Manufacturer: Ninohira Japan

Nifty find out of a home. This is a vintage figural Christmas tree hanging ornament which is meant to portray either one of Santa's elves or Santa Claus himself, we are not sure. Body is formed from soft rubber (you can squeeze this), with red felt for his hat that is trimmed in white around the hat base and a white pom pom end, and fake stringy fur for his soft beard. He is shown dressed in a Santa Claus suit which is red with white trim and a black belt, with black boots or shoes and must be wearing red gloves as his hands are red. What is most fun is his wonderful face, fully formed with big ears (or hair over his ears), puffy happy cheeks, a big pointed nose, raised white eyebrows, blue eyes with black centers and a red smiling mouth.

Measures about 4 1/2 inches tall, with greatest width of 2 3/4 inches across his ears and greatest depth of about 1 3/4 inches. There is a long gold plastic cord attached to his hat for hanging on a tree but he can also stand upright on his boots on a table. This old holiday ornament figure is light in weight, weighing about .6 ounce. He will be shipped in a box for protection.

This vintage Santa Claus is marked in two places. On the back of his head is an impressed "JAPAN". On the underside base of one foot is impressed "NINOHIRA JAPAN". From the style and markings we believe this to be a vintage ornament dating from the 1950's or 1960's, a mid-century modern piece, but we don't know that for certain. It is definitely not a new item.

We've provided 8 images to show this vintage elf from varied angles including a close-up of the Ninohira Japan mark on the underside of one boot. Please note that the camera light creates white "hot spot" reflections on the rubber surfaces. Please use the zoom feature to examine closely.

Very nice vintage used condition with no chips, cracks, crazing or large flaws, but this does have an overall old used/aged look as one would expect with some wear/flaws but nothing bad here. His face is a bit dusty/dirty with tiny dirt in the recessed areas as well as either old glue or dirt on his chin right above the beard, and the edge where the beard is glued looks aged/yellowed/slightly brown. The backside of his head where the hat is glued has something similar. There is a bit of dirt/dust in his beard and his felt hat has a touch of wear (nothing bad). On the back of his head on the rubber there is a bit of wear/spotting/rubbed wear, with also a rubbed wear spot on one ear/hair on the side. His clothed rubber body looks good and clean. You might be able to gently clean his face and the dust off with a Q-tip, but we did not want to attempt that and are selling as is/as found.

A great addition for any Christmas tree or a grouping of elves or Santa Claus figures.

We have listed many other Christmas ornaments. Should you be interested in more than one listing, please contact us prior to placing the order so that we can provide you with shipping cost savings by packing them in one package. The system will automatically provide shipping costs for each listing as if mailed separately. We would be pleased to calculate and provide the postage savings for you.

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