In my mind there are certain things, like American flags, baby toys, juice, vitamins, and face masks, that should never, ever be made in China. Why? Because these things all have—or should have—considerations that transcend money. When Americans decide that they don’t even care where things like these are produced, as long as they can buy them as cheap as possible, that’ll be the moment that the CCP can claim total victory, because the West—in putting money over all else—will have lost all of its moral high ground.
In recent years I’ve started putting Christmas ornaments in that list. For years after China was granted permanent MFN status I went along with everyone else as I saw Christmas lights, and Christmas ornaments, and Christmas decorations all being made in China.
And then at one point I saw the irony. China is officially an atheistic country. The CCP is its god. Sure, in recent years Christian churches have been tolerated, but only if they register as an official state-sanctioned church. Preach anything that is counter to the CCP, and you’ll find yourself in jail. And forget about any outward displays of celebrating your religion, unless it’s done in a way that you can prove that it’s in service of the Party.
Christmas lights used to be made in Taiwan, but as China dangled its cheap labor and raw materials, American and European companies fell over themselves to make things in China. Not even two decades later, you’ll be hard-pressed to find one of those American and European brands that haven’t gone out of business because the manufacturer they contracted out to decided to cut out the middleman and sell their goods directly to consumers through Amazon. In 2014, The Guardian reported that 60% of all Christmas decorations were made in one town in China, Yiwu. ABC News repeated that report in 2017. That number has only probably grown over time.
What about Christmas Lights?
Christmas lights is one of those categories that I thought I’d never see made outside of China again. I have always hated—with a passion—LED Christmas lights; to me, LED Christmas lights have always felt like someone is shooting hundreds of laser pointers at me.
I was thrilled to find these incandescent lights that were made in Indonesia. They’re pretty much the same kinds of lights that used to be made in Taiwan in the 1980s and 1990s, and then shifted over to China.
My guess is that either production costs have gotten too high in China, or that tariffs are doing their job and allowing emerging countries like Indonesia to have a chance.
This happens to be the brand I tried and liked, but there are others like this one also made in Indonesia and this one made in Cambodia. They are literally bright lights in a sea of China-made garbage.
What about ornaments?
There was a time when Christmas ornaments were made by glassblowers. The practice started in the small German town of Lauscha in the mid-1500s, and Prince Albert (Queen Victoria’s husband) brought the tradition from Germany to England in the 1840s. By the 1940s and 1950s, Shiny Brite ornaments became the most popular in the United States.
And then two things happened over the next 75 years. The arrival of plastics. And the rise of China manufacturing.
Suddenly everyone could have trees decorated like the ones that only royalty and wealthy people could afford before. But just as we’ve seen with so many other product categories, while China was mass producing baubles and ornaments faster than people could buy them up for pennies on the dollar, things like artistry, craftsmanship, workmanship, and innovation disappeared.
I remember years ago at work someone gave away a huge container of Christmas ornaments. I thought I’d hit the jackpot. But over the years, I found that these ornaments, as seemingly nice as they were, were completely devoid of any personality or meaning. Ironically, it was the silly ornaments over the years that we picked up on road trips or that friends gave us that really had meaning.
Just as bad, even seemingly nice ornaments from China would easily chip, fade, and be discolored with handling. As with most products that China contractors make, their goal is to get the product through the warranty period, and if it breaks one day after that, that’s the best scenario for them because they know you’ll be coming back for more.
In the list below, I’ve tried to put ornaments and ornament companies that I find truly meaningful. Sadly, you won’t find iconic brands like Old World Christmas, Kurt S. Adler, or Hallmark here. But you will find iconic brands like Beacon.
The Best Christmas Ornaments Not Made in China
1. Bevin Bells – It’s a Wonderful Life Ornament
My favorite movie of all time is It’s a Wonderful Life. I think I’ve seen it more than 50 times, and I can recite entire passages from it. Of course, the most memorable scene is the last one where (spoiler alert) the Christmas tree gets bumped and Zuzu exclaims “every time a bell rings, an angels gets his wings”.
Here’s what’s cool. The very same company that made the bell in that scene in the movie, Bevin Bells, is still in business today and STILL making that very same bell in the USA out of their factory in East Hampton, Connecticut. They continue to be family-run, currently run by the sixth generation of the Bevin family.
Bevin Bells has a storied history in the United States. Not only did they make the iconic bell you see here, they also made the bells that are rung by the Salvation Army, the bells rung by Good Humor ice cream trucks, the bell that opened the New York Stock Exchange for seven decades, and the bell that rang before prize fights featuring legends like Muhammad Ali.
Here’s the sad thing I noticed. China manufacturers saw that this was a popular item and dozens of them jumped in and make their own “It’s a Wonderful Life” bells (because the copyright on the film has expired, anyone can use the name).
Notice what happened next. The made in China fake ended up getting purchased over and over again because it was the cheapest one. Over 5,772 people gave it rave reviews, not even considering that they’re getting junk metal from China. Not to be outdone, more China manufacturers flooded the market with their cheap imitations, pricing them even lower.
In the meantime, the Bevin Bells originals (the larger silver plated one I got, and the miniature stainless steel bell) are lost in a sea of China ripoffs. Worse, those selling the Bevin Bells have to buy paid ads to compete with the flood of cheap imitations that are outranking them in Amazon.
It’s a microcosm of what Amazon has done to many American brands. Hats off to Bevin Bells for continuing to stay strong. But you can see what all American manufacturers are up again.
2. Swarovski
If you can afford it year after year, Swarovski is almost always smack dab on the top of Christmas ornament best-seller lists with their annual snowflake ornament (pictured here is their 2024 edition). Swarovski, of course, lights the star on the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in New York each year. If you buy one of these stars every year, in just a few years your tree will be sparkling too.
