Vintage Santa Boots For Christmas

I love to decorate with vintage pieces for the holidays and today I am sharing my growing collection of vintage Santa boots!

Today I am sharing with you my vintage Santa Boot collection! This vintage collection is actually a happy little accident. I truly never intended to have so many boots, but here we are. While I am no “Santa Boot expert,” I do know that these boots are perfect for the holidays. And, just like any other collection it grew over time. I just couldn’t help put pick up these cute little boots when ever I saw them out and about.

I have four main ‘types” of boots on these shelves. Let’s talk about each of them a bit more!

Papier- Mache Vintage Santa Boots

There on the top shelf you will see my papier-mache vintage Santa boots. Also known as pressed cardboard boots, these are very fragile. Made long ago, these boots were used as candy containers and would have been filled with sweet treats and given as gifts during the holidays. They came in various sizes, as you can see from the tapering collection that I have above. Because they are fragile and made from paper, many did not survive over the years. You can easily see the age on them – they are dinged and dented in spots. The white ‘fur’ at the tops of a few of them is stained form being handled over the years. Many of them have areas of chipped paint. But, I still love them. All of these imperfections would be expected from something so old and so fragile.

I should note, that only a few days ago, my sweet daddy gave me a pair of Papier-Mache boots that he bought from a lady who was having a yard sale. She shared with him that she remembered her mom putting them out each and every Christmas – one belonged to her and the other belonged to her sister. I love that story so much.

Hard Plastic Vintage Santa Boots

These too were old candy containers and from what I can tell online, these were really became popular in the 1950s and 1960s after the end of the second world war. Back then, these plastic boots were very inexpensive. Because of their affordable price point, many people bought them and many were given as gifts during the holidays. One main “plastic” company that comes to mind is the Rosen Company, also known as ROSBRO. This company, among others, became successful making charming little novelty containers for various holidays and these containers have now become collectible. After about 10 years of serious collecting, I have many plastic candy containers in various shapes and sizes for the various holidays.

Glass Vintage Santa Boots

Again, these glass boots were also candy containers. I admittedly do not know too much about these glass beauties, but I do know that these were treat filled boots that still catch the eye of collectors today. Probably filled with tiny candy pellets and sealed with a metal or cardboard top.

Ceramic Vintage Santa Boots

These ceramic Santa boots are also very popular! Over the years I have seen them marked as both candy containers and planters – I guess they can go either way! Just like the ever popular Santa Mugs (you can read about Santa mugs here) these Santa boots would have been hand painted from companies like NAPCO. In addition to being professionally manufactured, these Santa boots also were hand done at home over the years.

Just know that when you are out shopping for ceramic Santa boots, you may stumble upon ones that looks ‘unprofessional.” The paint may be sloppy or there may not be a glaze covering the boot. Those are more than likely boots that were done at home – probably a fun Christmas craft. I have both styles and I am happy with both of them.

*Quick Tip: It is important to note that there were companies that were manufacturing Santa Boots (and other ceramics) using the cold painting technique. This is a technique which became popular around the 1920s. “Cold painting” refers to the process of applying paint to a piece after it has been both glazed and fired. Many time, this technique was done to save money and therefore the quality of the paint job is poor and the paint applied in this way can chip off very easily. I have read that cold painted ceramics that are in very good condition can be very collectable to serious buyers because of this. (Thanks to my instagram friend Susan who reminded to add this little bit of history to my blog post. It certainly takes a tribe sometimes! )

Shop All The Santa Boots

If you are interested in building a Santa boot collection for yourself then this may help! I gathered a few of my favorite boots from around the web. I would be happy to add any of these to my little collection. To shop, just click on any picture below!

Wrap Up

Because no two are alike, it is so much fun to add to this collection over time. In fact, I just added a new boot to my collection last night! I have a friend that just gifted me a wax Santa boot – so now I have a brand new “category” of boots to add to the mix!

I just love my Santa boot collection and I hope this post inspires you to see the beauty in them. If you are thinking of starting a boot collection yourself (or adding to a budding collection that you already have), just remember to stick with what you like. Stay true to your “boot” style.

Maybe you only want the paper mache boots becuase they remind you of your childhood.

Maybe you do not have room for the larger ceramic boots because they are large and take up storage space after the season.

Maybe you only want to find the tiny boots because you have the perfect spot for them in your home.

As long as it is something that YOU are drawn to then you will be happy as your collection grows. Thank you for being here and for following along. I feel so honored to have a spot on the web where I can share all of my collections (and a piece of my vintage lovin’ heart) with you all. If you are not already, then you can follow me here on IG where I share more of my collections in real time on stories. Thanks so so much for taking a moment out of your busy holiday schedule to follow along.

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