Topic: Jack Frost bauble

[Madbrit]

It is mouth blown and hand painted and measures 4 inches across. Does anyone have any ideas where it might have come from?  Kev 

[Frank]

Lauscha is probable.

[Pinkspoons]

What a coincidence - was watching re-runs of the amazing QI (BBC quiz show with the inimitable Stephen Fry) this evening, and they mentioned Lauscha (which is the German for 'eavesdropper'). Between 1840 and the end of WWII almost all of the world's baubles came from this one village.

Local glassmakers had the idea that glass balls would look pretty hanging on a Christmas tree, and nearly every house in the village was converted into a small factory. At its peak 95% of baubles in the USA came from Lauscha.

Who said television was anti-intelligence? 

[Frank]

Local glassmakers had the idea that glass balls would look pretty hanging on a Christmas tree, and nearly every house in the village was converted into a small factory. At its peak 95% of baubles in the USA came from Lauscha.

Who said television was anti-intelligence? 

Because they grab the first story from Google and call that research, ignoring the developments that lead to this. Yes from about 1860 Xmas ornaments grew to be a major export, but they had been using home lampworkers in Lauscha for long before that, circa 1800. Pearls, Beads, Eyes, Lab glass, Syringes, thermometers, barometers, etc. Anything that could be created with nothing more than a flame and glass tubing. So naturally glass figures/animals too. A similar industry but with less novelty existed in Northern Bohemia.

[Frank]

The other benefit of lampworking is that it saves trees.

Lauscha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrxpJKP83i0