The aluminum tree was found in many homes in the 1960s. Click to enlarge.
Yes, Virginia (as well as readers with other names), there is a Santa Claus. Also, from 1959 through most of the 1960s, a lot of people had aluminum Christmas trees in their living rooms. What’s that, Virginia? You now believe in Santa Claus, but can’t believe that anyone would trade a fragrant fir for tinsel and a bright revolving light? Well, read on, for ‘tis the season to be Jolley and time to recall a holiday memory.
A new publication, “Season’s Gleamings,” by photographers John Shimon and Julie Lindemann commemorates the once ubiquitous aluminum Christmas tree. This pictorial history traces the tree to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The city was nicknamed the “aluminum cookware capital of the world.” In 1958, the Ben Franklin five-and-dime store chain approached Richard Thomsen, an engineer with the Aluminum Specialty Company, with the question that started it all - “Can you make an aluminum Christmas tree?”
Soon, the glittering trees, bathed by the beams of the “Sata Lite” (a red/green/yellow/blue slowly-spinning “color wheel”) were springing up across America. The aluminum tree appeared in Chattanooga in 1960, with Eckerd’s Drugs and Woolworth’s on the list of vendors. Some of the Christmas presents that may have been under those aluminum trees were a Lionel train set ($29.95 at Miller’s), Roberta doll ($3.98 at Fowler Brothers), and Chicago Roller Skates ($13.95, plus $1.00 for bumpers, at Chattanooga Shoe Store).
It was an era in which suburban subdivisions were being built at a rapid rate. Several communities participated in the Christmas home lighting contest sponsored by The Chattanooga Times, the Garden Clubs of Chattanooga, and the Electric League. The top prize was $500. Many families, including mine, would ride around town just to view the Christmas displays. I’m still not sure if one of my uncles was kidding or very serious when he saw the holiday signs, and noted, “There sure are a lot of people named Noel in this subdivision!”
In 1961, the aluminum tree was back for another Christmas in Chattanooga. A 6-foot tree could be purchased for $5.77 at either Ault Hardware or Abe Shavin Hardware. Newspapers advertised the “brilliant stainless aluminum Christmas tree that will brighten your home… stores in a carton no bigger than a bread box.”
As families gathered for carols around their tinsel tree in 1961, they might sip Golden Gallon eggnog (1/2 gallon for 99 cents at the local Milk Jug). To serve that delicious nog, the Milk Jugs were selling a 26-piece crystal eggnog set for $2.99. Imagine the joy of children looking underneath their aluminum tree (don’t hit your head on the color wheel, Johnny!) and finding a portable transistor reel-to-reel tape recorder ($27.33 at Zale’s). There might even be a passbook for a new First Federal savings account (paying 4% per annum).
Around 1962, my family acquired an aluminum Christmas tree. I still speak of it as a thing of beauty, despite the incredulous looks from naysayers who describe them as “kitsch.” I had to look up the meaning of that word before I could disagree with what they said. Our tree was complemented by some ornaments such as red/green/yellow/blue metal pine cones, and others that were hollowed-out to display various Christmas scenes. Those still are hung onto our tree each year, and are referred to as “Dad’s ornaments.” Just a few feet away from our aluminum tree was the “hi-fi,” on which my father played those free Christmas albums from stopping by a Firestone store. “Sleigh Ride” played by Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra is still the best rendition of the tune, in my opinion.
By 1964, the aluminum Christmas tree was facing competition from new technology. J. C. Penney offered a green PVC tree with “all the beauty of a real tree and more.” As the 1960s rolled forward, the artificial trees began to lose their appeal. The authors of “Season’s Gleamings” noted that the first airing of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” helped to encourage the public to seek a simpler celebration of Christmas and to rediscover its true meaning. Though Lucy had sent Charlie Brown after the “biggest aluminum tree you can find,” he returned with a scrawny little real tree that just needed a little love.
I suggest these reasons – all in a Jolley holiday spirit and definitely not to be believed – for the fall of the aluminum Christmas tree:
1. Too many cats were becoming dizzy from watching the revolving color wheel.
2. Aluminum was needed for those newfangled pop-top cans.
3. Natural foods advocate Euell Gibbons got sick from trying to eat an aluminum tree branch.
4. Shedded aluminum tinsel and shag carpet – not a good combination
5. “O Aluminum Tree, How Shiny Are Thy Branches” just doesn’t sound right when sung in place of “O Christmas Tree.”
As a sure sign of middle-age, I have seen aluminum Christmas trees in some antique malls. While they once sold for less than $10, their prices are now in the hundreds-of-dollars range. I asked my mother what happened to ours, and she thinks that we left it behind when we moved. Well, I haven’t come home with a new one… yet.
If you have memories of aluminum Christmas trees, please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@signaldata.net.
An ad for an aluminum Christmas tree. Click to enlarge.