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:
Sandra says
Always something new and interesting.
(Could you please fix this typo? “Their popularity wanted by 1960” – should be “waned.”)
pam kueber says
fixed! thank you!
Laura E. says
There’s a picture of me I love–my first Christmas, 1965, with my great-grandmother and my cousin, whose first Christmas it also was, in front of the family putz village with my grandfather’s train going around it. I’d upload it if I could! (Yes, we still have the village and figures, though sadly not the train set.)
Nancy Stevenson says
Hey you guys! We completed our little village of Kate’s Putz houses! We LOVE them! It is the cutest thing ever!!! I am somewhat artsy-craftsy, but my hubby is not. We each made one of each pattern… He tried and tried to keep perfecting his… LOL… being a guy and a geek and all… a bit obsessive about making it work better… I went with whatever the project dished out to me, and really enjoyed it! We had a date night, drank wine, and got er done. Would love to send a photo- and each house takes about 6-7 hours! We love our village and thanks for the ideas! :o)
pam kueber says
Uploader for these houses coming TODAY at noon! Get your photos ready!
Jennie O says
I recently bought several vintage ones at an estate sale for $3 each! (bargain!!) to add to my collection of other vintage ones I already owned. They are possibly my favorite Christmas decoration.
Leslie says
Another morning with a cup o’ joe and spending more time than I should going through the pictures and history of the Christmas Villages on Ted’s website. I loved the old department store Christmas window displays, what a delight! Thanks for this story and starting my day off with a smile.
Janet in CT says
Where are the department store window displays? I must have missed them. I ran across them several years ago and found them so fascinating. I don’t even remember them from my childhood but what a great hobby/collection!
Robin, NV says
My grandmother had a village of putz houses that always went up on the mantel. I remember I wasn’t allowed to play with them – probably because they were too delicate for a 6-year-old. I wonder if she still has them. Guess I’ll have to call my grandma tonight!
As an aside – my mom always accused my stepdad of “futzing” around. I’ll have to let her know it’s really “putzing.”
hannah says
Hi Robin –
In our house too, it was always referred to as ‘futzing’. I’ll have to check out Papa Ted’s page (open as I type) and read the history!
Bill says
I wish I have the vintage ones, but have started to collect the modern ones…(blush) even at 47, there is something magical about setting up the village for Christmas. Good article Bill
Lynne says
I volunteer at a thrift store, and two of these little houses were donated yesterday. They are stamped Japan on the bottom, so I guess they’re the real thing. Not in the greatest condition, but I bought them anyway.
Jenny A. says
Thanks for the history, Kate! I’ve enjoyed your little putz houses very much although I was wondering about the name. When I think of the word “putz” I associate it with being slow because my German-descended mother was always accusing me of “putzing around”, ha ha. I wondered how it connected to the houses because it’s not a word you hear a lot and I didn’t think “slow house” made much sense 😉
Jay says
Kate, great story! Glad to see you linked to Papa Ted. I came across his site acidently a few years ago and return each year around Christmas to look at the pictures. You can spend a lot of time perusing the site.