Old Christmas decorations bring back memories. Some are handed down through generations. Santa candy containers date back to the 19th century and are still being made. They were intended as gifts, but were often used as tree or table decorations long after the candy was gone. Most valuable are the 19th- and early 20th-century Santas made in Germany, often of papier-mâché with cloth or crepe paper clothing and cotton batting or fur beards.

This eight-inch Father Christmas candy container sold for $826 at a recent Bertoia auction in New Jersey. The figure has composition face, hands and feet, a rabbit fur beard and a red felt coat. He sits on a Dresden blanket. ("Dresden" is a type of German cut and embossed paper ornamentation that was made in the Dresden-Leipzig area from about 1880 until World War I.) His reindeer is composition with metal antlers and glass eyes and separates at the neck to get the candy out.

If you have an old Christmas box stored away, unpack it carefully. You might find a treasure.

Merry Christmas from the Staff at Kovels.

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