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 The nativity sets on this WebSite are made in Trutnov (in the North of the Czech Republic). In this area of the Czech Republic unemployment is high and salaries are generally low. Women earn their sole source of income or supplement income from another job by making the nativity sets.
The sets are made from dried cornhusks that are picked as soon as the corncobs have reached maturity. The husks are washed, blanched with sulfur  and dried. The tradition of using dried cornhusks to make nativity sets and figurines started in Bohemia in the 2nd half of the 17th century. The tradition has been handed down from generation to generation.
The clothes of the figurines and the small tablecloth are made following a printing technique that came to the Czech lands from Western Europe in the 18th century. A design is carved in a wooden template that is used to print the cloth. The template is dipped in a mixture of kaolin and acacia gum before being applied to the cloth. The mixture has as effect that the dye does not adhere to the pattern when the cloth is dipped in a bath of indigo blue dye. After the cloth is dried and washed in a slightly acidic bath and in cold water, the gum mixture dissolves and the pattern appears in white on the blue indigo background.
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