Mel Crawford (Canadian, B. 1925) "Canada Christmas 1881" Signed upper left. Original Mixed Media on Illustration Board.Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation.This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the Canada 15c Merry Christmas Joyeux Noel stamp issue of November 16, 1981.The most widespread, and to children the most delightful, of all festive decorations is the Christmas tree. In nineteenth century Canada, the rapid spread in the Christmas tree's popularity gave rise to a new industry -- ornament making. The firstmercial decorations were made of tin, usually in geometric designs with multifaceted surfaces that reflected the candlelight. A variety of candleholders were also contrived to support these traditional sources of light. Popular for many years was a tin clip-on style ornament with a crimped skirt encircling the candle base to catch the dripping wax. Wax figurines, cast by German toymakers, were popular throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century. Starting in the 1840s, glass ornaments, hand-blown in Germany, were imported to Canada. At first, they were only round and thick-walled, but a method was later perfected for making thin, fragile balls. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, colored paper ornaments weremon, some printed with as many as twenty different colors. During this same period, embossed cardboard ornaments were made in every conceivable shape and had an astonishing amount of detail. Of course, no Christmas tree in nineteenth century Canada wasplete without its edible ornaments such as red apples, cookies, and garlands of popcorn and cranberries.Image Size: 14 x 12 in.Overall Size: 17.25 x 15 in.Unframed.(B06192)