Charles and Linda Widmer and their son, Chuck, make and sell Christmas ornaments and jewelry at their shop at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View. Here, Chuck Widmer works at his station.


H ANDMADE ORNAMENTS a family affair Widmer’s use 100-year-old method in Mountain View


BY JULIANA GOODWIN PHOTOS BYDEAN CURTIS FOR LIVING WELL


I


f you’re looking for a Christmas ornament that’s unique, homemade and beautiful, look no further than Widmer’s Jewelry and Casting Shop in the Ozark Folk Center Craft Village in Mountain View.


A variety of silver Santas, smiling plump snowmen,


and graceful angels hang from black velvet displays and on the back wall. These hand-cast ornaments are made from Babbitt,


a combination of melted tin, silver and bismuth. On this day, Chuck Widmer casts the ornaments in


6 Living Well i November/December 2017


wood molds that were hand carved by his father Charles Widmer, a well-known carver. It’s a technique a century old. “Nobody does it the way I do it,” father Charles


said, who taught his son to cast. “It’s too labor inten- sive. That is an understatement. It’s very labor in- tensive. This is how it was done 100 years ago.” The ornaments range in price from $8-$24, and sell


well all year. Aside from traditional holiday themes, you can buy


letters to represent family initials, bison, fish, birds, even toy soldiers which are cast in antique molds from the 1930s that were used to create real toy soldiers for countless children. As a boy, Chuck played with a set


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36