Is It Dated???? A tough ? to answer these days!

[nicki]

IS IT DATED?

One of the most frequent questions we are asked...Has become a LOADED QUESTION!

In the pre-2000 ornament days, it was an easy question to answer.
Yes, ALL the "family" Hallmark ornaments were dated...you could COUNT ON THAT. And, for the others, if it was considered "dated", the date was prominent... you could clearly see the date half way across the room!

Today...that question is much harder to answer.
MANY family ornaments are not dated, Son and Daughter for example have not included the date in recent years.

MANY Hallmark ornament boxes indicate "Dated 20__" however, when you look for the date on the ornament, it may be hard to find.
Often it is just a small copyright date printed or embossed on the bottom (or elsewhere" on the ornament.
A good example is the 2008 Jolly Rider Harley Santa, the box indicates it is "Dated 2008" but when a collector called to ask "Where's the Date"...after close examination, we laughed when we found a tiny "2008" embossed on the seat of Santa's black pants!

Our goal is to make the ornament descriptions on www.hookedonornaments.com complete and accurate, making us the #1 Source of accurate Hallmark Ornament information. But answering the "Dated Question" these days with a yes or no often has us scratching our heads!

Whats your opinion?
1. Is it important to you to know if an ornament is dated?
2. Do you consider a small copyright date on the bottom of the ornament enough to call it "dated"?
3. Any suggestions on how to make it clear in our descriptions?

[Chris Dean]

Hi Nicki,
My thoughts would be that dating is important, it provides the collector with a history of the ornament, and in the future may assist in remembering where they purchased the ornament or the reason why.
I know we are not talking about one off paintings or sculptures but to me it adds to the piece,
See you in KC soon,
Regards Chris
Enjoy the day

[Rhonda]

Morning all!

Personally as a collector unless I can see the date while the ornament is hanging on the tree - easily seen front or back - I just don't consider the ornament dated.

So when we work on making item description notes - Dated or Not - I do try to indicate whether the ornament is clearly dated in the item description - or use our little note about "small embossed date"

Talking to customers - I've heard both, some don't consider that small date to make the ornament dated, some are happy to accept it as a dated ornament.

Like Nicki, I'm really interested in what other collectors think on this topic

[diana]

There are some ornaments that I want dated to commemorate a specific event or milestone. There are others (licensed property mainly) that I'd prefer to be undated. The only exception to this would be tie-ins to events, such as Disney movies where the first issue ornament is released the year the movie is first shown in theaters.

I think your designation of "small embossed date" is clear and helpful for collectors.