Saturday, December 24, 2011

Magical, practical Glass Wax

When I was a kid back in the 1950s, one of my favorite things to do was decorate the windows at Christmastime. I was the artistic type, always drawing or coloring or painting on something, and during the holidays, not a pane was left untouched. I remember how excited I was when my mother brought our first package of Christmas stencils home from the grocery store, handed me a sponge and a full can of Glass Wax and turned me loose.

It was like magic to dab the stencil with a spongeful of the thick pink liquid (which dried white) and then pull it away to reveal a beautiful Christmas tree or a jolly Santa. What a brilliant way to entertain children and trick them into polishing all the windows while mom and dad took down the tree when the festivities were over!

(FYI...There's a product available today called Gel-Gloss that works exactly the same way, and I'm sure Hobby Lobby, Jo-Ann's and Michael's are full of holiday stencils...probably already marked down.)


Original Gold Seal Glass Wax
wilderness-survival.net

Christmas stencils
flickr.com - halloween_guy

OMG!!! 34 all new designs!!!
flickr.com - halloween_guy

Stencils at the ready
beruly.com

Ah...art
stoneykins.com
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7 comments:

  1. DearHelenHartmanDecember 24, 2011 at 6:54 AM

    I Need glass wax! And those stencils - I remember those in TG&Y and My Mom refusing to get them because of the mess of spray snow. Ever before her time, she found a natural alternative one year, I believe it was a mix of beer and Epsom salts to froth up the windows - talk about a mess! Merry Christmas!

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  2. jamie@midcenturymaniaDecember 24, 2011 at 8:39 AM

    I had totally forgotten about Glass Wax and angel hair. Your posts brought back lots of memories. Thanks for the reminder! Have a very Merry Christmas Dana.

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  3. chairsmithDecember 24, 2011 at 9:58 AM

    Wishing you a very Merry Christmas Dana, happy holidays!

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  4. Dana@Mid2ModDecember 24, 2011 at 12:25 PM

    @DearHelenHartman: I'm tellin' ya...it's all about the Gel-Wax in 2011. I tried it on my kitchen window, and it did the same thing.

    I will NOT, however, be trying beer and Epsom salts to froth up my windows...LOL I love your mother!

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  5. Dana@Mid2ModDecember 24, 2011 at 12:50 PM

    @Midcenturymadam: I had forgotten about Glass Wax too. I just happened upon a picture of it the other day, and it brought back a flood of memories. And I never realized till now that my mom was sneaky enough to get me to polish windows that way. :)

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  6. ericaDecember 25, 2011 at 8:39 PM

    I have the 2nd package! It was my grandmother's. I decorated my ranch house windows with them, except I cheated and used the spray snow from hobby lobby.

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  7. Dana@Mid2ModDecember 25, 2011 at 9:48 PM

    @erica: That's so cool that you have your grandmother's stencils. I just bought a set on eBay today for my grandsons to use next year!

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