To say that Brent and Dan Gleason, of Rock Island, decorate for Christmas, is a vast understatement.
The large blow mold Santa face above the fireplace can be seen from the street through the couple’s picture window. New this year: pink garland on the mantel.
Place settings at the dining room table include, from bottom, a silver charger plate, a Christmas china dinner plate, a salad plate, a red Depression glass plate and a Christmas china salad bowl. On either side, the silverware is embossed with sprigs of holly, the napkins are rolled in silver reindeer rings and the knives rest on silver dachshunds.
A bevy of blow mold Santas greets visitors at the doors to the living room. Behind them is a decorated pencil tree.
This was a find — a lighted, ceramic angel, the kind that might have been mounted on the outside of a building or used as a city Christmas decoration. The Gleasons bought the angel after being notified by the owner of Jackson’s Antiques, Rock Island. “She keeps an eye out for me,” Brent said.
Brent Gleason and his husband Dan pose for a portrait in their lavishly decorated living room.
A garland of silver and gold balls frames the archway between the living room and dining room. In the living room is a Christmas tree entirely decorated with vintage ornaments.
Vintage Christmas cards, including a hand-embossed postcard featuring a poinsettia, are clothes-pinned to string on the French doors between the foyer and living room.
Vintage candles in the shape of trees and a nutcracker set on a table in the back porch.
Time was when ceramic Christmas trees were all the rage, then they fell out of favor. Now they are back again and decorating homes of collectors.
Above the stove is a three-tier collection of holiday tins and plates.
A cabinet in the butler’s pantry is filled with china and glassware, but of particular interest are the Lefton pieces, identified by their dark green color. The Lefton China Co. was founded in 1940 in Chicago by Hungarian immigrant George Zoltan Lefton and made all sorts of widely distributed china. Dan and Brent Gleason like to collect the green pieces. The company was sold in 2001.
A rotating tree in the living room is completely decorated with vintage glass bulbs.
A rotating tree in the living room is decorated with vintage glass ornaments, some 100 years old.
A blow mold nativity set glows in the backyard.
Welcome to the kitchen, with a cocoa bar at left, holiday tins above the window, stained “glass” holiday ornaments on the window sill and holiday cookbooks on the right.
SEASONAL. Easter decorating was a little subdued, as it fell on April 12, right in the middle of the pandemic lockdown, but people rebounded for Halloween and especially for Christmas. Among the Halloweeners were Luciana Colon and Billie Murphy and her husband Shayne Hagedorn, all of Davenport. And “touched by Christmas” were Brent and Dan Gleason who installed this holiday vignette on a table in the back porch of their Rock Island home.
Lights outline the arch of the porch roof and upstairs window, then curl down the porch pillars and race across the holly bushes in front. Also visible from the lawn: wreaths in two upstairs windows, the Santa face blow mold inside, and four large blow molds outside.
A tree in the dining room is decorated with china tea cups.
A tree in the dining room is decorated with china tea cups.
A cabinet in the butler’s pantry is filled with china and glassware, but of particular interest are the Lefton pieces, identified by their dark green color. The Lefton China Co. was founded in 1940 in Chicago by Hungarian immigrant George Zoltan Lefton and made all sorts of widely distributed china. Dan and Brent Gleason like to collect the green pieces. The company was sold in 2001.
The large blow mold Santa face above the fireplace can be seen from the street through the couple’s picture window. Topping the window: a bright red bow.
A cabinet in the butler’s pantry is filled with china and glassware, but of particular interest are the Lefton pieces, identified by their dark green color. The Lefton China Co. was founded in 1940 in Chicago by Hungarian immigrant George Zoltan Lefton and made all sorts of widely distributed china. Dan and Brent Gleason like to collect the green pieces. The company was sold in 2001.
The kitchen countertop and windowsill above the sink are filled with all manner of Christmas decorations, and there is a collection of Christmas tins above the window.
A Christmas tree in the back porch is decorated with colored balls and electric candles, and surrounding it at its base are numerous vintage candles in the shape of trees and carolers.
