Advent Calendars
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Christmas | 25 comments
Advent calendar
When I was a small child someone sent us three Advent Calendars from Germany. One for each child. I can still remember the anticipation as we opened the windows each day and looked at the pictures behind the doors on all three.
These Advent Calendars were deluxe, with a really good image behind each door and loads of detail in the scenes. One has stuck in my mind forever. The door was a window shutter and when I opened it there was a lady smiling down at someone below. I followed her gaze to the man and the little dog standing on the snowy street below. Magical.
No wonder my mother kept them safe. They were packed away after Christmas with the rest of decorations and appeared twelve months later.
I was so young that I couldn’t remember the images behind the doors year to year. So I was thrilled when she opened the large oblong Christmas box, shook off the tinsel and stood the calendars on the mantelpiece.
Eventually I did remember the images but still enjoyed the anticipation of having my annual peek inside each window.
One day I’d love to design an Advent Calendar where the images behind the doors interact with the overall scene.
Crossing the days off to Christmas is fun. I’ve always enjoyed Advent Calendars. An independent journey has always appealed far more than any arrival.
This morning a small, chunky envelope dropped through our letterbox. I opened it carefully. My mum had sent us a card advent calendar. Something about the design had my antenna twitching, it seemed familiar. I turned it over to discover that it was designed and made in Germany by Richard Sellmer Verlag.
I ventured onto the internet. They have been trading since 1946!
We must have received our advent calendars in the late fifties. I’m 98% sure that this style is the same. I studied the calendars each Christmas for about four or five years in a way that only a child could – with few distractions, every square inch was examined carefully and enjoyed.
Fifty years later things may have come full circle.
Update: Yes I have now confirmed that these were the calenders that we had as children. You can buy them direct from the manufacturer in Germany too.
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Thank you – been looking for this type of advent calender everywhere.
German family members used to send me these back in the 70’s.. They havent changed!! 🙂
Hi cottage doors
I love these calanders – truly exceptional.
What a love blog thread. I too used to receive the lovely German advent calendars as a child in the 60s and they were saved from year to year. So glittery and pretty.
We now have calendars, I also attach an angel with a paperclip to a long ribbon with 24 stars and she moves up the ribbon each day. We also have a candle and an advent diary calendar where I peg little squares of paper on a board. Each day one is turned over with that day’s activity, which might be a school play or to post cards, put up tree, etc. There is also a carol or Christmas song for each day which we play and sing (although often get behind on this one). I even put a calendar on my office door at work – I’m a university lecturer in law and you be amazed and what a lovely reception it gets from both students and staff.
Thanks to this site for introducing me to the German advent calendar maker’s site – can’t wait to stock up.