Popular from 1928 through the 1950s
Also known as Glitter Houses, Christmas Villages,
Christmas Gardens and Train Gardens
Setting up tiny, glittery houses during the Christmas holidays became widely popular in 1928 and continued for about a decade after World War II ended. But because these kinds of ornaments hold so much sentimental value, they often get passed down for generations to come. (Even if the kids don’t want mom or grandma’s furniture, we want those beloved Christmas ornaments!) These historic vintage villages are particularly sweet: Whether they were arranged as small neighborhood on your mantel, part of a train set scene under the tree or set up in conjunction with a nativity scene — these diminutive buildings allowed both young and old to play as they decorated. Today: The history of what we have been calling “putz” style houses, but which have been sold under a variety of names for — more than a century!
We have several different designs — get to our first tutorial and from there, the various designs.
At our house, we always set up the three tiny structures that were given to us by my grandmother (pictured above) as part of a scene on top of the TV cabinet. They went between the nativity scene that I made out of clay and the Snoopy and Charlie Brown holiday figures we had collected over the years. It was perhaps a strange combination — but one that always delighted my brother and me: our own miniature world.
These small houses — such as the ones above from reader RetroChase (notice the “basket weave roofs) — have been called by a variety of names: Christmas Villages, Glitter Houses, Christmas Gardens, Train Gardens and Putz Houses.
Where does the term “Putz House” come from? Wiktionary says that it comes:
- From Pennsylvania German putz; compare archaic German Putz (“ornament, decoration, finery”), putzen (“to clean; decorate”).
The story seems to be that, in Germany, families would create little holiday scenes — often nativity scenes — in their homes to celebrate Christmas. They would collect the bits and pieces for their tableaus for weeks… hence putzen=”decorate” became putzing=”taking your time to decorate” became putzen=”taking your grand ole time”. [ — Pam’s shorthand, hope I got this right.]
The global expert in Putz house history seems undeniably to be Ted Althof, who began collecting this little houses in the 1970s, and who since then has created an amazing, detailed online history of Putz houses. Seriously: Wow!
We won’t try to replicate his history — it goes on for pages — minutiae about the minute! But in short: These glittery little holiday houses date to 1928 — invented by the Japanese, likely building on the concept of the similarly small “candy box” houses that they had been making for the American market. Their “golden years were from 1928 through 1937, when the looming war discouraged consumption. They saw a dime store revival after World War II — when Japan began making and exporting them. Their popularity waned by 1960, as consumers turned to other holiday decoration fashions.
Again: Check out Ted’s site, it’s amazing.
Above: Reader Mary affectionately refers to her village as “Blinkaville.”
There is a wealth of information available online — photographs and information about Putz houses, patterns and instructions to make your own, people who will build them for you, information on how to make repairs to your vintage houses. And, they seem to be pretty abundant — and a relatively *cheap thrill* on etsy and ebay.
Putz house links
- Cardboard Christmas — Building your own glittered putz houses
- Papa Ted’s Place — History, online museum and more
- Collectors Weekly — History of putz houses
- Christmas Notebook — A step by step guide to building a traditional putz house from a pattern
- Little Glitter Houses — History, photos, parts, patterns, kits and links to more fun
- Antionette’s Christmas Site — photos and info about her putz mantel displays dating back to 2006
- Family Christmas Online — A brief history of Christmas villages
- Big Indoor Trains — Everything you need to build a putz village with trains
- About.com Miniatures — Make a traditional putz or glitterhouse
Get our tutorial and patterns:
Becky from Iowa says
I wonder if these somewhat of a regional tradition? I grew up in the south, and have never heard of these. I don’t believe I’ve even seen them… Which is a little odd, considering my grandmothers family is entirely Pennsylvania German.
Shannon says
Try this link for Ted Althof’s Putz house pics:
http://cardboardchristmas.com/papateds/
pam kueber says
Yes, we have written about this before. https://retrorenovation.com/2012/12/11/vintage-putz-houses-a-history-and-online-guide/
Tom says
Yes, but the link in the original story is no longer good. Shannon’s link is to an archive of Ted’s original info.
Janice says
My parents always displayed their putz houses (or as we called them – glittery houses) on top of the console TV with the fluffy cotton batting stuff to be the pretend snow. We even had little figurines that went with it. I have a clear memory of my Dad covering a butter lid with aluminum foil so it looked like an ice rink since we had ice skaters included in the set. I don’t think my parents have the set anymore, but what I would give to have it now. Great story and great memories!
Helen D. says
Thanks for the putz houses article. In case you did not know, Papa Ted passed this autumn but the website is kept as a tribute.
linda h says
are Kate’s houses HO-guage compatable? may have to dig out the train set.
tammyCA says
Neat site on the Putz…will have to go back and read it all later.
We had Putz houses in the 60s, but sadly they didn’t survive our playing with them. ‘Course we didn’t know what we had, just like many other things that are now collectible. I did find some big ones at Goodwill a few years ago but they were really dirty, damaged so I gave some a makeover & gave them away..kept one, a church in its original dilapidated state ‘tho. I did find a tiny pink house at an estate that I just love…I like tiny better.
Ninaclock says
Just bought my first three at an estate sale for 25 cents each. Now to find time to make the MCM ones!
Diane says
Thanks for the history on these–I need to go into my parents attic and dig out all of the house I remember from childhood!
hannah says
Yay! A new uploader topic! Not that I have anything to contribute, but it’s good to see the weekend (early this time) uploader again. Thanks Pam. 🙂
I don’t remember these from my youth, I ran across them when doing my first Christmas treasury on Etsy. I thought they were charming – all glittery and miniature. My Dad always had a train set up under the tree (running, mind you). Mom, was not into nick-nacks much.
nina462 says
i inherited a set of 5 (in original packaging) from my uncle Charlie when he passed. I now put them up on my tv next to my tree every year. it’s 4 houses and a church.
(I also got all his other Christmas decorations … many from the 50’s – 60’s, lots made in Japan).