Mel Fischer

Donna, that is a great set. Apparently it was made by Lidco, we have three newspaper ads from 1969 showing the set with other Lidco items. Mel

Charlie, small correction, those were the Grand Venture football snowmen, not Empire.

Richard, I will try again. Mel

A few more pictures from the video.

Santa's Best had the Mrs. Claus made for them in Mexico up through 2002, General Foam made it for Santa's Best in 2003 and purchased the mold and made it under the GF name from 2004 up until it was discontinued. Mel

A December 7, 1965 Daily Tribune newspaper Woolco ad with a pair of MSL Industries Angel Singers. Mel

A 1955 newspaper picture with some of the Christmas items Spielbauer offered for the holiday. Note the Sculptoris choir boy and girl on the table we rarely see those anywhere. Mel

Yes, TPI started making their 31" version in 1994, prior to that year theirs were 30". As I recall, Sun Hill also made the 30" version from the TPI molds and then Grand Venture acquired the molds for the TPI/Sun Hill 30" version in 1998 and made it until they closed their doors in 2005. There is an interesting history of some of the molds from MAC Plastics, TPI, Sun Hill, Falcon Plastics and Grand Venture which connects them all together. How many here even know that some of the TPI blow molds were made in the US for a few years? Mel

Your bags look great to me, a lot of the looks for the sealing of the edges has to do with the setting of the time of the seal. When I have a piece of plastic that I am not sure how long to set the time for I use a scrap piece and start at a low setting and adjust from there until I am satisfied with the seal, then I use that setting to make the bag. Doesn't take long at all to do that. My wife and I grow a vegetable garden every year and use a vacuum sealer for bagging and freezing the vegetables for winter use and I also make clear plastic bags for separating the different vegetables in the freezer to make it easier to find them. We also do the same with meat that we buy in bulk at times. Just to clarify things, we use the regular store bought vacuum seal bags that we buy direct from Foodsaver when they have them on sale for the vegetables and meat, the bags I make for the freezer are what we put the vacuum sealed food in to keep it organized. That's just another use we have for the bag sealer along with making bags for other things at times for storing items. Mel

Kelly, that is definitely possible and I wondered about that myself. The only way we can know for sure is to hopefully see catalog pictures or advertisements showing yours. Possibly David (WLND-David) might know something about yours, he has done a lot of research into the municipal decorations. I have sent an email to him with the link to this thread as I see he hasn't been on PC since November 20 so he probably doesn't know about it.

The last year for Grand Venture was 2005.

Garrison-Wagner did not make their products, the Santa and bell wreaths shown in Sam's picture were indeed make by GP but they are not the same as what Kelly has. My guess would be that Kelly's were made by GP but at a earlier date then the ones in the G-W broadsheet. The ones in the Broadsheets and G-W catalogs that I have are double sided with the same on both sides, not a Santa on one side and the bells on the other. Mel

If I recall correctly, when GF closed their doors they had cases of bags there for the taking. Mel

Not all that much work compared to what it was before purchasing the new sealer. Now the main work is in measuring and cutting the plastic but then it is to each his own in caring for their blow molds. Mel

Yes, those were first made by Beco. MSL Industries purchased Beco and their molds in 1965 and made several of the Beco items from 1965 through 1969 and those choir kids were two that they made. General Foam purchased the Beco molds from MSL in early 1970 and they first made that pair in 1970. I do not know how many years they made them. Mel