Aluminum Christmas trees became available commercially
in the mid-1950s. They were popular into the 70s. During the 1960s, most of
these trees were manufactured by the Aluminum Specialty Company in Manitowoc,
Wisconsin. (Yes, the same town where Evelyn worked on submarines in “Typhoon
Prompting,” my contribution to The Hope
of Christmas.)
The trees were available through the Sears
catalog. In the 1963 Christmas Book, Sears proclaimed, “Whether you decorate with
blue or red balls, or use the tree without ornaments, this exquisite tree is
sure to be the talk of your neighborhood.”
In 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas aired, and is credited with the downfall
of the aluminum Christmas tree. In the program, Lucy tells Charlie Brown to buy
a “big, shiny aluminum tree, maybe painted pink.” Charlie Brown bemoaned the
commercialization of Christmas and instead, bought a scrawny natural tree.
My grandparents had an aluminum tree with
a color wheel that rotated: first red, then blue, yellow, and green. Two cousins, my sister, my brother (on his
new tricycle), and I (down in front) pose in front of the silver tree.
My biggest memory of that tree? My dad hated it. So fake!
Great posteri I didn't know that about the aluminum trees and I love the connection to your character
ReplyDeleteThat tie-in was pure coincidence, but what fun!
DeleteThanks for sharing the history of the aluminum Christmas tree. Nice it's connected to your recent novella, "Typhoon Prompting".The Hope of Christmas was a nice collection to read this Christmas season.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you and yours.
Thank you, Marilyn!
DeleteWhat great memories were brought back to me by reading your post! I remember a tree just like this one and with the color wheel, no less. So new, so different, so short lived in our house. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Melanie!
DeleteLike Melanie, we had a tree just like yours with the wheel and everything. I think I've seen one on sale somewhere lately!
ReplyDeleteThey're collector items now. Should have saved them!
DeleteI remember these but our family couldn't afford to buy one and I remember my mom saying we couldn't use our lights on the aluminum trees. We always had a live tree with the tinsel icicles and big bulb Christmas lights. I enjoyed learning the tie-in to your novella.
ReplyDeleteThanks and Merry Christmas!
We always had live trees, too, with the big bulbs. When the tiny bulbs came out, I wished we had them, but we weren't going to replace something that still worked.
DeleteOh, my gosh, my grandma had this SAME tree! I was born in 1962, and I only remember her having this tree. I wondered where she got it, but after you said Sears sold them, I knew. My father was the manager of Sears. My grandma, known as Ma, used to hang homemade ornaments on it, as well as candy canes.
ReplyDeletesusanlulu@yahoo.com