An all-day-long rainy day. Gray skies, lots of snow on the ground, and rain make for a dreary landscape. I have lots of stuff to do today, so I’ll be settling in at my desk upstairs with Christmas music playing in the background.
I got an unexpected job offer from Hartford Stage for January and February of next year. Just 5 days work spread over several weeks, but it’s on a new production of Jane Eyre, directed by Elizabeth Williamson, who I’ve worked with before and who is an Associate Artistic Director there. I’ll be the dialect coach. It’s always good to know you have some work coming up in the new year.
Don and I took a little trip to the Clinton Shops yesterday. I wanted him to see a vintage camera that I thought he’d like – though I had no idea of the price – and I wanted to see those darned putz sheep again.
While I was there, the owner came up to me and said she follows me on Instagram and that she loved our stories of our trip to Paris. I’ve spoken to her before. Her name is Nina. We had a lovely conversation and while we were talking, her husband stopped by, so all four of us chatted for quite a while. It’s a lovely little shop.
Don looked at several vintage cameras which were modestly priced and he thought about them and thought about them some more. I looked at putz sheep and I thought about them and thought about them some more.
He bought the camera – a Kodak from the 30s, called the Jiffy Kodak. The minute you look at it, you’ll see why I fell for it.
Hello, Art Deco styling! It’s in good condition and I’m happy to say Don bought it. We’re going to put a shelf up above his desk that can hold some of his other cameras – all of them vintage.
As for the sheep…I held one, then another, I looked at their coats and their faces (and the price.) I put them down and walked away and chatted with the owner. Then I went back. I was especially drawn to two of them, no more than 2 ½ inches high. One had an adorable head tilt. The other had big eyes and a fluffy coat. Both of them had pink collars, so they’re girls.
I couldn’t decide between them. So they both came home with me.
Some of these photos were taken late in the day, so I had to position the sheep on my laptop under my reading light.
A little blurry, but you can see the big eyes on this girl.
Head tilt. It reminded me of the way our dogs would tilt their heads when I used a certain inflection while speaking to them.
Most Putz sheep were made in Germany. The name is derived from the German – I’ve seen the definition as ‘put’ or ‘putter around’ as in ‘putz around the house,’ and as ‘decorate.’ Entire villages were made out of animals and houses – a Christmas tradition in Germany and, later, in the Moravian communities in Pennsylvania. They come in several sizes. The two above are on the petite side. The sheep I bought the other day is larger. The Lamb with the Party Hat, which is the symbol of my blog, is very small. Sometimes, you see “Germany” on the collar or on a leg. I have a couple that have the word Germany on the collar.
Putz houses also had their origin in Germany, but once a certain size of electric light bulb became available, cardboard houses with holes in the back for a light started to be made in Japan. They were inexpensive, pennies apiece. And they were also manufactured here, as seen in the house I bought the other day.
I found one yesterday that I bought for two reasons: it was the least expensive, and it had a design I’d not seen before.
The scalloped edge reminds me a bit of a castle, but the house itself reminds me of California stucco homes. I’ve never seen this design before as most putz houses are more traditional in style.
I have no mantle. The top of the piano is already occupied. So I put them on the McCoy pieces I have in the den:
Germans and German-Americans used to create villages, complete with tree branches and various items found outdoors. Eventually, as the Christmas tree became popular, they would often place the villages at the base of the tree. Once the houses became more popular, glitter and snow were added.
The putz sheep were a part of these displays and they were also used in Nativity scenes.
I could put the houses underneath our tree, but I’m afraid Don will forget they’re there and step on them!
I’ve got 10 putz sheep now and I’m going to rearrange them later today. I’m crazy about them.
Happy Monday.
i am happy that you and don got those treats for yourselves … and can see why you like them so much! that head tilt would get to me, too.
living in 500 square feet and having a few collections that i like to see every day, i’ve no place to put it right now but have and adore a large flat (probably plywood) sheep that i bought in minneapolis several years ago (two little putz-size sheep are easier to keep out). given the paint, style and that there were three for sale, i think the big sheep was used in a nativity scene very long ago and i love that. i think about those two other sheep too much, but am sure they are long gone so trust they found homes, too. and maybe i need to think instead about moving into a bit-larger place …?
congratulations on the work ahead next month and in february!
just looked out a window (here at work) and saw what looks like a blizzard outside. ):0 much different than the “dusting” of snow i heard forecast on tv this morning. i am ready to go home now!
hope your snow and the exhaustion of shoveling it are long gone and that you are having a good day.
kathy in iowa
Oh no to the blizzard! Here’s hoping it’s just a snow squall. Thanks, Kathy!
Yes – a bit larger place!
Lovely post Claudia
I have since been looking on line for a Putz of my own!
