Vintage Santa Mugs

These darling little vintage Santa mugs are so very popular – but have you ever wondered why? Do you want to grow your very own collection? I am answering your Santa mug questions here!

The most CRAZY Christmas craze is sweeping the holidays (again) and I couldn’t be more excited about it! I am talking about the sweetest little vintage Christmas item – vintage Santa mugs. I mean, who doesn’t love to stare at an adorable winking Santa face? I know I do. Give me ALL of the adorable little Santas this season.

Vintage Santa mugs, of all shapes and sizes, are one of the hottest vintage Christmas items out there these days. People all over the place are buying these charming mugs up as fast as they can. But, not to drink out of – oh no! These mugs are living on shelves, hanging from racks for all to see, and are even being used as ornaments on Christmas trees. Vintage Santa mugs are being shown off like trophies and I am so excited about that. Of all the vintage Christmas goodies out there, I think that it is safe to say that vintage Santa mugs are some of the most sought after Christmas collectables these days!

I can totally relate to the current vintage Santa mug craze. I began collecting these long ago, before I realized anyone else even knew that they existed. (In other words, well before I was on social media – Ha!) I have always been drawn to ‘all things’ vintage Christmas and these mugs were one of my first obsessions. I have somewhere around 60 mugs but I have sold MANY over the years. (In case you may not know, I have been an antique dealer for almost 10 years). Actually, I can remember buying some of my most favorite vintage Santa mugs AFTER Christmas – on “sale” – from some antique dealers – well before they were this sought after!

Recently, I shared my mug collection of vintage Santa mugs on Instagram. (you can follow me on IG here.) After reading all of the comments, I realized that there were a few people who had questions. I want to tackle those questions here – and if you have any more questions just leave me a comment down below!

What Is The History Of Vintage Santa Mugs?

Thanks to a few online articles, I was able to discover that these Santa mugs date back to 1949! It was then that the Holt-Howard company launched the first Christmas table decor line and the first Santa Mugs then began making their appearance. It wasn’t long after that other companies began producing them as well. These adorable little faces were mass-produced and sold at department stores and through catalogues over the years.

How Can I Tell If A Santa Mug Is Old?

While only a few of my mugs have no markings, most of them do have an identifiable mark of some sort . I have a few marked Holt-Howard and others marked Japan and Taiwan. Most of mine have indented markings but some have store stickers on them with the original price! The red foil sticker in the photo above (with the H) is a Holt Howard mug! These markings are almost always an indicator that you have a true vintage mug.

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I should also mention that I have a few mugs marked with a persons name. These would almost certainly have been hand painted by that person and are NOT considered to be as desirable by true collectors. But, I think that are charming nonetheless. You can usually spot these right away because the faces are not the ‘typical Santa mug face’ and the paint is usually applied in a bit of a sloppy manner.

What Were the Smaller Santa Mugs Used For?

I must tell you that I adore the smaller mugs the most. I have always had a weakness for ‘miniatures’ and these little Santa faces just melt my heart. In fact, these little ones stand just over an 1 1/2 inches tall! While I have quite a few minis out of the packaging, I do own just one set of minis in the original packaging and they are labeled as shot glasses! These smaller ones were often used at parties and given as party favors as well.

I also wanted to point out that there are older plastic mugs as well. I only have these two – but they work well with the rest of my ceramic collection!

Why Does The Paint Chip Off Sometimes?

Many vintage Santa mugs have been cold painted. Cold painting is a technique where the paint is NOT fired on. A cold painted item is fired in a kiln and then the paint is added on after the firing. Paint that is added on this way – ‘COLD’- will sometimes flake off over time. Many people love to search for ‘white vintage Santa mugs.’ To the best of my knowledge, most older white mugs are simply mugs in which the paint has flaked off. You can see in my example above that there are slight hints of red paint still visible.

How Can I Begin My Collection?

This is a question I get asked often. I have found all of mine ‘in person’ – at estate sales, antique stores, resale stores, and even yard sales. But, I have acquired this collection slowly over time. If you want to ‘speed up’ your collection then you can shop online. I know that Etsy and EBay have nice selections.

Some people do not mind NEW vintage ‘inspired’ mugs. You can find new Santa Mugs at:

Pottery Barn: Pottery Barn has a really good selection of Vintage Inspired Santa Mugs that are really convincing. I really do love these!

Amazon: You can find almost anything on Amazon and sure enough they do have some cute Vintage Inspired Santa mugs!

Dillards: While these mugs have a slightly different look, I do think they are darling!

Are All OF Your Santa Mugs Old?

The answer is YES – almost! A few years back, I was shopping at Target on Black Friday. My kids were younger then and I was in the toy area. There, near the toys, I saw an end cap filled with ‘vintage inspired’ Santa mugs. They were $3.00 a piece. I snagged three of them for my kids and somehow they have ended up in my collection. Fast forward to the present and I LOVE the fact that I have three Santa mugs that remind me of my kids! It the best mix of Old and New. And remember, these newer mugs will be the vintage mugs of the future. In my opinion it is certainly okay to sprinkle in a few new Santa mugs into your vintage collection.

Vintage Santa Mug Inspiration!

I spent some time going through Pinterest and I created a board full of my vintage Santa mug images. Click here to see what is inspiring me these days!

How Many Santa Mugs Do You Have?

At last count, I have 67 vintage Santa mugs. While I do NOT have a big collection compared to other serious collectors, I do have a pretty good mix. I am now on the hunt for more ‘unique’ mugs to add to my growing collection. For example, I was able to snag (with the help of a friend) a set of three vintage Lenticular Eye Santa Mugs this year. These are mugs that literally have a ‘winking’ eye and I love them so so much. In the past I have seen old mugs with bells and other variations. I can not wait to find more unique ones on future shopping trips!

Vintage Santa Mug Wrap Up!

While I am NO expert I really do enjoy sharing my passion for these cuties with YOU. If you have any additional questions or if you have any information to add then drop a comment below! Thanks so much for being here and for supporting the Blog. It means the world to me! Oh, and if you like vintage Santas then you may also enjoy this post – CLICK HERE FOR MORE VINTAGE SANTAS!

Merry Christmas!

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