Max Eckardt was born in Oberlind, Germany in 1890. In 1926, he and his brother Ernst, opened a glass ornament-making firm, exporting some of them to New York City (where they opened an office). Later in the 1920's, Max moved to New York City himself where he oversaw the importation of German glass ornaments.
But the political scene in Thirties Germany was worrying—and Max anticipated that his source of German ornaments would soon be curtailed (and probably avoided by consumers). So, in 1937, Max Eckardt convinced Corning Glassworks to modify their lightbulb-making machinery to quickly mass-produce clear glass balls (ornaments). These plain glass spheres were shipped to Max who decorated them in his new plant in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania (some 35 miles away). The first step of decoration involved "silvering" the interiors of the balls (with silver nitrate, which had replaced mercury some time earlier). Then the balls were lacquered, colored, and sometimes hand-painted and/or glittered. Max Eckardt sold his ornaments under the Shiny Brite label. Woolworth placed a substantial opening order—which got bigger and bigger every year. "American Made" Christmas ornaments were very popular during the years of World War II.
By the 1940's, Corning Glass was producing 300,000 plain glass balls every day (40 million a year). Eventually, Corning added new shapes to its output: bells, lanterns, ovals and swirls. They sold the undecorated balls to Shiny Brite and other decorators. In time, Max Eckardt added three more plants to his portfolio (all in New Jersey)—to decorate Corning's glass ornaments. The company was headquartered in New York City at 45 East 17th Street.
With the introduction of the shiny aluminum Christmas tree in 1958, solid color balls saw a resurgence of popularity. The stark, silvery tree—sometimes enhanced with a lighted color wheel—looked great with a limited palette of primary- or secondary-colored glass balls. The box of one dozen green Shiny Brite ornaments, shown above, may have once hung on such a tree. They would also look good on a white tree, or in subtle juxtaposition to a natural, green wreath. Click on the photo above to learn more about them.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.