Kurt S. Adler, who helped change the look of Christmas décor as a major importer of handcrafted ornaments and convincing artificial trees, died on Nov. 25 at his home in Manhattan. He was 83.
The cause was heart failure, said his son Clifford. Mr. Adler also had Parkinson's disease.
Mr. Adler, whose products are often sold under the brand name Santa's World, helped restore a European sensibility to Christmas decorations after World War II, when glass balls and other adornments from Germany were boycotted.
A Jewish refugee from Hitler's Germany who did not celebrate Christmas, Mr. Adler recognized the holiday's commercial potential after importing hand-carved angels from his native Bavaria. He began providing American retailers with elaborate European snow globes and figurines that often became collectibles.
In the 1950's, he began selling artificial trees from Nuremberg that looked so real a fire marshal demanded that he remove them from his Broadway showroom. In the late 1960's, he was among the first to sell strands of miniature lights from Italy. He later helped start a trend by featuring images licensed from Walt Disney, Warner Brothers and even the Vatican Library.
Now run by his four children, his company, Kurt S. Adler Inc./Santa's World, offers more than 20,000 knickknacks for Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving and, most recently, Hanukkah.
Kurt Stephan Adler was born June 19, 1921, in Würzburg, Germany, and moved to Manhattan when he was 13. After serving in the United States Army during World War II, he drew on his experience as a shipping clerk to begin importing and exporting a hodgepodge of products like pottery, pineapples and glassware.
In addition to his son Clifford, of Scarsdale, N.Y., Mr. Adler is survived by his wife, Marianne; two sons, Howard, of Scarsdale, and Richard, of Manhattan; one daughter, Karen, of Manhattan; a sister, Hilda Schwartz, of Fort Lee, N.J.; and nine grandchildren. Mr. Adler's first wife, Beatrice, died in 1992.
The cause was heart failure, said his son Clifford. Mr. Adler also had Parkinson's disease.
Mr. Adler, whose products are often sold under the brand name Santa's World, helped restore a European sensibility to Christmas decorations after World War II, when glass balls and other adornments from Germany were boycotted.
A Jewish refugee from Hitler's Germany who did not celebrate Christmas, Mr. Adler recognized the holiday's commercial potential after importing hand-carved angels from his native Bavaria. He began providing American retailers with elaborate European snow globes and figurines that often became collectibles.
In the 1950's, he began selling artificial trees from Nuremberg that looked so real a fire marshal demanded that he remove them from his Broadway showroom. In the late 1960's, he was among the first to sell strands of miniature lights from Italy. He later helped start a trend by featuring images licensed from Walt Disney, Warner Brothers and even the Vatican Library.
Now run by his four children, his company, Kurt S. Adler Inc./Santa's World, offers more than 20,000 knickknacks for Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving and, most recently, Hanukkah.
Kurt Stephan Adler was born June 19, 1921, in Würzburg, Germany, and moved to Manhattan when he was 13. After serving in the United States Army during World War II, he drew on his experience as a shipping clerk to begin importing and exporting a hodgepodge of products like pottery, pineapples and glassware.
In addition to his son Clifford, of Scarsdale, N.Y., Mr. Adler is survived by his wife, Marianne; two sons, Howard, of Scarsdale, and Richard, of Manhattan; one daughter, Karen, of Manhattan; a sister, Hilda Schwartz, of Fort Lee, N.J.; and nine grandchildren. Mr. Adler's first wife, Beatrice, died in 1992.
Kurt S. Adler, who helped change the look of Christmas décor as a major importer of handcrafted ornaments and convincing artificial trees, died on Nov. 25 at his home in Manhattan. He was 83.
The cause was heart failure, said his son Clifford. Mr. Adler also had Parkinson's disease.
Mr. Adler, whose products are often sold under the brand name Santa's World, helped restore a European sensibility to Christmas decorations after World War II, when glass balls and other adornments from Germany were boycotted.
A Jewish refugee from Hitler's Germany who did not celebrate Christmas, Mr. Adler recognized the holiday's commercial potential after importing hand-carved angels from his native Bavaria. He began providing American retailers with elaborate European snow globes and figurines that often became collectibles.
In the 1950's, he began selling artificial trees from Nuremberg that looked so real a fire marshal demanded that he remove them from his Broadway showroom. In the late 1960's, he was among the first to sell strands of miniature lights from Italy. He later helped start a trend by featuring images licensed from Walt Disney, Warner Brothers and even the Vatican Library.
Now run by his four children, his company, Kurt S. Adler Inc./Santa's World, offers more than 20,000 knickknacks for Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving and, most recently, Hanukkah.
Kurt Stephan Adler was born June 19, 1921, in Würzburg, Germany, and moved to Manhattan when he was 13. After serving in the United States Army during World War II, he drew on his experience as a shipping clerk to begin importing and exporting a hodgepodge of products like pottery, pineapples and glassware.
In addition to his son Clifford, of Scarsdale, N.Y., Mr. Adler is survived by his wife, Marianne; two sons, Howard, of Scarsdale, and Richard, of Manhattan; one daughter, Karen, of Manhattan; a sister, Hilda Schwartz, of Fort Lee, N.J.; and nine grandchildren. Mr. Adler's first wife, Beatrice, died in 1992.
The cause was heart failure, said his son Clifford. Mr. Adler also had Parkinson's disease.
Mr. Adler, whose products are often sold under the brand name Santa's World, helped restore a European sensibility to Christmas decorations after World War II, when glass balls and other adornments from Germany were boycotted.
A Jewish refugee from Hitler's Germany who did not celebrate Christmas, Mr. Adler recognized the holiday's commercial potential after importing hand-carved angels from his native Bavaria. He began providing American retailers with elaborate European snow globes and figurines that often became collectibles.
In the 1950's, he began selling artificial trees from Nuremberg that looked so real a fire marshal demanded that he remove them from his Broadway showroom. In the late 1960's, he was among the first to sell strands of miniature lights from Italy. He later helped start a trend by featuring images licensed from Walt Disney, Warner Brothers and even the Vatican Library.
Now run by his four children, his company, Kurt S. Adler Inc./Santa's World, offers more than 20,000 knickknacks for Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving and, most recently, Hanukkah.
Kurt Stephan Adler was born June 19, 1921, in Würzburg, Germany, and moved to Manhattan when he was 13. After serving in the United States Army during World War II, he drew on his experience as a shipping clerk to begin importing and exporting a hodgepodge of products like pottery, pineapples and glassware.
In addition to his son Clifford, of Scarsdale, N.Y., Mr. Adler is survived by his wife, Marianne; two sons, Howard, of Scarsdale, and Richard, of Manhattan; one daughter, Karen, of Manhattan; a sister, Hilda Schwartz, of Fort Lee, N.J.; and nine grandchildren. Mr. Adler's first wife, Beatrice, died in 1992.
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BurialDate:11/28/2004
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