One of my more easily satisfied collecting interests is Christmas-themed Houze Glass. This is our small collection of them. The Pennsylvania company opened in the 19th Century, and continued on until well into the 20th. They may have done many things, but what I know them for are these mid-century small trinket trays/plates. They did them commercially as advertising tchotchkes for small businesses (e.g., a gold-printed portrait of the Kankakee Federal Bank home office), and made them for special-events - you might receive a "Happy Birthday!" tray in lieu of a card. They also decorated them for Christmas. I love the austere fonts (see "Merry Christmas" and "Noel" on the trees to the lower left of the picture), and the cartoon styling some of them have (check out the birds, lower right, from 1959, and the reindeer, top left). Graphic design that's perfectly period. Pretty common on eBay and Etsy. Always fun to discover one you haven't seen before, or to pick one up for a pittance. No need for collecting desperation, though, they made plenty of them.
