No babies cry ("They never do," said our guide).
Many people, our guide said, have had religious experiences in this chapel based on collectible figurines. Two baby angels with flashlights portray the biblical passage, "And God said, 'Let there be light.'" Several baby angels, including two black angels, play basketball with the Earth. Our group gazed at the Precious Moments paintings, covering nearly every interior surface of the chapel, "over 5,000 square feet of fine art," said our guide. Butcher?" - the Butchers are divorced and she lives out of state - and, "What color is his dog?") (The guide told us that the two most asked questions on Precious Moments tours are, "Where's Mrs. Butcher," said our guide, "would deliberately tear most of the major seams in his clothing, leaving room enough to freely climb." The guide tells the story behind Sam's labors: how he spent more than 500 hours on his back atop a 35-foot-high scaffold painting 75 baby angels on the ceiling. Groups stroll a cement pathway lined with waist-high baby angel statues, many of them dedicated to dead children. Walking tours of the chapel leave the mini-mall every hour (Visiting the Precious Moments Chapel is a breeze compared to the Sistine Chapel).
But what remains is still free, and its centerpiece is still the Precious Moments Chapel. In 2007 most of the park's ancillary attractions were closed. The sands of time (and changes in public taste) eventually slowed the juggernaut that was Precious Moments. With money pouring in from his collectibles empire, he surrounded his chapel with acres of parklike land, a Precious Moments museum, a convention center, a performing "Fountain of Angels" that featured live musical acts, a "Wedding Island" where visitors could get married, and a mini-mall of Precious Moments gift shops. Sam spent four years painting the chapel, then opened it to the public. Its interior has been painted by Butcher with biblical murals and frescoes - not Michelangelo masterpieces, but cartoon art populated with bulb-headed Precious Moments children. The production marks on the porcelain dolls are usually found on the back of the neck.Ĭlick HERE to see the full-sized Precious Moments production mark chart.The spot turned out to be just outside of Carthage, Missouri, and the masterpiece - inspired by the Sistine Chapel in Rome - is the Precious Moments Chapel. Also, Precious Moments giftware and accessory merchandise lack the mark. This grouping of smaller sized figurines was made for several years and didn't include the annual symbols on the bottom. The Precious Moments “Little Moments” collection is an exception when it comes to production marks. They include a diamond, rosebud, several different flags, as well as various decals representing organizations such as Easter Seals, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Walt Disney Showcase, among numerous others. Several other special production marks not included in my chart have been used on occasion too. How long a specific figurine design remains in production is determined by many factors, including whether or not it’s a limited edition, and how popular it’s with consumers.
Production usually starts later that year or the following year. The copyright date is the date the artwork was actually copyrighted. This holds true with older figurines produced in the first decade, but isn’t nearly as important with figurines from more recent years.ĭon’t confuse the production mark with the copyright date on the bottom. The value of a Precious Moments figurine is usually, but not always, slightly higher if you have the first year mark, meaning a figurine that was produced in its first year. Occasionally, a yearly production mark is missing from a figurine, which can impact its value, often favorably. Except for a few early releases, the symbol is slightly imprinted into the porcelain. This strange little mark can be quite helpful in identifying the actual year a specific figurine was made. What does that little annual production mark on the bottom of my Precious Moments figurine mean anyway?Įach porcelain bisque Precious Moments figurine has what’s known as an annual production mark located on the bottom of it.
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