These used to be exclusively made in Austria but over the years they’ve shifted a lot of production to Vietnam. The quality still seems very good, even if some of the gravitas seems lost.
You can buy it directly from Swarovski or from Amazon.
3. Beacon Design
I love how on their Web site the first thing you see is that Beacon Design is 100% made in the USA. Beacon Design has a ton of designs including traditional Christmas imagery like tree, stockings, and presents; nature images like flowers and birds; regional designs (you’ve probably seen them in places like National Park gift shops); and Americana.
Every year they design the annual White House Christmas ornament. Every ornament is made of solid brass and some are finished in gold or silver.
4. Christmas by Krebs Glass Christmas Tree Ornaments
This company is a good example of how Amazon stacks the deck in favor of China manufacturers. Christmas by Krebs makes their glass ornaments in Mexico and the USA. They have an excellent rating over 2,225 customers. And yet if you search Amazon for “glass christmas tree ornaments” you see China manufacturers with far fewer ratings dominating the top 20. What’s strange is that these manufacturers often have fewer ratings and higher prices. I’ve already written elsewhere on this blog on how they do it: they write fake reviews and they use all of Amazon’s extortion-level services to ensure that they have the upper hand.
But a big hat tip to Amazon customers who continue to buy and review these beautiful, seamless glass ornaments. They’re going to be a thousand times better than junk from China, last longer, and be made either in New Mexico or Mexico.
5. Hallmark Keepsake Christmas Ornaments
Sadly, the vast majority of these are being churned out of China. But it seems that Hallmark has other factories which are putting out certain designs. If you want to send a message to Hallmark that country of origin matters, buy these and not anything that comes out of China.
- The Peanuts Gang – Made in Sri Lanka and Indonesia (check the box in the photo)
- Pokemon – Made in Sri Lanka and Vietnam
- Crayola – Made in Thailand
- Harry Potter – Made in Vietnam
- Sweet Decade – Made in Sri Lanka
- Frosty Friends – Made in Sri Lanka
- Snowflake – Made in Vietnam
- Super Mario – Made in Vietnam
6. HOHIYA Crystal Ornaments
If you’d like your tree to sparkle all over and don’t want to wait 10 years and $7,000 to have every Swarovski ornament, these crystal ornaments will do the job for under $10. Reviews rave at the way that the crystal catches light.
Best thing about them, they’re made in Taiwan.
7. Jabi Home
Whenever I see a seller from Vietnam I usually get a little skeptical. Is this just a front for a company in China trying to get around tariffs?
When I look at Jabi Home’s Etsy page and Amazon store, I can see that the exact opposite is true. This company is completely based in Vietnam and was formed by a group of friends with a passion for handcrafting. It’s exactly the kind of entrepreneurship, creativity, and passion that the free market is supposed to reward.
Some of their products, like the Christmas Tree suncatcher shown above, their Starry Night subcatcher, their stunningly beautiful Nativity scene, and detailed acrylic work like their Snowman ornament are unlike any ornament you’ve seen.
8. Inge-Glass
Inge-Glass is a German company that’s been making hand-blown Christmas ornaments since the 1500s. They continue to produce stunningly beautiful glass ornaments out of Germany.
One of their most popular is this pickle. Sometime in the 1800s, people in America started talking about a German tradition where on Christmas morning someone would hang a pickle on the Christmas tree, and the first person to find it would receive a special reward or good luck in the coming year.
The problem with this tradition is…it almost certainly is a fake one. Very few Germans have ever heard of it. It likely started as a joke or a marketing gimmick in the US which took on a life of its own. Thousands and thousands of Americans bought pickle ornaments, most of whom to this day continue to play along with the gag.
Sadly, most American brands like Old World Christmas and Kurt S. Adler get these mass produced in China. And of course, China manufacturers now bypass these brands and sell them directly to consumers.
If you’re going to get a glass pickle, why not go to the country where they traditional supposedly started? Inge Glass makes perfectly “authentic” ones that are made with the same exceptional attention to quality that their other ornaments are made of.
Here are some other German manufacturers on and off Amazon to take a look at:
- On Amazon (be careful—Amazon will “sneak” made in China ornaments in as cross-sells)
- Off Amazon
- Steinbach
- Erzgebirge Palace
- The Wooden Wagon
- GermanSteins (made in Poland)
- Treetime (made in Poland)
- JingleNog (made in Poland)
9. Christopher Radko
As I mentioned above, Shiny Brite was by far the most popular brand in America in the 1940s and 1950s. I was excited that Christopher Radko, a big European glassmaker, decided to recreate Shiny Brite ornaments back in 2001. Unfortunately most of those are made in China.
Christopher Radko does continue to make its own ornaments, many in Europe. The one pictured above is made in Poland, for example.
Check out his other designs for some of the most beautiful designs you’ll find anywhere.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are still lots of great choices for ways that you can fill up your tree without even one piece of junk from China, who is led by a government that sees Christ and Christmas as merely additional ways to dominate the West by appealing to their greed, vanity, and everything else that’s against the spirit of Christmas.
If you’re a person of faith, this Christmas, remember to say a prayer for those millions within China who are fellow believers but cannot practice their faith with the same freedom that we can.
Do you know of any other Christmas ornaments worthy of mention here? Let us know in the comments.
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- christmas ornaments
There are quite a lot of Christmas ornaments made in Europe. Mostly from Germany or Poland.
If you search on “Christmas ornaments made in Germany” or Poland, you will definitely find some.
One brand stands out, it’s the Danish brand “Brink Nordic”. They make great products. Made in Europe.