Holiday Gift Ideas: Russian Secret Boxes

As the coming holidays approach, we find ourselves discussing many of our favorite items that represent to us the warmth and the beauty of the season. As a family, we relish finding the perfect gift for those we love, something that seems to fit a part of them. Therefore, we thought it would be fun if we featured some of the wonderful things we have to offer. Every few days, we will pick one item, available both in our store and online, and tell you a little more about it. We'll pick a variety of items, large and small, for a variety of people. Perhaps one might be the perfect gift for someone in your life.

Our Russian secret boxes are hand carved from European Linden and hand painted in a variety of beautiful colors. Their wings swivel to reveal a small compartment perfect for keeping secrets... Great for bird lovers. Mara loves how hers compliments her wood dresser and is a perfect place to stash her rings without a mess. Available in Red-Breasted Sapsucker, Cedar Waxwing, Snowy Owl, Screech Owl, Chickadee, Eastern Bluebird, Cardinal, Ring-Necked Pheasant, Loon, and Ruby-Throated Hummingbird.

Fall 09 Newsletter

BALTIC IMPORTS NEWSLETTER
207 East Hennepin Ave, Mpls. MN 55414 612-331-3296 www.balticimports.com

Fall 09

"Harvest time is over, and our gracious lord has now turned to us. We have come to meet him in great haste. We have bound a fragrant wreath to please him. We have tied the wreath of wheat ears, and beautiful garden and field flowers… May he and the lady live like a pair of doves.”
--Hungarian Peasant Customs, Karoly Viski, 2nd printing, Budapest, 1937


Dear Customers and Collectors,
What a gracious time approaches. With harvest over, the energy of fall slows before winter’s gate. It is a time in which we tend to our souls and our past. Now, at October’s end, after gathering everything in to us that was whole and bright, we light our houses in the deepening darkness.

In the store we are moving towards winter as well. Our harvests of traditional folk arts are arriving and they speak of both the past and the present. Ingrida has brought back 50 pieces of vintage amber, bronze, and copper jewelry. Russian wood carving masters have sent one-of-a-kind carvings. Brightly colored gems and deep toned amber for winter shine in our cases. Advent calendars crowd our counter. We have come home from Europe and are reading our house. We are inviting the world around us to come in and touch the light and warmth of old and new beauty. We are filling our hearts and store with timeless blessings and things that comfort. We stand at winter’s gate with a little light in our cupped hands.
Sincerely, Sean and Ingrida

NEWS
Holiday Store Hours
The store will extend its evening hours November 9th through the holidays. Our new hours are 10:00am to 8:00pm Monday through Saturday and Sunday 11:00am to 5:00pm. We will be open on Christmas Eve day from 9:00am to 3:00 pm.
International Amber Association Membership
Baltic Imports and Sean, its amber master, were recognized by the International Amber Association and made members in spring. It is a great honor. Baltic Imports has been long recognized in Latvia and Lithuania and by the International Conference on Amber and Archaeology. The International Amber Association has now acknowledged Baltic Imports for its commitment to and knowledge of natural amber products of the highest quality.
Balticimports.com, Blog, and Baltic Forum
We have added over 150 new products to our website, www.balticimports.com, for the fall and winter season and redesigned the site for easier shopping. We also are continuing to post articles on our blog, balticimports.blogspot.com, and in addition, have created an electronic “open forum” where our customers may respond to information on many topics, and post their own responses: www.balticimports.com/forum.
Facebook Page
With many of our customers joining us individually as friends on Facebook, we have decided to create a separate Facebook profile for Baltic Imports (type Baltic Imports in the search box, click on the individual page, and once there, click on “become a fan.”) There, we have started to offer more frequent store updates, photographs, and unique seasonal coupons. It may be a fun way to keep abreast of sudden holiday specials.
Folk Art Evenings at the Store
Our informal Education Evenings at the store will continue on Thursday, November 19th from 6:30 to 8:00pm, with a lecture by Sean on “The Most Valuable Amber: Tips for Buying Amber in the Contemporary Market.” We are offering this evening for the many customers who could not make it to our August lecture and who asked that the event be repeated. Please R.S.V.P. to maija@balticimports.com or call 612-331-3296 if you would like to attend. All amber during the evening will be offered at 15% off.
Black Friday Coupon and Sale
We will be having discounts throughout the store the weekend of November 27th-29th. Additionally, on November 27th ONLY, use the following coupon to receive a $25 gift card with a purchase of $100 or more, in store or online. For online purchases no web code is needed, any purchase meeting the criteria will get a gift card! Happy Shopping!