Santa blow molds greet visitors to the living room. In the background are vintage Christmas cards clothes-pinned to string and a skinny decorated “pencil” tree.
The large blow mold Santa face above the fireplace can be seen from the street through the couple’s picture window. New this year: pink garland on the mantel.
Red, white and green candles surround the bottom of a tree in the back porch.
A collection of holiday tins is arranged above the kitchen window.
But where do you put the food? Place settings in the lavishly set dining room table include a charger plate on the bottom, then a Christmas china dinner plate, salad plate, red Depression glass plate and Christmas china salad bowl. On either side, the silverware is embossed with sprigs of holly, the napkins are rolled in silver reindeer rings and the knives rest on silver dachshunds.
French doors opening to the living room are flanked by two collections of blow mold Santas. In the foreground is a silver tinsel tree, surrounded at its base by bowls of multi-colored retro tree ornaments.
At night, the Christmas trees in the dining room glow with lights while out the window, one catches sight of the blow mold nativity scene. On the table: elaborate place settings with decorated silverware and napkin rings.
French doors opening to the living room are flanked by two collections of blow mold Santas. In the foreground is a silver tinsel tree, surrounded at its base by bowls of multi-colored retro tree ornaments.
A garland of silver and gold balls frames the archway between the living room and dining room. In the living room is a Christmas tree entirely decorated with vintage ornaments.
A blow mold Santa stands on three lighted Christmas presents in the front yard of Brent and Dan Gleason, Rock Island.
This was a find — a lighted, ceramic angel, the kind that might have been mounted on the outside of a building or used as a city Christmas decoration. The Gleasons bought the angel after being notified by the owner of Jackson’s Antiques, Rock Island. “She keeps an eye out for me,” Bret said.
Dan Gleason’s dad made this shelf to surround the refrigerator in the butler’s panty, creating more display space for Christmas things.
At night, the Christmas trees in the dining room glow with lights while special lighting illuminates a painting, left, and china hutch.
Above the stove is a three-tier collection of holiday tins and plates.
Vintage blow mold Santas stand guard in the corner of the home.
Place settings in the lavishly set dining room table include a charger plate on the bottom, then a Christmas china dinner plate, salad plate, red Depression glass plate and Christmas china salad bowl. On either side, the silverware is embossed with sprigs of holly, the napkins are rolled up in silver reindeer rings and the knives rest on silver dachshunds.
Before dark, it’s easier to see the blow mold characters lining the driveway of the Gleason home, including candles, Mr. and Mrs. Claus and two snowmen.
A tree in the living room is completely decorated in vintage glass balls, some 100 years old.
But where do you put the food? Place settings in the lavishly set dining room table include a charger plate on the bottom, then a Christmas china dinner plate, salad plate, red Depression glass plate and Christmas china salad bowl. On either side, the silverware is embossed with sprigs of holly, the napkins are rolled up in silver reindeer rings and the knives rest on silver dachshunds.
Time was when ceramic Christmas trees were all the rage, then they fell out of favor. Now they are back again and decorating homes of collectors.
You can see that right off as you drive up — blow mold candles line the sidewalk and lights outline the home’s second-floor window and porch roof, then curl down the pillars and race across the holly bushes. Everywhere there are bows, wreaths and Christmas characters.
But that is nothing — nothing — compared to what’s inside.
The Gleasons love to decorate, love to collect unusual vintage items, things with a story. In addition to a veritable army of blow mold Santas, their home is decorated with multiple artificial trees, 1900s Christmas cards, ceramic tabletop trees with lights, glass ball tree ornaments, candles in the shape of trees or carolers, tins, bottle brush trees and holiday-themed dishes, dishes, dishes.
“People ask, ‘When are you done?'” Brent says. “I’m never done. There is isn’t a room that isn’t touched by Christmas.”
The couple acquired their various collections by being ever on the lookout for items from the past, a passion they share. A fun day for them is getting lost in some out-of-the-way place in southern Illinois or Wisconsin, stopping at a thrift shop and scoring a find.