Have you ever thought about how Christmas trees and how they have changed their decorations over the years?
The Christmas tree is the center point of holiday decorating. And, there is not anything more individualized than your Christmas tree, so it has to be just perfect, hmmm, but it always does not turn out that way.
When I was little I remember my parents using "angel hair" it made the tree look beautiful under this snow blanket of "angel hair" ... I was allergic and could not decorate or go near the tree, so it was loads of fun for me to sit and watch. Later I found out it was made up of spun glass of some sort! Good gosh I hated the stuff, so mom and dad went to Tinsel. Shinny silver tinsel, only it came on cardboard is globs, but at our house you were only to place one piece of tinsel on a tree at one time! One of those packages took hours to hang on the tree! As I got older I grew smarter and disappeared when the tree was decorated, phew! Then the artificial tree made its entry into our tradition. It had been a display tree at Macys, since mom worked there and had an eye on the tree through the season, it was "Not for Sale" until Christmas eve and guess who got it, your right, mom!! So the tree came home fully decorated, lights, ornaments, stand, even a tree blanket! That tree was beautiful (for stands of those days). It actually stayed in our family for some time. My parents gave the tree to my daughter, and every year the kids would drag the tree up to their rooms on Thanksgiving weekend and decorate it.
When I got my own tree I tried the traditional method of stringing popcorn and cranberries, you know those family moments when more ends up on the floor and in your mouth, the pride of success, then I gave that up after three or four years, it looked beautiful but took hours!!
I personally have changed from a live tree to an artificial tree ... ARTIFICIAL YOU SAY, NO WAY ... but there are many advantages to going artificial, with present-day trees now looking real as opposed to the "toilet bowl brushes" of the past. No needle clean up, and I can breath again in the house since the scent of pine does not agree with me.
Well even the funniest "Charlie Brown" Christmas Tree we have had, or our artificial tree, no matter how elaborate or simple they were, once you turn on the lights there is always a sense of awe regardless of what age we are.
Soooo I thought to look back at some other Christmas tree decorations over the years and here are a few pictures I found.
1900's: This tree is broader than what we're used to today - more pear-shaped. And look how the top smashes right into the medallion on the ceiling
1920's Even broader! And decorated with charming paper ornaments like the ones we've seen in grandma's collection
1950's: Tinsel ruled the day.
1960's: A fake metallic tree
1980's: It seems in this decade, it was the fluffier the garland, the better.
In the present, it's difficult to imagine how our decor might look "dated" in the years to come.
The Christmas tree is the center point of holiday decorating. And, there is not anything more individualized than your Christmas tree, so it has to be just perfect, hmmm, but it always does not turn out that way.
When I was little I remember my parents using "angel hair" it made the tree look beautiful under this snow blanket of "angel hair" ... I was allergic and could not decorate or go near the tree, so it was loads of fun for me to sit and watch. Later I found out it was made up of spun glass of some sort! Good gosh I hated the stuff, so mom and dad went to Tinsel. Shinny silver tinsel, only it came on cardboard is globs, but at our house you were only to place one piece of tinsel on a tree at one time! One of those packages took hours to hang on the tree! As I got older I grew smarter and disappeared when the tree was decorated, phew! Then the artificial tree made its entry into our tradition. It had been a display tree at Macys, since mom worked there and had an eye on the tree through the season, it was "Not for Sale" until Christmas eve and guess who got it, your right, mom!! So the tree came home fully decorated, lights, ornaments, stand, even a tree blanket! That tree was beautiful (for stands of those days). It actually stayed in our family for some time. My parents gave the tree to my daughter, and every year the kids would drag the tree up to their rooms on Thanksgiving weekend and decorate it.
When I got my own tree I tried the traditional method of stringing popcorn and cranberries, you know those family moments when more ends up on the floor and in your mouth, the pride of success, then I gave that up after three or four years, it looked beautiful but took hours!!
I personally have changed from a live tree to an artificial tree ... ARTIFICIAL YOU SAY, NO WAY ... but there are many advantages to going artificial, with present-day trees now looking real as opposed to the "toilet bowl brushes" of the past. No needle clean up, and I can breath again in the house since the scent of pine does not agree with me.
Well even the funniest "Charlie Brown" Christmas Tree we have had, or our artificial tree, no matter how elaborate or simple they were, once you turn on the lights there is always a sense of awe regardless of what age we are.
Soooo I thought to look back at some other Christmas tree decorations over the years and here are a few pictures I found.
1900's: This tree is broader than what we're used to today - more pear-shaped. And look how the top smashes right into the medallion on the ceiling
1920's Even broader! And decorated with charming paper ornaments like the ones we've seen in grandma's collection
1950's: Tinsel ruled the day.
1960's: A fake metallic tree
1980's: It seems in this decade, it was the fluffier the garland, the better.
In the present, it's difficult to imagine how our decor might look "dated" in the years to come.
2007 tree with my grandson and son-in-law!
4 comments:
Very interesting. And we also did the tinsel one strand at a time.
I like the last one. Some of the earlier ones with draped beading just look messy.
Love it!
We put popcorn on our tree, too!
My tree is basically the same ever year. Kind of old-fashioned. I use special ornaments and we always put tinsel on it!
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