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Ultimate Christmas Kitsch
Blow

Molds

By Carrie Polales Sansing

Judith Elf by Empire 1970 Poloron fawn Empire deer candle Irwin Santa

hey are known by various names. Light-ups, lawn blow-molded Christmas decorations. Bernard
art, plastic kitsch, illuminated figures, or simply Edward Co., of Chicago, IL, later renamed Beco;
Tblow molds. Poloron Products of New Rochelle, NY;
Union Products of Leominster, MA; and
An Obsession Begins NOMA/Tico were some of the first to produce
I recall the first time I poured over the Sears Wish Book blow molded Christmas decorations. They were
and JCPenney holiday catalogs with my mother when I was a later followed by Dapol, Lidco, Hamilton Skotch
young girl, trying to decide what new items we could add to Corp., Sunhill, Bayshore, Bel-Air Plastics,
our growing collection of Christmas decorations. I always Empire, General Foam, and many others.
pointed to my favorite things that all seemed to have one thing – The Glow of Christmas Past
in common: they were plastic and
could light up. It all came down to Beco Products, Chicago, IL
that pivotal moment when the The date that the Bernard
decisions were finally made and an Edward Company (Beco)
order was placed. That was the day commenced business is
an obsessive blow mold collector unknown, but there is no
was born. doubt they were in business
Since that day in the mid-1960s, at least back in the late 1940s.
I have acquired a little bit of Empire Santa Let’s look at the evidence.
knowledge about more than just a Blow Mold – During the late 1940s and
few blow molds. Let’s take a look at early 50s, Bernard Edwards Co.
a few of the early manufacturers. produced various types of drapery hardware and
As a native Chicagoan, we’ll start kitchen items from metal and, most significantly,
with the company that is the most plastic. This may have helped propel the company
responsible for my obsession. But first, a into producing blow molds later.
Sears 1969 Wishbook showing quick history of the blow-mold craze. – In March 1950, a trademark infringement
blowmolds for sale lawsuit was filed by Ekco Products Company
Blow-Mold Evolution against Bernard Edward Co. for using “confus-
Blow molding is a plastic manufacturing process. In 1881, the first ingly similar” makers marks in the late 1940s. Beco 29-inch
U.S. Patent was given to Celluloid Novelty Co. of New York for Later, in 1954, it was stated that the marks were choir singer
extruding a polymer (cellulose nitrate) into a parison. In a nutshell, a “not confusingly similar” in that Beco’s mark was
hollow tube (the parison) is filled with melted plastic, placed into a steel in “lower case letters,” among other significant differences.
mold, and inflated with air, forcing the – One of my injection
plastic to be blown to the interior surface of a molded Angel Singers cartons is
metal mold, the metal mold is opened when marked “Manufactured by Beco
cooled, and the item is removed and Products Corp., formerly the
appropriately painted. Cellulose acetate Bernard Edward Co.” There is
was later used in the 1930s, and when no zip code on the shipping label,
Low-Density Polyethylene (LDP) was so we know it was made before
developed in the 1940s, the blow molding 1963. The trademark issue was
industry exploded as Monsanto started resolved in 1954. Extrapolating
making plastic squeeze bottles. from that information that the
Thereafter, many other manufacturers carton was transitional, we can
started using the process to produce plastic assume Beco was producing
containers as a substitution for glass. In the injection molded Christmas
1950s, High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) decorations at least in the
and Polypropylene (PP) were used to produce mid-1950s. Other boxes with
containers for water, oil, and most importantly, similar graphics only show Beco
the lowly milk jug. Early in the 1960s, Products with no reference to
enterprising manufacturers started producing Beco Snowman Beco Nativity Bernard Edward Co.

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