheel, fasten the clasp and pack the toys. It is in this form that she enters the stores, and then to our homes.

Production of glass Christmas decorations in Russia: famous factories

Today, there are several domestic factories for the manufacture of Christmas decorations. They produce a variety of glass Christmas decorations. Russia is rapidly increasing production volumes, providing itself and neighboring countries with fragile products.

The oldest enterprise for the production of Christmas tree decorations is located in the city of Vysokovsk, Moscow Region. Its modern name is Yolochka JSC.

A 70-year-old manufacturing enterprise is located in Pavlovo-Posadsky district (Danilovo village). All glass Christmas decorations are made and painted by hand. They can be called truly unique, since the pattern of each figure is repeated no more than 500 times.

Another factory for the production of Christmas decorations, Ariel, is located in Nizhny Novgorod. itthe modern enterprise continues the work of the well-known in the USSR Gorky fishing artel "Children's Toy", founded in 1936. All products are made according to European quality standards, therefore they are known not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders.

Glass Christmas decorations: price per set

Glass toys have never been cheap. Manual labor requires appropriate payment, but you can get a product with a unique pattern and hand-painted. How much can you buy a set of glass Christmas decorations?

So, for example, a pack of 6 balloons and a top costs about 700 rubles. But New Year's sets, consisting of 32 items, will cost 3,500 rubles. On sale there are also large balls with a diameter of up to 10 centimeters. The price of one such toy will cost 250-300 rubles.

Christmas decorations made of glass come from childhood. They will never be replaced by toys made of plastic or other artificial materials.