It is believed that the first glass balls made to be hung on a Christmas tree were produced by a German glassblower in the river valley town of Lauscha in the early part of the 19th century. It wasn’t long before locals fell in love with the shiny decorations, and he began producing enough for gifts to be sold in his shop. Soon this unique holiday decoration spread across Germany and all the glassblowers in Lauscha began producing blown glass ornaments to keep up with the demand. By the mid to late 1800s, entrepreneurs were blowing glass Christmas ornaments all over Germany not only for domestic use, but for export into the United States as well.