Vintage Holiday sells decorations that hark back to earlier times

At Vintage Holiday, Gregory Agee sells memories -- glowing, bubbling, tinsel-covered memories.

Every surface in his aptly named shop at 1503 E. 11th St. is covered with Christmas decorations.

Some, such as the delicate, hand-blown glass ornaments, would be right at home in Martha Stewart's living room.

Others, such as the 1930s Santa doll with bulbous, flashing red eyes, would look more appropriate at the Clark Griswold residence.

Agee pointed out a small tree made of bubblegum-pink feathers.

"Can't you see that in a little girl's room?" Agee asked.

He said the tree's fluffy feather branches are a variation on the goose feather trees that were popular during the Victorian era.

Agee carries several replicas of those trees, with stick-straight branches covered in goose feathers rolled into tight little "needles."

"Ninety-nine percent of what I sell are reproductions, because people cannot afford the old ones," Agee said.

Vintage Holiday carries a virtual forest of aluminum trees. Those trees, which date from the 1950s, are originals.

"I always loved the aluminum trees, because that's what my mom had when I was growing up," Agee said.

Vintage Holiday also carries every imaginable kind of Christmas lights.

Bubble lights decorate the branches of a tree next to the counter.

Color wheels cast a soft glow on the shiny, silver branches of aluminum trees.

Agee even offers faerie lights -- small, colored glass oil lamps designed to hang from tree branches.

Faerie lights were the original Christmas lights, Agee said.

"When you used these, it was like a family affair -- 15 minutes after dinner, and only for two or three days," he said.

Christmas is still a family affair at Agee's shop. A young couple stopped by Vintage Holiday last Christmas Eve to buy decorations for their first tree, he said.

"They came in here and spent, like, three hours picking out just the right Christmas ornaments to put on it," Agee said. "It was a big deal to them. That meant a lot to me. I thought, 'I may not be getting rich, but this is what it's all about.'"

Agee has always loved old Christmas decorations, but he did not realize there was a market for them until he found some online a few years ago.

"I was just kind of cruising around on eBay," he said. "I don't remember if I was looking for something, but I just ran across the category 'vintage Christmas,' and there were, like, 35,000 auctions going."

Agee sold a few items on eBay, then added a few decorations to his existing business, Floral Design Studios.

"I just set up one little corner of the shop (with) vintage Christmas stuff, and people just went crazy for it," he said.

When Floral Design Studios moved into a smaller building at 1210 E. 41st St., Agee needed more space for his Christmas decorations, so in 2003, he opened Vintage Holiday at 66th Street and Peoria Avenue.

The store moved to 11th Street about a year ago.

In addition to Christmas ornaments, Vintage Holiday sells other seasonal decorations.

"I completely sold out of Halloween last year," Agee said.

If the idea of decorating for Christmas intimidates customers, Floral Design Studios will set up light displays and Christmas ornaments for a fee.

VINTAGE HOLIDAY

What: Store offers antique and reproduction Christmas decorations
Where: 1503 E. 11th St.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday or by appointment
For more: Call 810-7831.