NEW PRODUCTS
Products are pouring into the store. There is a tremendous excitement among our staff as the fall designs arrive and we reach into winter. This year our theme has been comfort: a traditional tea in a dark evening and a perfect glass to drink it in, jewelry that one would buy for oneself and touch throughout the day; gifts for lovers that are timeless; and the bright little gifts that light the soul as it runs through the dark nights of winter.
Amber Highlights
Ingrida has brought back over 50 pieces of antique amber, bronze and copper jewelry from her fall travels. It’s hard to describe it all, for each piece is filled with tremendous cultural and traditional meaning. Weddings, births, healings, and deaths, are marked in the metal of their patterns, and the antique spiritual amber is so softened in tone that it has become wise with age. Three opaque yellow amber leaves wrap themselves about the story of the Sun in a late 1920’s art deco wedding necklace, cut “ modernly” to rest square between the bare neck and cloth-covered breasts. An archaic bronze 1890’s Finnish pin of a village healer is marked by four lines of suns in a disk that would have protected her in both the light and dark of the world. An antique copper blacksmith’s necklace of the guardian moon offers the hand-forged metal blessing of 3 moons wrapped in a single great moon, from which is suspended a half moon made of thick clear amber. A merchant’s necklace, odd in its metals, German silver and more archaic bronze, holds a piece of rare and perfect sea-tossed amber polished into a great clear drop. The necklace falls into two separated metal patterns, the flat cut of silver to highlight the bare space beneath the neck, and the silver and rare amber to ornament the breasts. The bronze filigree of the classic piece is hand-balled on the silver and represents warm suns over the moon-colored metal. A Latvian copper healer’s pin of the pregnant female sun, offers in its feminine purity the beauty of the late 1800’s, with a simple fall of three triangles that mark the world of the earth forever with the gift of magic. The triangle necklaces of yellow and white amber, aged to deep warm honey, set on wound silver cord or German silver chainmail, bless the wearer with the love of the Mother of All Things, whom the young woman about to be married embodied; Mother of Milk, Mother of Forest, Mother of Wind, Mother of Fields. Old pins, some of the amber 200 years old, 7 tiny perfect coin-silver rings, a brilliant art deco pair of bronze and double cut amber cufflinks among a collection of 1920’s cuff links, round out the collection. New contemporary amber is being set out every day.
Textiles
New Latvian mittens, socks, and hats have come in and will keep your hands, feet, and head both warm and beautiful. An extra long wedding mitten has Mara’s mark, a symbol of the Earth, in green flower braid patterns against an onion skin red brown. Wonderful! Linen shawls for the season and Russian patterned wool scarves offer beautiful colors to combat dark nights or moods. Three hand-broken flax open-weave runners, 2 with blessings of Mara, the Earth, and one with the Great Cross of the Sun in raised pattern have come from one of Latvia’s greatest tradition weavers and still smell of natural flax oil, a scent that is as rare as it is comforting. German and Austrian fall and Christmas linens are arriving in every color and shape.
Siberian Healing Gems and Cultural Stones
We have brought in new Siberian healing gems, mammoth tusk earrings and necklaces, and Czech Moldavite pendants, so that our case of stones in the store is quite full. The Siberians have also made chalcedony pendulums for us that are wonderfully weighted and balanced perfectly for the healers coming to the store for the gems. Chalcedony is the ancient stone of wisdom, insight, and truth and is diverse in color and pattern, each stone being unique. It’s their way of saying thank you to our community.
Polish Teas, Candies, and More
