Nothing can be more uniquely American than the once-fashionable aluminum Christmas tree.
Evergleam Specialty Company
The Evergleam Company of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, was the largest manufacturer of aluminum Christmas trees in the nation. They produced trees from 1959 to 1972.
In the 1970s, the trees fell out of fashion to realistic-looking artificial trees. The aluminum trees were hidden away and often discarded
Today, original vintage aluminum trees are highly sought by collectors.
For the past several years, the Manitowoc Library and local historians have displayed dozens of the trees throughout the city.
Rotating color wheel lights were used to change the colors of silver trees.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965 was a rebellion against the commercialism of Christmas and may have turned the tide against aluminum trees.
In the TV show, Charlie Brown walked past all the colored fake trees and picked a homely real one.
Being an outsider and misfit, Charlie Brown knew exactly how that tree felt and gave it meaning and plenty of love.
With love, the tree grew and became beautiful.
Charles Schulz’s writing in his first Peanuts television special was revolutionary and pure genius.
There is no better illustration of the true meaning of Christmas than this cartoon. The parallels between misfit Charlie Brown and the real Christmas tree no one else wanted are comparable to some of the best examples of character development in the finest literature.
A Charlie Brown Christmas won an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award in 1966.
Leave a Reply