hummel girl ornament 1957

Hummel figurines were a result of collaboration between ceramicist Franz Goebel and sister Maria Innocentia Hummel, whose holiday cards featuring small children caught Goebel's eye in a Munich religious art shop. They made their first appearance at the March 1935 Leipzig Trade Fair and were a success with American businessman. During World War II, Goebel turned to making insulators and mess-hall dinnerware, but in the '50s the figurines once again found their way into the cabinets around the world.

In 1950, Gin 1950, Goebel introduced its new "bee in a V" trademark. (the bee is a visual pun upon Hummel, which means "bumblebee" in German.) Until 1957, the bee was naturalistic in appearance and flying head on. In 1972, the V was dropped altogether.

To commemorate the death of M.I. Hummel, the trademark changed in 1950 to the letter "V" with a bee in it. The bumblebee represents Hummel's childhood nickname and the "V" is the first letter in the German word for Distribution Company.(Vertriebsgesellschaft).There are 12 variations and the names of this mark. Changes in the bee trademark include a large or small bee in the "V" and "W Germany" either to the side or below. The Three-Line Trademark uses the stylised bee plus a copyright symbol and the words "W Goebel" and "W Germany." The Goebel Bee or Last Bee trademark is the last trademark with the letter 'v". The bee did not appear again until 1999 as part of the trademark.