All natural Polish herbal teas, elegant tea or coffee glasses with modern metal holders, matching coffee presses, herbal ceramic cups, and cups for Father, Grandmother, and Grandfather in Polish, are part of our kitchen display. The teas we have selected are as delicious as they are healing: Black Currant for overall health, famous Lemon Balm (Melisa) and Orange for the immune system and nerves, Apple and Peppermint for the digestive system, and Natural Assorted Fruit Tea with Rose Hips made from real fruit pieces, because that was how grandmother made tea for fall. Other teas will also be arriving during the Christmas season. Polish Christmas candies will be near the cash wrap counter along with Polish Eagle shot glasses, and wonderful Polish green glass fall leaf bowls. Look for the blue and white Polish salt and pepper set, one of Maija’s favorite little things.
New Boleslawiec pottery has arrived
Among the new pieces are Christmas patterned dinner plates as well as several others with Christmas designs. Also wonderful are the individual tea mugs with strainers.
Lithuanian Teas, Candies, and More
We are also hoping to have Lithuanian Christmas chocolates, traditional Tree Cakes, and a variety of all natural Lithuanian herbal teas for the holiday season. Please keep checking the website and/or call the store to find out if our shipment comes through.
Seasonal Products and Ornaments
Wonderfully carved wood nativities from Poland and Russia, in both small and large sets, compliment the most masterful Grandfather frosts we have had in years. One, a resting Grandfather and a brown lab curled around him to lick his fingers is made from one great piece of wood. Some incredible German smokers--my favorite a wonderful St. Nick on a motorcycle, add whimsy to the sacred and the beautiful.
Bright German Advent Calendars with many different new scenes to choose from have been handpicked by Ingrida for their link to tradition. An old fashioned archetypal Bethlehem with solemn kneeling shepherds caught in light or a fold out, free standing triptych, with images of young children writing cards and young angels flying them up to heaven all represent the sweetness of Christmas now and the spiritual beauty of Christmases of the past. Polish oplatki cards and traditional cards without oplatki are rich in design. Among my favorite cards are Ukrainian Christmas images of traditional reverse glass painting from west Ukraine.
Our splendid seasonal matryoshkas and little village dolls with gently painted old fashioned animals are so authentic and reasonable that they are perfect for children or the collector. The cat and dog dolls carved with ears have to be opened and unstacked to be seen. If you love animals the exceptionally painted personality of each cat and dog is so masterful that it brings a knowing smile to one’s face.
With our pledge to support the folk arts abroad and the people that add grace to a country, we are pleased to be bringing in the clay winter bells of the orthodox Sisters of St. Elizabeth in Belarus. They care for the sick and needy, and those addicted to drugs and alcohol while making traditional crafts to fund their projects.
As always, our Christmas ornaments are as diverse as ever, and represent 6 months of shopping for those that illuminate the heart of a culture. Large Polish glass balls are in the wooden case, one cut out with the Christ Child lying on straw in its inside. A beautiful painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa, the Black Madonna, has an image of the ancient icon on one side and that of Pope John Paul on the other. A hand painted Madonna in gentle blues, sweetly done, is the largest ball we have. Large Polish birds are stacked below with feathers and gilded husks for tail feathers. New Czech and German birds have arrived, some small enough to hold in the palm of your hand, others 16 inches long. Everywhere new ornaments fill our store from almost every country we represent. Latvian crochet snowflakes, Estonian wood cut outs, woven straw suns and birds from Lithuania, masterful traditional glass from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Germany. Come in and visit! And ask our staff about folk meanings!