Jane Eyre is one of my favourite reads- congratulations on being offered the work, which I am sure you will enjoy and be brilliant at
Siobhan
I think I’m going to have re-read it in the next month, Siobhan!
What a cool and creative way to display your Putz houses! You inspire me.
Deb
Thank you, Deborah!
I don’t collect cameras but if I saw the one that Don bought, I think I would start buying them. I do have a small collection of tiny sheep figures but the only Putz sheep I have ever seen are the ones in your photos. I haven’t been to an antique shop in a long time.So many of my favorites have sadly closed. I think that after the holidays I will start looking for new shops and maybe I will find some of the lovely things you’ve found.
I’d look during the holidays, since antique dealers usually only put this kind of thing out during the holidays, Cristina. Thank you!
That’s more putz history than I’ve ever known; thanks! (Until I began reading you some years back, I frankly didn’t even know they were called ‘putz’ yet I had one from the family; it’s a church; my parents had it before I was born; I think it probably dates from late 1940s. Hole in the back; glittery. They were young and had no money so it was probably indeed mere pennies in cost.)
My husband would love that camera. Isn’t it great they’re still around after all these years!
And, oh, the putz sheep. They ARE girls; so sweet. I love how they stand on their wee cloven hooves…expectant; hesitant; the way a real sheep sometimes approaches you and then stops, assessing the situation for a moment. (I had a relative who kept two sheep as pets on the ‘ranch’. I was around them a little bit, back in the day. They raised them from lambs; was so much fun for the kids.) Utter whimsy; you chose well.
In all these previous years pre-Claudia, I had never known there were putz sheep to go with a putz house/village. Were there other farm/nativity animals besides sheep in a putz display/vignette?
I think there were. I haven’t seen any, though.
A wonderful day out plus.
Love your putz sheep – hoping a post on all of your collection of sheep visits soon.
Joy
Sometime soon, Joy! Thank you.
I didn’t know there were Putz houses. The one in your photo bottom right looks exactly like mine. However, mine came from Jo-Anns. I added a flaming t mine. I’m weird that way.
I think Jane Eyre is my second favorite book. Congratulations Claudia!
Don’t camera is a beauty. The lines and colors are stunning.
It’s so neat, that camera! Thanks, Trudy.
Love your McCoy/Putz village! Great way to display them. Might’nt some of the sheep work in that village, too?
They might, but I’m working on something in the office where they live! Thanks, Shanna.
Thanks for all the information about the Putz houses. You are always so kind in sharing information and do it in such an entertaining way. I have a small set of Putz houses that were my Mom’s . They are probably not worth much but I love them . I think your free is lovely and gave me the inspiration to finish mine. Thanks for all you share.
But they were your mom’s and that makes them priceless! Thanks, Janet!
My previous speakers said it all, thank you, Claudia for your detailed and entertaining information. I could not find any other information on the internet ref. german putz sheep, even on the german sides. The “Erzgebirge Thing” is a formerly DDR thing. The Mineworkers made it once as a sideline to their underpaid jobs. Not so much putz sheep (in Germany called “Wollschafe”) survived the WWII. In Germany they are quite seldom to find in antique stores or fleamarkets or even german Ebay-sides and then again they are quite expensive. A well preserved one is a real treasure. Therefore I was (and Iam) so hot on your finds. Looking foward for more.
Yes, I’ve seen Erzgebirge mentioned, Helga. Thanks for telling me more about that!
Oh My! As soon as I saw that camera I could picture Don walking around on a Spring day with the camera, the front brim of his hat tilted up, and wearing a pair of black and white saddle shoes! I also love your sheep! I bring out my herd of sheep every year for the shepherds in the Creche. I also have donkeys and cows. Maybe I need to make my creche with less animals. I will put the animals further away from the Babe. But I have nothing breakable and I always let the children put the scene the way they want. They get it more “right” than the adults.
That’s so nice of you to let the children arrange the scene, Tana!
I always enjoy seeing you add to your collections. You have the sweetest things. Love the sheep! Girls of course!
Of course they’re girls! Such sweet pink collars. Thanks Linda.
That camera is a stunner!! You and Don would have pined for it if you’d left it behind. I love Art Deco so much, no design since then has topped it for sleek elegance. And I love your two new flock members. Their individual traits are charming. What a creative way to display your houses. Would never have thought of that! I too miss the stucco houses of my youth. Ours was late ’50s, but certain neighborhoods of San Diego as you well know had some fabulous 30s and 40s stuccos that did look like castles, Moorish, Moroccan, Italian, Spanish, and space age. Our elementary school was stucco and I still bear the scars of when I tripped and fell up against the wall and scraped off half of my elbow. LOL. My DNA is on that wall at Santa Fe School in Vista, CA., and will be until they tear it down. Not as musical as leaving your heart in San Francisco…
I love that one of these little cardboard houses is stucco, Nora!