8 Pink and Yellow Stripes Unsilvered Glass WWII Christmas War Ornaments Eight American made glass Christmas ornaments produced during World War II, when shortages and rationing forced American ornament manufacturers to use transparent colors and painted designs instead of silvering their ornaments.

The four striped magenta pink ornaments are just over 2" diameter and have Shiny Brite metal caps but I don't know if they're original - many war ornaments were made with paper caps. Three have the same colored stripe configuration, wide yellow over white and blue. One has a narrow center blue stripe surrounded by two wide white bands. These are in very good condition with bright colors and little wear.

The other four ornaments are a little smaller, about 1-3/4" or so diameter. Two are bright magenta pink, one with painted green leaves or flower petals below the cap. One is bright opaque yellow with lavender stripes, the other is clear with white stripes and a piece of wired silver and red cellophane tinsel. These two have some wear to the yellow paint and the white stripes as shown, the small magenta ornaments have bold color with virtually no wear.

Circa: 1942 - 1945
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: Shiny Brite and Others  

Red With Mica Stripes Unsilvered War Glass Barrel Christmas Ornaments These four 1940s unsilvered war ornaments are especially nice and very scarce. They are 2-1/4" high, ringed barrel or accordion shape, painted a deep transparent cherry red. The rings of the barrels are thickly coated in mica glitter stripes - one band of white at the center, two bands of blue mica above and below.

This shape ornament is usually found with Shiny Brite metal caps, but all of the ornaments have caps marked Made In U.S.A. The ornaments were made at the Corning Glass factory and sold to a number of manufacturers who decorated them and marketed them under their own brand names. Some of the metal caps have rust specks, otherwise the ornaments are in wonderful condition for their age with little to no wear to the finish and mica.

American unsilvered war ornaments were only produced for two or three years during World War II and are by their very nature scarce and finite in quantity (as soon as the war ended the manufacturers went back to producing silvered ornaments). They are highly collected today and will only increase in value as their numbers dwindle from loss, breakage, and absorption into private collections.

Circa: 1943
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: Corning Glass Works  

Dozen WWII Unsilvered Glass Christmas War Ornaments These 12 unsilvered American glass Christmas ornaments were made in the World War II years, 1942 to 1945. The ornament manufacturers had to use transparent sprayed, flashed, and painted-on colors during that time due to military rationing and shortages of silver nitrate.

The ornaments vary in size between 2-1/4" and 3" diameter. Most have metal caps, many of which are no doubt replacements for the original paper or cardboard caps. One still has its original string-and-stick hanger which looks homemade but was actually produced that way at the factory. They have background colors of blue, red, pink, and clear, with painted stripes or mica glitter decoration. One ornament is bell shaped with a sprig of wired tinsel inside. Some have typical color wear or paint loss as shown but all are perfectly displayable on your vintage Christmas tree.

Circa: 1942 - 1945
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: American War Era Production  

Shiny Brite Unsilvered Mica Yellow Pink WWII Glass War Christmas Ornaments These unsilvered striped glass Christmas ornaments were made by Shiny Brite in the World War II years, 1942 to 1945. The ornament manufacturers had to use transparent sprayed, flashed, and painted-on colors during that time due to military rationing and shortages of silver nitrate.

All have transparent painted purple or magenta rings or stripes with yellow and white mica bands. The round ornament is 2-1/4" high by 2" diameter, the two bell ornaments are about 2-1/8" high to the tops of the metal Shiny Brite caps. There is some wear to the mica glitter as shown, particularly on the bells, otherwise good vintage condition.

Circa: 1942 - 1945
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: Shiny Brite  

4 Unsilvered WWII Mica Snow Capped Dark Pink Glass Christmas War Ornaments A set of four transparent, unsilvered American made glass Christmas ornaments, made during the World War II years of the 1940s when manufacturers did not have access to silvering agents. They are larger in size than most war ornaments, nearly 3" high to the tops of the metal caps. The color is flashed dark pink, almost magenta, with snow capped decoration extending from the tops of glittery white mica. The ornaments are a little dusty and the mica has yellowed some with age, but the color is still good and there are no chips or breaks.

Circa: 1942 - 1945
Country of Origin: US
 

Cranberry Flashed Unsilvered Glass Christmas Spire Tree Topper This very unusual glass spire Christmas tree top ornament may be from the World War II era, as it was never silvered, or it may be even older than that. I personally collect American war ornaments, and I've never seen one like it. At 6 inches high, the smaller size makes it suitable for a tabletop or feather tree topper. The glass is a transparent cranberry or ruby dark pinkish-red color, flashed on the inside, which makes it less susceptible to flaking and scratches. The outside is decorated with painted blue spirals around the spire tip and three horizontal rings or stripes around the lower ball. The blue decoration was coated in mica or ground glass glitter, much of it now worn away, as is some of the blue painted color. The glass has no chips or flakes. An incredible find for any war ornament collector.