The Winter Tree and Its Ornaments
A Folk Art essay by Sean McLaughlin. Copyright 2003.

Winter brings a stark beauty over a quieted Europe. The days draw shorter and shorter as the night makes haste to triumph in its moment over abundant nature and the sun. It is a time of grays, of turned-soil blacks, of brown mud, coated by snow or patterned by rain. A time when even the warm breath comes out like smoke and tedium seeks to replace vitality. Throughout the millennia, we, as a species, have sought to balance the failing sun and to bring color into the heart of our dwellings.
There is much scholarship on the early Roman celebration of Saturnalia, which began on December 17th and continued for 7 days, to mark the fall and return of the sun. Saturnus, the god of seed grains and sowing, was honored by feast and ribald actions. Trees, especially the evergreen, which was a symbol of eternal life, were adorned with flowers. Candles, a symbol of sacred domestic fire, were lit to aid the “weakened” sun. Wax tapers and a small terracotta doll were the appropriate gift to give one’s friends.
The history of the mythology illustrated by Saturnalia existed before the Romans and well after. The Kalends of the Celts and Northwestern Teutons, The “Dies Natalis Invicti Solis,” the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun, the Feast of Mithras in Persia, or of Attis in Asia Minor, all centered around the green tree, floral and green decorations, fire rites, gift giving, and feasting.
It wasn’t until the 4th century A.D. that the Catholic Church agreed on a date to celebrate the birthday of Jesus. Pope Julius, in 350, designated December 25th as the Holy Day. As Christianity moved to the outlying areas of the Old Roman Empire, and conflicts rose about the diverse cultural celebrations of the solstice, Pope Gregory the Great, in 597, advised that pagan customs be assimilated into the Church and then re-educated in Christian perspectives.
One of our first Christmas tree legends comes from this time period of Christian and pagan interaction. The Legend of St. Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, tells of his travels through Geismar and his stumbling upon the preparation of a human sacrifice at a blood oak, of a child king, to the God Odin.
Boniface convinces the men to fell the oak instead. Upon its falling, a fir sapling immediately rises in its place, offering itself as a symbol of Christ and Eternal Life.
The important story of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, begins in the 4th century. As patron saint of children, merchants, sailors, and bankers, he is synonymous with giving to the poor, and the three bags of gold that he gave as dowries to the daughters of a poor man are often said to have been the model for the first round glass ornaments.
It is in the 7th century when the stories of Thor, described as an old man with a long beard who fought the Gods of Ice and Show with red thunderbolts, slowly start to transform into a legend of one who will come near the solstice and reward those who have been just and punish those who have not. Suffice it to say that an amalgam of St. Nicholas and Thor becomes Father Christmas and then Santa Claus. Whether the preferred ornament color of red comes from Thor or from St. Nicholas’s rich robes, no one is now really prepared to say.
Our Christmas tree evolves, never really passing away, never really becoming a separate entity in itself. In the 16th century, Paradise Plays emerge in Christendom and the fir decorated with red apples is honored throughout Advent. Soon the apples would be replaced by blown glass balls.
The first written record of a decorated Christmas tree comes from Strasbourg in 1605. It states, “They sat fir trees up in the parlors…and hung upon them roses cut from many colored papers, apples, wafers, guilt-sugar, sweets…” There is much discussion now that places the first “Christmas trees” in Riga, Latvia.
Decorated trees enter America with the Hessian soldiers during the War for Independence in 1776. By the 1850’s Franklin Pierce starts the tradition of a decorated tree in the White House.
By 1865 German and Czech glass ornaments were being imported and sold on street corners. The American glass blower, William A. Demuth, had already been producing silvered balls and bead chains, while the now famous kugel-like grapes and pears had found their way from the immigrant glass blowers in New York and New Jersey to the joyful Pennsylvania Dutch.
The 1869 issue of Harper’s Bazaar contains a descriptive list of ornaments: “the now clad veteran, Santa Claus, his bag emptied of its treasures with which he has adorned the tree: globes, fruits, and flowers of colored glass, bright tin reflectors, and innumerable grotesque figures suspended by rubber string.” The list does little to illuminate the deep folk tradition that the ornaments rose from.
To the German peasant working in the glass blowing village of Lauscha, or the Czech or Polish itinerate artist, the ornament held familiar folk beliefs. Acorns would be the symbols for the Tree of Life and stand for strength. Animals were directly connected to the Nativity scene, with horses and pigs possessing the ability to speak and prophecy about the coming year. The bell was a reminder of the fact that on the night the Christ was born, evil died and every bell on earth and in heaven rang continuously for an hour. Birds were the messengers of God and of love, with the birdcage symbolizing the happy home. Cones symbolized motherhood and fertility. The doll, as a representation of childhood, stood for the future. The many forms of fish were all symbols of Christ, of longevity, and the eternal made possible through faith. The first fruit ornaments represented the sweetness of Christ’s salvation to man. Even the heart ornament was interpreted differently, for in tradition it stood for the very seat of the soul.
Form in ornaments was also symbolic. The common ball or sphere represented circles of eternal life. But within that vast form other folk beliefs lay just beneath the surface. The three balls in St. Nicholas’s legend differed from the balls of the Paradise Tree. The heavy glass kugels, beloved of the Pennsylvania Dutch, also brought good luck, while a variation was called the Witches’ Eye and was originally made to hang in a window of the house for protection.
The history of the ornament and the winter tree is complex. Its folklore is established and compelling. Our staff will offer their insights and scholarship to aid in your selection. We will also offer a host of stories to go with our pickles, spiders, churches, globes, rockets, clowns, dogs, cats, birds, and perfect flowers.
A fitting tale to end with comes from western Poland near the Czech and German border. It is an old legend, which states that three trees stood near the manger of Bethlehem: a date, an olive, and a pine. The date gave the newborn Jesus one of its fruits, the olive did likewise. Only the pine had nothing to give. So the stars came down to rest on the pine’s boughs. The Infant was so pleased he made the pine the first Christmas Tree.

