A Charlie Brown Christmas Fact Check: Aluminum Christmas Trees

[FlightlessDuck]

So, apparently from the late 50's through the mid 60's, odd colored aluminum Christmas trees were popular. Criticism over this type of tree from A Charlie Brown Christmas caused them to become less popular. At least that's the narrative I've read.

I wasn't born until the mid 70's, so I have no idea.

Did you have an aluminum growing up? Was it really "a thing"? And instead of lights hanging on the tree, people used "color wheel" spotlights?

 

[mamamary]

Never had aluminum or knew of anyone who did. Even looking back at pics before I was born my family always had a green (fake) tree.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

We didn't have one, but I want one soooooo badly. My husband has a tone of sci-fi themed ornaments. I want a silver tree with purple lights for them.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

So, apparently from the late 50's through the mid 60's, odd colored aluminum Christmas trees were popular. Criticism over this type of tree from A Charlie Brown Christmas caused them to become less popular. At least that's the narrative you've read.

I wasn't born until the mid 70's, so I have no idea.

Did you have an aluminum growing up? Was it really "a thing"? And instead of lights hanging on the tree, people used "color wheel" spotlights?

They had already started becoming less popular but were still fairly popular until Charlie brown. Schultz used the metal trees in the show as a symbol of the over commercialization of christmas. By the way the great pumpkin is Shultz's rant against Santa Clause. But instead of taking Schultz's message to heart the public did the opposite. Went out and bought the next hip overcommercialized thing. The green trees became more realisitic and you could put lights on them. Foil trees were thus done in.

 

[amberpi]

I'm not that age range, but we didn't have one growing up - and god knows my mom has enough Christmas trees.

I don't decorate anymore but if I start again, it'll be with a tree like this. I think they are super cool.

 

[22Tink]

I was born in '74 so no aluminum Christmas trees. We had our fair share of 'Charlie Brown' ones, though! My dad wasn't too choosy when he picked out our tree.

 

[Klayfish]

Don't have an aluminum tree, though I have heard of them...I'll bet one from the '50s would fetch a pretty penny these days.

Don't mean to sidetrack this, but since we're talking about weird trees, anyone seen the "upside down" tree? Places like Target, Walmart, Kohls sell them. I think it's an interesting novelty, being a living Clark Griswold, I kinda dig it...but they're selling for up to $1000?!?! No thanks, not for that kind of money. Give me one for $100 and under, and I'll be interested. I have about 30 fake trees at home, maybe I'll take one and see if I can do this myself...I have extra stands.

 

[RedAngie]

I have my grandmother's silver aluminum Christmas tree from the 1960's. She stopped putting it up by the early 70's, and sat in her basement until she died. My mother was going to throw it out, but I asked to have it. I put it up every few years. It's more than a bit ratty by now, and a few of the branches are missing. Each branch is stored in an individual paper tube.

The color wheel stopped working years ago. I suppose I can find a new one somewhere.

I'll see if I can find a photo and post it later.

 

[Kae]

Both my grandmas had them with the multi colored light that you pointed at them.

Kae

 

[cabanafrau]

I remember being fascinated by a friend of my mother's who had a fuschia-colored aluminum tree when I was very young. Any other time I saw them they were either the silver trees or the silver tree with the color wheel.

 

[NAB]

Yes we had one when we were little in the living room and had a real one in the basement. She always picked a really fat tree and since we had low ceiling had to cut it down so it was short as well.

Got rid of the silver one when the fake ones had colours on the ends so you knew which order to put them in the tree. For a fuller tree the silver one was pretty skinny...lol

 

[TipsyTraveler]

I was born in 1980 and had a hand-me-down silver aluminum tree that was put up in my bedroom when I was a kid. No color wheel, I think we put regular lights on it. Last I knew, my mom still puts it up every year and hangs all her White House Christmas Ornaments on it (my grandmother has a horrible, decades long habit of giving those things to everybody ).

Also, I currently have an upside-down tree. It was a drunken impulse buy my DH made about 10 years ago when no one had heard of them and they certainly did not cost $1000. The thing is a monster and I couldn't believe he was bringing something so ridiculous into the house, but it's actually grown on me. Being upside-down, it's a huge space saver -- there's no way a tree of that size would fit in our house right-side-up -- and it's really pretty when it's decorated; ornaments hang better from an upside-down tree. It's weird to see them becoming trendy after having one for so long. Ours is a lot nicer and more natural looking (as natural as an upside-down tree can be) than the ones I've seen for sale recently.

 

[EMom]

We had a small one... maybe 3-4 feet tall. My aunt had an enormous one, probably at least 7 feet. And she had the color wheel too. I loved it! I would put one up today if I could.

 

[amcnj]

We never had one, but I do remember them. As well as some early artificial trees that looked, well, artificial! There sure are some great looking ones out there now.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

A relative had one in the 60's. Silver, rotating, with a color wheel. The whole shebang! Even as a kid I thought it strange.....

 

[Mizzoufan]

My grandparents had one for years and i;m sure it still floating around somewhere. It never had lights on it

 

[scrapquitler]

My great aunt had an aluminum tree with the rotating light right thru the mid 80s until She stopped doing a tree. Pretty much everyone else in the family always had a live tree, we always cut them down ourselves at a neighbors tree farm.

 

[luvsJack]

We didn't have one but my aunt and uncle did. Color wheel and all. It had red ornaments. My cousins hated it and loved to come to our house to see our real tree. They said the silver one just didn't feel like a family Christmas tree. Sad really, but my aunt and uncle weren't big on "family" any way.

 

[Diznotyzed]

I'm another one whose grandmother had a silver one in the 60s complete with color wheel. I remember my dad teasing her about it, even before A Charlie Brown Christmas, but then in the 80s he bought one at a garage sale and we have that one now. My husband used to put it up at his office in the 90s and people got a real kick out of it, because most had never seen one.

 

[rastahomie]

My stepdad's parents had an aluminum Christmas tree with the color wheel! I thought it was hideous then (middle 70's).

To be fair, it wasn't hollow like the one in Charlie Brown, where you knock on it and it makes a sound. It was like your traditional fake tree, only instead of green "needles" meant to evoke an actual tree, they were little springs of aluminum.