Ornament Review: Jolly Jukebox - 2013 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun songs and arrangements

Cons: A bit plain looking without the magic element.

The Bottom Line:

Four Christmas choices

In this jukebox collection

Sure to brighten tree

Jolly Musical Addition to Your Tree

While obviously I love Christmas ornaments, I love Christmas music even more.  So a chance to combine the two with Jolly Jukebox, one of Hallmark's 2013 Magic Cord ornaments, was just too much to resist.

The ornament recalls the jukeboxes of the 50's in looks.  It's actually a quite shiny silver, obviously supposed to be chrome.  The front and behind the records are a blue color with white snowflakes on it.  Part way up is the panel that lists the songs in the jukebox, or it would if the red "writing" was big enough to be read.  Behind the glass in the top is what is supposed to be the set of records and the player that will play your selections.  Across the top, you'll notice the brand of the box - Nellco, named for the ornaments sculptor, Nello Williams.

Since this is a magic cord ornament, you can plug it into the cord (sold separately) to get a music and light show.  When you first plug it in, you'll notice that there are red and green lights that are constantly flashing in the bottom half of the front section of the jukebox.

The button on the left side of the panel actually works, and it's what you use to start the music.  There are four song selections, and each clip runs 30-40 seconds.  During the time, the lights on the front of the box flash in time to the music as does a white light above the records.  This is the only time you actually get to see that light.

So, what songs play?  A male crooner sings "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and "So This is Christmas" while a female sings "My Only Wish This Year" and "Sleigh Ride."  While some of those songs are newer than the decade represented here ("My Only Wish This Year" is a Britney Spears song after all), they are all done in a retro 50's vibe style.  I don't know who they got to do the vocals, but they all sounds great.  To my knowledge (and memory right now), this is the first time they've had someone singing on the magic cord ornaments (although there are plenty of people singing on the battery operated magic ornaments).

And most importantly, they are fun.  Between that and the lights, this is worth getting.  The ornament itself is a tad on the plain side, and I probably would have passed it up, but I love the magic cord ornaments and how they interact when you hook them to the same cord.  I can't stop buying them.

Like most of the magic cord ornaments, this one has a flat base, so you could make a mantel display of the ornaments and this one would fit in just fine.  I usually hang mine on my tree, and this one hangs perfectly straight if you do that.

While I would have passed on this one even as a conventional magic ornament (with batteries), I just could not pass on a change to add some more Christmas music to my Magic Cord collection.  If you are looking to do that, too, you'll find that Jolly Jukebox fits the bill perfectly.

Original Price: $24.95