Source: The Glass Ornament Old and New. By Maggie Rogers with Judith Hawkins. Timber Press, 1977.

For information or comments please e-mail Sean at info@balticimports.com

Vintage Amber Highlights: Fall 2009

Ingrida has brought back over 50 pieces of antique amber, bronze and copper jewelry from her fall travels. It’s hard to describe it all for each piece is filled with tremendous cultural and traditional meaning. Weddings, births, healings, and deaths, are marked in the metal of their patterns, and the antique spiritual amber is so softened in tone that it has become wise with age. 3 opaque yellow amber leaves wrap themselves about the story of the Sun in a late 1920’s art deco wedding necklace, cut “ modernly” to rest square between the bare neck and cloth covered breasts. An archaic bronze 1890’s Finnish pin of a village healer is marked by four lines of suns in a disk that would have protected her in both the light and dark of the world. A copper blacksmiths necklace of the guardian moon, made before WWI, offers the hand forged metal blessing of 3 moons wrapped in a great moon, from which is suspended a half moon made of thick amber which in its turn, holds a circle of pollen. A merchant’s necklace, odd in its metals, German silver and more archaic bronze, holds a piece of rare and perfect sea tossed amber polished into a great clear drop. The necklace falls into two separated metal patterns, the flat cut of silver to highlight the bare space beneath the neck, and the silver and rare amber to ornament the breasts. The bronze filigree of the classic piece is hand balled on the silver and represent warm suns over the moon colored metal. There was in this high studio necklace recognition that bronze was regarded then and now as the greatest of healers, more respected than gold. A Latvian copper healer’s pin of the pregnant female sun, offers in its feminine purity the beauty of the late 1800’s, with a simple fall of three triangles that mark the world of the earth forever with the gift of magic. The triangle necklaces of yellow and white amber, aged to deep warm honey, set on wound silver cord or German silver chain mail, bless the wearer with the love of the Mother of All Things, whom the young woman about to be married, embodied… Mother of Milk, Mother of Forest, Mother of Wind, Mother of Fields; countless mothers uncounted, within and without. Old pins, some of the amber 200 years old, 7 tiny perfect coin silver rings, a brilliant art deco pair of bronze and double cut amber cuff links among a collection of 1920’s cuff links, round out the collection with a great selection of old pieces for men and women. Of course our contemporary amber is still there as beautiful and as reasonable as ever.