Circa: 1940s
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: American War Era Production  

2 Premier Unsilvered WWII Glass Grape Cluster Christmas War Ornaments These 1940s glass Christmas ornaments by Premier Glass Works are relatively rare. They're in the shape of grape clusters, which alone would make them scarce from an American manufacturer, but they are also unsilvered war ornaments - made during World War II when rationing and shortages of silver nitrate forced ornament manufacturers to use painted, sprayed or flashed transparent colors.

The grapes are 2-1/2 inches tall. One is transparent red, the other blue. The finish is excellent on both with no scratches and deep, even coloring. Both have the unmarked but distinctive Premier metal caps. These ornaments are hard to find.

Circa: 1943
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: Premier Glass Works  

Blue Teardrops Unsilvered Glass WWII Christmas Ornaments, Tinsel and Stripes An attractive lot of six blue teardrop shape transparent glass Christmas ornaments, all from the 1940s World War II years, when silver nitrate was not available for civilian use, forcing the ornament manufacturers to use only sprayed and painted colors.

The three larger ornaments are 3-1/4" long. Two have multi-colored painted stripes, one is solid blue. The solid and one of the striped teardrops have wired tinsel inside. The three smaller teardrops are 2-3/4" long, all decorated the same with yellow and white stripes. These have a slightly different blue tint, with an almost violet or purplish hue. The ornaments have no chips or breaks. The coloring and finish is still very good, with one of the large teardrops having some crazing or crackling to the blue color at the neck and tip, and one of the small ornaments has a noticeable scratch to the white stripe paint.

Circa: 1942 - 1945
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: American War Era Production  

3 Unsilvered Teardrop Stripe WWII Glass Christmas War Ornaments Three 1940s American war ornaments in an unusual teardrop shape, one with its original paper cap and string hanger. The ornaments are unsilvered as silver nitrate was available only for military use during World War II, so for the final two or three Christmas seasons of the war, manufacturers had to use painted, flashed, or sprayed on colors. Paper ornament caps were also a result of wartime shortages and rationing. They weren't very sturdy and were considered unattractive, so they were often removed and replaced with metal caps over the years.

The single blue and two magenta or bright pink ornaments are about 2-3/4" long, decorated with painted colored and white stripes. All three are in very good vintage condition with very little finish or color wear.

Circa: 1942 - 1945
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: American Made War Era  

3 Opaque Stripes Unsilvered War Era Glass Christmas Ornaments These 1940s glass Christmas ornaments were made during World War II. In order to be considered "war ornaments" they must be unsilvered, and most are transparent, but a few, like these, were painted in opaque colors.

The green with pink, yellow, and white stripes is 2-1/4" diameter. The blue with pink, yellow, and white stripes is 2" diameter. Both have Shiny Brite caps but there's no telling if they're original (many war ornaments were made with paper caps that were replaced over the years. The small ornament is off-white with pink and blue stripes, and is about 1-3/4" diameter. The blue ornament doesn't have much wear but the other two have typical scratches and small scuffs to the finish associated with normal age and wear.

Circa: 1942 - 1945
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: Shiny Brite  

Unsilvered Hot Pink WWII Shiny Brite Indent Tinsel Teardrop Christmas Ornament Here's a truly rare Shiny Brite war ornament - unsilvered, deep bright pink in color, decorated with white mica stripes and a sprig of wired tinsel inside, in the 1940s teardrop shape with snowflake or sunburst double indent center. I've been collecting World War II unsilvered Christmas ornaments since I was 18, starting with the ones handed down to me by my parents, and I have never seen another like this.

The 3-1/2" long ornament still has excellent color, and it's painted or flashed on - definitely not a silvered ornament that has lost its inner mercury as some you'll find passed off as war ornaments. The metal Made In U.S.A. cap is not marked Shiny Brite but it may well be a replacement, as most war era ornaments originally had paper or cardboard caps which tended to tear or pull off easily. My picture doesn't show the tinsel very well, it's much more visible in person.

American war ornaments were only produced for about three years and are by their very nature scarce and finite in quantity (as soon as the war ended the manufacturers went back to producing silvered ornaments). They are highly collected today and will only increase in value as their numbers dwindle from loss, breakage, and absorption into private collections.

Circa: 1942
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: Shiny Brite  

2 Shiny Brite Unsilvered WWII Teal Decorated Glass Christmas Ornaments These unsilvered glass Christmas ornaments were made by Shiny Brite in the World War II years, 1942 to 1945. The ornament manufacturers had to use transparent sprayed, flashed, and painted-on colors during that time due to military rationing and shortages of silver nitrate.

The ornaments are fairly large, 2-1/2" and 2-3/4" diameter, transparent teal or blue-green in color. The larger ornament has a painted or stenciled white flower design on three sides, surround by pink stripes above and below. The other ornament has pink, white, and yellow painted stripes. This ornament has wear to the upper white stripes as shown in the second picture, the other ornament has some paint loss to the white daisies and four vertical scratches to the pink stripes. The background color is very good on both.

