RARE Original Antique Early 1900s German Advent Calendar Christmas Moon Stars

RARE original antique German Advent Calendar printed in the early 1900s. Printed in colors on cardboard. 7 13/16″ x 11″ overall. The original owner attached a hand-written letter on the back; the message is written in the German language. The paper is marked at the head. The address “Friesenstieg 2″ is located in the historic Mitte (city center) district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The historical German stationery and paper shop (Papierhandlung) operated by G. Lange produced the first printed Advent calendar in the early 1900s. At the upper right, a grandmotherly figure leans out the open windows of Heaven, shaking out a large cloth bag which causes it to snow on the happy German children in the village below. Childlike angels / fairy children with wings look out of the windows and also fly in the sky among the stars and moon. Two hold large magic wands with a large star, spreading Christmas magic on the landscape. A child holds a glowing lantern and reaches toward Heaven, a boy holds a small Christmas tree, a blonde girl pushes her friend on a sled through the snow, a little white dog with a long bushy tail joins in the fun. The scene is decorated with silvery glitter. All of the 24 numbered windows are intact. [the first (window 1) is located near the hat of the boy holding the Christmas tree, and the last (window 24) is located on the bag which grandmother is shaking to make it snow]. Attached to the back is a paper with printed illustrations which will be revealed when the numbered cardboard squares (24 of them, leading up to Christmas) are each removed. In the early days, Advent calendars typically did not follow the full 4 week period of Advent. Instead, they would begin on December 1 and mark the 24 days leading up to Christmas Day. The tradition of Advent Calendars dates to the mid-19th century, when German Protestants made chalk marks on doors or lit candles to count the days leading up to Christmas. An original, antique German Advent Calendar from the early 1900s; a rare find!