For decades, nearly every American household had one: a ceramic Christmas tree glowing softly from a sideboard or corner table. But for many Italian-American families, these trees weren’t just decorations. They were made by hand, kept for life, and carried meaning long after trends faded.

In this episode, I tell a true family story set in mid-century New Jersey, using one ceramic Christmas tree as a lens to explore postwar DIY culture, Atlantic Mold, parish craft classes, social clubs, immigrant folk belief, and the quiet ways traditions become guardians of a home.

After the story, we break down the real history behind ceramic Christmas trees, how and where they were made, why they became so widespread, and why some families never let them go.

This is a story about memory, migration, making things by hand, and the objects that stay when everything else changes.

Hashtags:
#CeramicChristmasTree #ItalianAmericanHistory #ChristmasTraditions #NewJerseyHistory #HolidayHistory

Email me: njhistorypodcast@gmail.com

Socials: https://linktr.ee/njhistorypodcast

Bibliography

Clark, Mary. “The History of Vintage Ceramic Christmas Trees.” Clark’s Christmas Trees. November 3, 2019.
https://clarkschristmastrees.com/2019/11/03/the-history-of-the-vintage-ceramic-christmas-tree/

Dogwood Ceramics. “Vintage Ceramic Christmas Trees and Atlantic Mold.” Accessed 2024.
https://www.dogwoodceramics.com/misc/antique-ceramic-christmas-trees.htm

Levy, Janet. American Ceramics in the Postwar Era. New York: Craft Heritage Press, 1998.

United States Library of Congress. Home Interiors and Family Life, 1950s–1960s. Photograph collections.
https://www.loc.gov

Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). Home Interiors and Holiday Life Collections.
https://dp.la

Oral family history of the Whitfield and related families, Brick and Cliffside Park, New Jersey.