Nativity Sets Mysteries, Clues, and Comments
     
Overview:
Most collectors will be content to just know Hartland did in fact make some Nativity Sets. Until a few years ago, I probably fit into that group. I purchased my first 21 Piece Nativity Set in about 1994 and proudly displayed it each Christmas, only to put it away for the next 11 months. A few years ago, a few of us began trying to date the Horse and Rider sets and that sent us on the quest to learn more about the MasterCrafters clock horse. Between the two searches, we were drawn into the Hartland Religious pieces.

While purchasing Religious figures to add to this site, I also began picking up a few more variations of the Nativity Sets. Without any sort of guide, book, or web site to guide us, we simply had to begin identifying all the different variations and start watching for patterns that might show up. We eventually found a few pieces of literature and catalogs which helps some. Just like putting the pieces of a real jigsaw puzzle together, we just had to put the "colors" into different areas of our virtual table top, and then try to piece all the elements together.
 
Nativity Set Work Group:
I've had a lot of help building the Nativity Set pages. Behind the scenes, I have been working with a few collectors who have special interest in the Nativity Sets. Some of them have numerous sets and variations. Most of our work happens a few months before Christmas and a month or so after Christmas, following each year's influx of eBay auctions. The group consists of myself plus Sande Schneider, Bruce Schwartz, Marty Ohman, Brian Blauch, Kevin Settle, and Hartland Collectibles, LLC. Over several years of casual research, I am sure there have been numerous others, such as Bill Wright, supplying needed information and leads. There have also been countless eBay sellers willing to take the extra time to answer question and take additional photos for the site.
 
Literature:
Actually, I should call this section "Lack of Literature". At times, I think we just haven't hit the vein, or the "mother lode" on the literature yet. From all indications, Hartland made the Nativity sets for ten to fifteen years. Many of the sets seem to be produced in a parallel universe to the Horse and Rider sets, but finding literature for the Religious sets has been much, much harder. Interestingly, it looks like Hartland produced a Dealer Sheet for each Horse and Rider Set and also a Dealer Brochure each year for them. Why wouldn't they create and distribute similar sheets for the Religious items? I've managed to find quite a few Hartland Western Horse and Riders in Christmas and yearly catalogs for mail order companies such as Sears, Wards, Pennys, and General Merchandise, however the same companies opted not to sell Hartland's Nativity Sets in the came catalogs.
The sheet on the left was produced in roughly 1959 (original owned by Bruce Schwartz). It shows quite a few of Hartland/s products, but no religious sets were included. In April of 1959, Hartland Plastics was shown in a Life Magazine with a huge line of Dashboard Religious Figures coming off the assembly line. Again, this is an example of the parallel, but separate, universes. Hopefully, a set of similar sheets will eventually turn up.
 
The Molds:
The molds for the Horse and Riders, Horses, and Sports figures were sold to Strombecker in the mid '60s. Many, or most, of those still survive, however the Religious molds have been missing for quite a long time. Rumors reported in old Hartland newspapers and magazine articles suggested all the molds, including the horses, riders, and sports figures ended up in the city dump—now under a housing addition. There actually might be some truth to the story. Some molds very well may have been dumped, and unfortunately those may be the Religious molds. I've watched eBay auctions for sets produced from the old molds, but so far I haven't seen any pieces or sets and they did not go to the Strombecker company with the rest of the molds. The fate of the molds is still a mystery.
 
Competition:
The scan on the left is from a 1954 Spencer Gifts catalog. The set is quite a bit smaller than Hartland's Nativity Set, but as you can see, it had a stable and a bunch of figures—selling for $1.98. We've found a few Nativity sets in catalogs showing Hartland's 19 piece set selling for $17.50. A recent 21 piece set on eBay had $22.50 written on the outside of the box. The John Plain Book, a yearly mail order catalog, sold the Hartland Nativity sets in their 1955-1958 books, however the 1959 catalog listed a Nativity set manufactured by another company. That set contained 25 pieces, including some sort of musical device for $9.98. It was probably a constant battle for Hartland to compete against the lower priced sets, even if the quality and workmanship was a better overall bargain.
 
