Mother
Goose
Five Hallmark ornaments — the complete Mother Goose series, 1993 through 1997. Each one a classic English nursery rhyme, sculpted by Ed Seale and LaDene Votruba at 2½ inches high. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Hey Diddle Diddle. Jack and Jill went up the hill. Mary had a little lamb. And in 1997, Little Bo Peep lost her sheep — the series finale. Five rhymes. Five ornaments. The whole of Mother Goose on the Christmas tree. All five here.
“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king’s horses, and all the king’s men
Cannot put Humpty Dumpty together again.”
Five Nursery Rhymes from Memory — The Complete Mother Goose
The Mother Goose series launched in 1993 with the most universally recognized nursery rhyme character: Humpty Dumpty, the egg on the wall. Sculpted by Ed Seale and LaDene Votruba at 2½ inches high and notably not year-dated, the series ran for five consecutive years through 1997. Each entry visualizes one of the five most beloved Mother Goose rhymes as a handcrafted ornament: Humpty on his wall in 1993, the cat and fiddle and cow jumping over the moon in 1994’s Hey Diddle Diddle, Jack and Jill and their pail of water in 1995, Mary and her little lamb at school in 1996, and in 1997 the series finale with Little Bo Peep and her lost sheep.
The choice to leave the ornaments undated is intentional — the Mother Goose rhymes are timeless, not year-specific, and these ornaments are designed to feel as permanent and ageless as the rhymes themselves. A child who hears Humpty Dumpty for the first time in 2024 hears the same rhyme as a child in 1993, and the Hallmark ornament communicates the same story. The series is also a rare case of two artists credited together on all five entries — Ed Seale and LaDene Votruba, both confirmed on the founding 1993 entry. Five rhymes. Five years. The complete Mother Goose. All five here.
Tips for the Collection
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01Display in numbered sequence — the five rhymes read as a complete storybook in order. Humpty Dumpty opens the series with the most famous nursery riddle. Hey Diddle Diddle follows with the most surreal image (a cow over the moon). Jack and Jill brings the most familiar childhood tumble. Mary Had a Little Lamb brings the beloved school story. Little Bo Peep closes with the lost sheep. In sequence the five entries are the complete greatest hits of Mother Goose — a nursery rhyme library on the Christmas tree.
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02These ornaments are not year-dated — they display without betraying their age. Unlike most Hallmark Keepsake series, the Mother Goose ornaments carry no year date on the ornament itself. They look as current as they did in 1993–1997. This makes them particularly effective for year-round display or as gifts where the vintage year of the ornament is not apparent — the rhymes themselves are timeless and so are these figures.
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03The Mother Goose series makes an ideal gift alongside a nursery rhyme book for a new baby or young child. These 2½-inch storybook ornaments are perfect paired with a Mother Goose illustrated edition for a new baby gift. The five rhymes they illustrate are among the first English-language poems a child learns. The ornament and the book together make a lasting gift that works both at the nursery and on the Christmas tree.
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04All 5 Mother Goose Hallmark ornaments — the complete 1993–1997 series — are at Already Christmas. Humpty Dumpty, Hey Diddle Diddle, Jack and Jill, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Little Bo Peep. Five classic nursery rhymes. All five here.
Every Mother Goose Hallmark Keepsake
Five nursery rhymes. Click any to shop.
Ed Seale and LaDene Votruba sculpted Humpty Dumpty on his wall in 1993 — 2½ inches high, handcrafted, not dated, first in the Mother Goose series. The cat played his fiddle and the cow jumped over the moon in 1994. Jack and Jill went up the hill in 1995. Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow in 1996. And in 1997, Little Bo Peep lost her sheep — the series complete, five nursery rhymes on the Christmas tree, every one a rhyme you have known since childhood. All five here.
✦ Part of our Collection: Hallmark Storybook & Literary Series, Explored ✦