“At one time, 95 percent of the glass tree ornaments used on American Christmas trees came from the immediate vicinity of Lauscha, near Nuremberg, Germany”

Decorating for Christmas always brings back a particular memory for Kim Elder.

As a boy in Alexander County, he and his grandfather would march through the woods to chop down a cedar tree to decorate. Those trips left him with a sentimental tie to the holiday.

So when he saw some reproduction glass tree ornaments in Durham while in college almost three decades ago, he bought several — and that gave him the bug.

He picked up a guide book on antique Christmas ornaments and started scouring flea markets and antique shops for specimens, starting with a half-dozen parasol-shaped ornaments he bought for a song in a Hickory shop. He learned later that they were worth a lot more than what he paid. Read more