My Favorite Thing

For the March 2005 activity, Karen Wallis asked club members to tell us about their ONE most favorite Hallmark ornament.
Here are the responses:

This was very hard to come up with just one favorite Hallmark ornament.

 

I will have to say 1992 Bright Stringers miniature ornament by artist Ed Seale.

When our pastor and family ask everyone from church to an open house to see their Christmas decorations and have some food to eat one year this was after Christmas before New Year's that is when I saw the mini tree with an ornament hanging on it of a cute little blue birds holding up the string of Christmas lights between them. I ask about the ornament and they said it was from Hallmark.

Being it was after Christmas I could not find this ornament in the stores.

It took some time before I could find this ornament to buy at a secondary market.

Years later Ed Seale initialed the ornament at Flamingo Fling secondary market.

I enjoy looking at this ornament each year when I have all my Christmas decorations up around the house.

 

Loo-Ann Allen

My ONE favorite Hallmark ornament is
SPACE SANTA

Yulelog doesn't state who the artist is.  Space Santa is from 1981. 
The stock number is QX430-2.  The original box price was $6.50.  Space
Santa is wearing an astronaut helmet, has funky silver boots, and is a
waving a star wand with the year on it.  He's just so retro cool, and
very unique.
I'm partial to Space Santa because he is a great blend of our family
interests:  Santa to represent my love of Christmas and Hallmark
ornament collecting, Space to represent Mark's love and pursuit of
space exploration.  Space Santa also reflects our enjoyment of kitsch
culture and humor.

Diana St James
YuleLog handle:  Diana*
 

My favorite ornament is not one of the older ones or a valuable one.  My grandson, age 1 last Christmas, loved the Snowy Push-n-Pull by Nina Aube.  Everytime he came to visit during the Christmas season we played with that ornament.  This year, at age 2, he looked for that ornament and again we played with it everytime he came.  I have bought him his own Snowy Push-n-Pull but Grandma's is still his favorite, and Grandma's too.

My favorite ornament is the one I consider to be the one that started me collecting...it's the 3rd Nostalgic House - Candy Shoppe.  I have everyone now except for #1.  I refuse to pay big bucks for it and just know someday I'll find it at a rummage/garage sale or a thrift store!!!!  My husband did buy #2  at a collector's/antique show for $53.  I refused to pay that much and kept bargaining with the lady but she wouldn't bunge.  I didn't want to give in to her so I sent back my husband to pay the full price she was asking!!!!  It was still a great bargain.

Karen Fain
Musketeer

My ONE, most favorite Hallmark ornament;

Just as any of us collectors would say; picking one and only one is hard, especially when you collect a few series because they reflect on your personality, interests, background,...

 

But, since we are limited to one and only one, for this activity, I have to say it would be the ornament that started me on my collection:  the 1977 "Snowman" that was designed by Linda Sickman.  It was one of three ornaments in the "Twirl About Collection".

This ornament was given to me and my husband by my mother-in-law, in honor of our marriage that year.  Being only 21 years old in 1977, I did not have the address book that I have today, requiring many Christmas cards; I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the ornament my mother-in-law gave us was made by Hallmark.  I did not know at that time that Hallmark made Christmas ornaments; maybe my husband wishes that his mother had not given us the ornament?!  I doubt that she had any idea what one little ornament could lead to.

 

Sue Wiggins

Lombard, IL

Its always hard to chose but the one I'm most proud of and my favorite is the 1991 Star Trek Starship Enterprise by Lynn Norton. I remember in 1991 seeing the ornament at Castner Knotts at Rivergate Mall. It was a little to high for me to spend on a Christmas ornament at the time but, I did call it to the attention of a buddy of mine. With both of us being trekies he went out and bought it and I missed the chance. About 7 years later he was buying a car and I showed him how to shop for the money and he saved $2100 in interest. In appreciation and since his sister got him one too he gave me the 1991 Star Trek Starship Enterprise as a thank you gift. Lynn Norton did sign it for me at the Birmingham AOT several years ago.

Ron Stephens
 

My favorite ornament is 1991 Loving Stitches by Ed Seale.  The reason it means so much is that it was the first time I realized that my love of Hallmark ornaments had not fallen on deaf ears.  In the fall of 1991 my son was a junior in high school and begged us to let him get a part-time job after school.  He was able to get a job at a local Pizza Hut and that year for Christmas he was so proud to use his own, hard-earned money to buy gifts for everyone.  On Christmas morning I was surprised and very pleased to open a small box containing the 1991 Loving Stitches ornament.  It obviously had been carefully chosen by my son who knew I loved to do counted cross-stitch as well as collect ornaments.  I sort of remember a tear or two coming to my eyes.  He still buys me an ornament nearly every Christmas, although they're not always Hallmarks since he says he figures I already have the ones I want before Christmas.  Last year he got me a Wendell August Forge pewter snowman ornament.

That's my story.  Oh yes, I've also had it signed by Ed Seale.

Patricia Hough (cattypatty)
 

My ONE, all-time favorite Hallmark ornament in my collection is the 1993 Kansas City Angel. Those who went to the second convention that Hallmark
held, in July and September of 1993, received this special silver ornament for having attended the convention. It was done by Duane Unruh and I love
it! I started collecting Hallmark ornaments in 1979, but this was the first time I went to a convention. This ornament reminds me of the special time I
had there, meeting and talking with the artists, getting my ornaments signed for the first time and meeting friends I had made in the VERY FIRST Hallmark
online collectors' group, that I had started on the Prodigy service, in 1992.

Originally, Hallmark was only going to allow the first 1,500 registrations received from KOCC members, entrance into the convention. At this point in
the club's history, membership was probably at least twice that number! Since I live in California, I sent my registration in the first day they
announced the deadline date, with the added expense of mailing it GUARANTEED OVERNIGHT, so I would be sure to be considered to go to the convention. Unfortunately, I and many others, received Hallmark's "We're sorry to inform you" letter, telling us we could not go to the convention! We had a big discussion about this in our group and I encouraged people to call and/or write Hallmark, to see if they would reconsider their discussion and allow
us entry to the convention as well.

I sent my letter, as did many others, and we waited. After some time, thankfully, Hallmark reconsidered and scheduled a SECOND convention, to be
held in September of that year! Unfortunately for some, Hallmark scheduled it for Labor Day Weekend, so those who already had vacation plans set, still
could not attend the convention. But for those of us who could go, we were delighted that Hallmark allowed us to go to a convention, tho we wouldn't be
able to see those who were accepted into the first group, scheduled for the July convention.

So this is why this beautiful ornament is my most favorite in all of my over 1,300 Hallmark ornaments in my collection. It reminds me of the special
group I started, the friends I made online, the convention I attended and meeting all the great artists and others who work for Hallmark, especially Duane Unruh, the artist who created this ornament.

Karen Wallis

Didn't submit an entry for this activity? We'd still love to hear about your ONE favorite ornament!
Email webmaster@yuleloggers.com to share your story with your fellow club members.