If you grew up in America in the ’40s and ’50s, Shiny-Brite ornaments were probably a part of your childhood. The little glass globes were charming, colorful and completely unassuming, all lacquered with gleaming pink, green and blue or encircled by peppy stripes.

These were not the intricate European ornaments of yesteryear, with all their handpainted complexity. No, there was a certain purity to the Shiny-Brites. They were refreshingly simple, cheerfully bright, often transparent. They were ornaments that represented the frank and fresh-faced American sensibility of the mid-20th century. And, mass-produced and sold for a few cents at Woolworth’s, they were a solid, practical decorating choice.

Shiny-Brites enjoyed their heyday in the ’50s, and when they stopped selling as well in the 1960s, it was a sign of the times. They weren’t made at all anymore by the ’70s, and it was just as well; by then, in a nation confused by Vietnam, the sweet pink-and-purple glass ornaments seemed almost naive.

Fast-forward to today. It’s a new century, and Shiny-Brites are back; holiday designer Christopher Radko has been producing replicas since 2001. We found the new ornaments in gift boutiques and a few department stores, as cheerfully colorful as ever.

Of course, the original Shiny-Brites never really went away. You can find vintage glass ornaments in antiques shops and on eBay, at garage sales and estate sales – and on Christmas trees across the country, handled lovingly by people who have pulled them out every year for half a century.

Some Shiny-Brite history

Shiny-Brites have come to represent the hope and optimism of Americans in the mid-20th century – probably because they were a childhood fixture for lots of baby boomers. But Shiny-Brites, with all their joyful glimmering, were created in the dark days before World War II.

Before the war, Americans bought intricate, hand-painted glass ornaments that were imported from Germany and Poland. But in the late 1930s, when it became clear that a world war was imminent, Max Eckardt knew he had a problem. Eckardt, who imported ornaments from Europe, knew the war would complicate international trade – and besides, Germany was slowing down its ornament production and rededicating its factories to war materials. So he looked for a way to make the ornaments in the United States.

He found one: By 1937, he was in business with the Corning glass manufacturing company in New York, making glass ornaments on machines that were designed to make light bulbs.

In 1939, Eckardt’s ornaments got the boost they needed to make them ubiquitous in American homes: The Woolworth five-and-dime chain placed an order for more than 200,000 ornaments. In December 1939, the mass-produced Shiny-Brites were sold nationwide in Woolworth’s stores for just a few cents apiece.

If they were sold in Woolworth’s – and for such an affordable price – you know they were on Christmas trees all over America. The packaging bolstered the all-American vibe. The boxes – solid brown cardboard, enhanced in later years with a cellophane window – featured the words “American Made.” For several years the boxes even had a picture of Santa shaking hands with Uncle Sam.

Shiny-Brites were popular throughout the ’40s and ’50s – but then the company started making plastic ornaments, and it was all downhill from there; by the 1970s, the company had stopped making Shiny-Brites altogether.

But in a marketplace where boomer nostalgia reigns, Shiny-Brites couldn’t have stayed away forever. A few years ago, Christopher Radko, a holiday-decor designer whose complex glass ornaments are handblown in Poland, began selling Shiny-Brite replicas.

Radko has an interesting story of his own – in 1984, his family’s Christmas tree fell over, shattering almost every one of the family’s 2,000 mouth-blown, European glass ornaments. Determined to replace them, Radko traveled to Poland, where he found a man who could duplicate the ornaments. On his way home, though, bearing ornaments for family use, Radko sold them all to friends in New York – and discovered that he was onto something. The twentysomething Radko quit his job in a talent-agency mailroom and went to work designing ornaments; over the past 19 years, he has made a name for himself in holiday ornaments and decor.

Radko bought the Shiny-Brite name in the late ’90s and started selling replicas of the old Shiny-Brite glass ornaments in 2001. The lustrous little baubles look just the way they used to, in colors that seem brighter than ever. Even the Shiny-Brite boxes are the same. Well, almost: The new boxes contain snappy messages such as “Just like Grandma’s!” and “Lighting your way down memory lane” to play up the nostalgia factor.

Today’s ornaments do, however, carry a bigger price tag. The ornaments that once sold at Woolworth’s for 39 cents per dozen are now closer to $39 – or even more. Of course, you can still find the old ones, often for a better price.