Distribution:
As mentioned earlier, it almost appears Hartland worked with two completely different and isolated divisions: one for the Horses, Riders, and Sports, and another for their Religious figures. After 45-50 years, we only see results of the sales, but we don't know much about "how" they sold the Religious sets and figures. Religious figures show up randomly in some of the large mail order catalogs like Sears, Wards, and Pennys, but they sold so many more different statues. As seen in the Hartland newspapers, the area was heavily populated with Catholic followers. The Church section of the newspaper was dominated by Catholic Church news. It is very possible Hartland sales reps covered the region thoroughly and sold direct to Churches, Church Camps, and Ecclesiastical Supply firms—eliminating much of the need for literature and sales guides. We can find a few of the painted Nativity sets being sold through catalogs like John Plain and others, however, the bulk seems to have been sold through other sources.
 
Loose Ends:
At this point, we are left with lots of mysteries and holes in the puzzle that may never be answered. The company records are long gone. The executives and owners have passed on or can no longer reliably remember obscure details.Occasionally, all we can find are small clues and we do the best we can with them. We simply don't have enough information on a few sets to even make much of a speculation about the dates for the first years.

Loose ends abound! For example, the paint masks needed to produce a Pastel set are almost identical to the Bright Color set. Basically, all Hartland had to do was change out the colors used in each area. Knowing that, I suspect this set was produced either right after the Bright Color set, or even at the same time! During 1958, Dale Evans is shown in the yearly Dealer Catalog in the normal green outfit, however, a mail order business called General Merchandise sold a Purple Dale in their catalog for the same year. Hartland may have produced a special color scheme for one of its better distributors, similar to what I believe happened on the Purple Dale Horse and Rider Set.

The White Sets appear to have been produced from about 1958 through about 1964. That might be an accurate statement, but what we don't know is whether the painted sets were also being produced at the same time, or in overlapping years. The 1958 Montgomery Wards catalog shows a white set. We don't know if that is the "only" set Hartland was making that year—the only set the Wards buyers had to choose from—or the only set Hartland could sell under $20 at that time.
 
All Mixed Up Now:
Nativity sets show up on eBay off and on, especially in November and December. We watch them, of course, but it is getting harder to trust the contents. A set recently sold with a few interesting elements, so I wrote the seller. As it turned out, he was selling the set on eBay for his Mother. She had purchased the set in the mid-'50s from "Bible Book Shop" in Ephrata, PA., confirmed by the sticker tape on the box. She had never purchased other sets, so this one was sold on eBay as it had been purchased. To me at least, this is fairly reliable information. Other sets, however, may have been "assembled" or built by collectors and dealers over the past 40 plus years. Now, it is easier to find sets, but the information and combinations are much tougher to trust. Looking back, I wish I had snapped a quick photo of a set just as I purchased it. I have reassembled many of my own sets—picking and choosing the parts and boxes I wanted to keep together. For example, my Pastel set came to me with a Bright Color Camel Keeper. I eventually found a Pastel figure and made the switch. Interestingly, another set sold on eBay with the same Bright Color Camel Keeper. That buyer has since replaced his figure with a pastel figure, but it could very well be that both sets had the Bright Color Camel Keeper in the box when it left Hartland's factory.
 
A Bargain:
Hartland retailed their Nativity sets between about $17 and $22. For my money, that was a true manufacturing bargain, especially considering most sets had 21 beautifully detailed figures, a printed boxe, litho printed cardboard stable back, dividers, and maybe a printed sheet. Considering one of their Seth Adams sets retailed at $3.98 (another bargain), keeping the price down to as low as they did is amazing to me. Of course, now you might have to pay $250-$300 for a nice Seth Adams, you might also be able to find a 21 piece Nativity set for the same amount. I paid $225 for my first Nativity Set in 1994 and after I opened the box, I felt as though I really got a bargain for my money!

Text & Photographs Copyright Mike Jackson 1998-2008
This page last modified Friday, October 19, 2007