Circa: 1943
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: Shiny Brite  

Striped Teardrops 3 Unsilvered War Era Glass Christmas Ornaments WWII These three colorful unsilvered glass teardrop shape Christmas ornaments were made during World War II, when silvering agents were needed by the military for the war effort. They're 2-3/4" high, each painted with three colored horizontal stripes in the center. One is red, one is hot pink, the third is purple. The red ornament has a replacement cap, the other two have metal caps marked Made U.S.A. The red and purple have some wear to the painted stripes.

Circa: 1942
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: American War Era Production  

4 Shiny Brite Unsilvered Stenciled Glass Christmas War Ornaments A scarce set of four 1940s Shiny Brite unsilvered Christmas ornaments made during World War II when silvering agents were unavailable for all but military use. Stenciled or screen printed war ornaments are not unheard of but they are unusual, and I've never seen this particular design before.

The 2-1/4" ornaments are pinkish-red at the tops, clear at the bottoms with thin horizontal faded blue stripes in the centers. White snowflakes, bells, and ornaments decorate the centers all the way around, printed over the blue stripes.

The ornaments have the distinctive Shiny Brite USA metal caps and are in good condition with normal wear to the graphics consistent with age - a few random light scratches to the white paint and transparent pink coloring, the above mentioned fading to the blue rings, and some dust inside the ornaments. A rare and special find for American war ornament collectors.

Circa: 1944
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: Shiny Brite  

Unsilvered WWII Glass Rocket Shape Christmas Ornament This is an unusual 1940s war era glass Christmas ornament - shaped like a rocket ship or a barrel with a pointed bottom. It's 3" long, tinted transparent dark teal green with white and red painted stripes. I suspect it was made by Premier Glass Works - although I've only seen a very few in this exact shape, it does resemble their very modern-for-the-times, futuristic design style. The unsilvered green paint settled or pooled a little on one side, causing darker spots of color in the raised rings there, and some of the red paint on the center stripe is worn.

Circa: 1942
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: Premier Glass Works  

Red and Blue Tinsel Inside Unsilvered Glass WWII Christmas Ornaments A pair of patriotic transparent red and blue transparent American War Christmas ornaments from the 1940s World War II era when silver nitrate was unavailable to non-military manufacturers. They're 2-5/8" diameter, painted with thin white stripes and each has a piece of wired tinsel inside for sparkle. The blue may be slightly faded but the coloring on both is even with little wear.

Circa: 1942 - 1945
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: American Made War Era  

8 Unsilvered WWII Christmas War Ornaments Mica and Colored Stripes Eight Shiny Brite unsilvered mica striped Christmas war ornaments - made during World War II when silver nitrate was designated for war use only. The seven round ornaments are 2" to 2-1/4" diameter. Each has alternating horizontal stripes of bands of bright transparent color and white mica snow glitter. All but one have Shiny Brite metal caps, and that one has a too-large replacement cap and is very likely Shiny Brite as well. The 3-1/4" bell ornament has a Made in U.S. of A. cap and is the only ornament with any serious mica wear. The others all have excellent, thick mica coverage and little to no color wear.

American war ornaments were only produced for two or three years and are by their very nature scarce and finite in quantity (as soon as the war ended the manufacturers went back to producing silvered ornaments). They are highly collected today and will only increase in value as their numbers dwindle from loss, breakage, and absorption into private collections.

Circa: 1942 - 1945
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: Shiny Brite  

3 Miniature Shiny Brite Unsilvered WWII Mica Glass Christmas Ornaments These three 2" to 2-1/2" glass Christmas ornaments were made by Shiny Brite during World War II. They are unsilvered, decorated with transparent colored stripes and mica glitter because silver nitrate was available for military use only.

The bell has a wide magenta center stripe surrounded by yellow and white mica bands. The torpedo or lantern shape is green and clear with pink and white mica round the wide center band. The round ornament has alternating red and white mica stripes. There is some wear to the mica on the torpedo ornament, and wear to the upper mica finish on the bell but overall the ornaments are in very good vintage condition.

Circa: 1943
Country of Origin: US
Manufacturer: Shiny Brite  

Box 12 Unsilvered 1940s Japan Mini Feather Tree Glass Christmas Ornaments A rare box of unsilvered miniature glass ornaments from Japan. I'm certain they were made just after World War II and were probably among the first post-war Christmas imports. Ornament manufacturers in Japan and Europe surely faced problems similar to US makers in obtaining silvering agents during and just after the war.

There are 12 thin blown glass feather or tabletop tree size ornaments about 1-1/8" diameter, all but three with little round paper Made In Japan labels. They're decorated in transparent colors of yellow, green, cobalt and light blue, chartreuse and red - two of each color. I added the wire hanger inserts. They came without any hangers or caps, no doubt due to metal rationing or shortages at the time they were made.

The colors are even and the ornaments are in good condition, just a little dust on them is all. The plain manila box is marked Japan on the lid and is in very good condition. If you're a collector of American war ornaments, this rare and unusual Japanese set would complement your collection nicely.

Circa: 1940s
Country of Origin: JP
Manufacturer: Post War Japan Import