Hi all: well I hope I can get threw this post without pushing the wrong buttons. This is my third frustrating try. Any of us who where born in the 40's or 50's might me familiar with the old tin and lead tinsel we use to hang on our Christmas trees. It always made one tree look so beautiful and shimmery. I looked like it had light on it even without lights because of the way the light shone off of it. Well I have one box of it that I have been saving. But I decided to us it this year on my tree. The one box gave the tree a slightly shimmery effect. But one would need several of them to really look beautiful. So I thought we I will do a web search and see what I can find. YAAHOO! There is still a German company that makes the old fashion tinsel. I will be ordering several boxes from the for years to come. Here is their web site in case you wanted to order some also. johnwsheetz.com They also carry wooden toys, and games and other very nice German made Christmas items. I have included a pic of how my tree looks with the old tinsel on it. You can see the slight shimmer of the old tinsel. But I had to use it sparingly. I should give you some idea what the tree would look like if it was covered in it. I can't wait for next year when I can use more of it to get that beautiful effect. Old tin tinsel on Christmas tree. ( photo / image / picture from Tooty2shoes's Garden ) Tin tinsel and old ornaments ( photo / image / picture from Tooty2shoes's Garden ) 2012 Christmas tree w/old tinsel. ( photo / image / picture from Tooty2shoes's Garden )
Ooooooh, I remember those boxes of tinsel. When we removed the ornaments, the tinsel was thrown out with the tree. Even on the trash heap the tree still sparkled. Saved all those years...wow. Jerry
I was born in 1944 and remember the tinsel and also the old bubbling lights.The lights were about 3 inches tall and filled with some kind of liquid. As they warmed up bubbles would form and rise to the top of the glass bulb. I used to set and watch those for hours when I was a kid. I wonder what ever happened with those?
Donna thank you. Jerry what a shame they didn't save the tinsel from year to year. But I to remember the tree being thrown out with the tinsel still attached. The tinsel I have I bought at a antique mall several years ago. But why save it. I hate the tinsel they have out now. There is just no comparison. Carolyn yep me to. We got to help decorate the tree as we got older. Capt. K I also loved those bubble lights. They were on our tree several years in a row when I was a kid. Or my Mom would use them somewhere else in decorating the house at Christmas. You can still buy the old ones online and at antique stores. I have seen a new remake of them at Steins Gardens and Gifts.
Capt, just about any store selling christmas tree lights will have boxes of the newer version of bubble lights. We have three strings and two night lights. Okay, I saved this from the Sunday news paper many years ago and felt it was more than appropriate for this topic of discussion. And so true, it has caused many disagreements over the years. I finally just stopped putting it on the tree. On the Sunday funny pages many, many years ago ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden )
While I have not used them in years I still have the original bubble lights. As a small fry in the mid 40's the lights were on the tree, dutifully installed by my father, always vigilant for the hazards of setting the tree on fire. He grew up with wax candles and 100% genuine flame issuing from them. The candles stayed lit for about the time it took the family to sing one song. They were then extinguished. Still, there were always stories of a tree catching on fire. Sometimes with whole houses going up in flames. Despite buckets of water on hand as the tree was lit. Jerry
I was the one who put tinsil on. One strand at a time run back and looked. And I loved the bubble lights. It and watched them hours.
Coming from German descent, I remember the old tinsel very well. In fact my Mother still uses it! As a kid it was very frustrating watching her painstakingly put each piece on but it always looked so beautiful when it was done. When it was time to take the tree down each piece was carefully removed and wrapped around some newspaper. My Aunt and Uncle, who we used to visit each year at Christmas, always had a live spruce tree (looked like a Charlie Brown tree to me!) with real burning Candles. I was always afraid it would catch fire! It never did, thankfully, and I think they may still use them today. Haven't seen that part of the family for years.
I had not realized that hanging the tinsel one strip at a time was anything other than a quirk I inherited from my Dad. I just might have tinsel on the tree next year and tell my family to learn to live with my quirks. And we always removed the tinsel to save it for next year.
Strats M thank you. I have always loved the older ornaments. They are so beautifully created by hand. Now a days the orn's are manufactured. But I did find some really beautiful ones for my tree this year. I also have the old glass bead garland that I usually put on my tree. Since I used the old tinsel I wanted that to be more the focus. Toni that is a funny cartoon. Thanks for sharing it. Us kids use to have decorating disagreements. But Mom always won out. Jerry your tree with the candles sounds beautiful. I bet there where a lot of fires because of forgotten candles left lite. I to love the bubble lights. Wow, an original set of them. Wonder what they are worth? Koszta me to. I have a pic of me when I was about 12 hanging tinsel on our Christmas tree. Netty now that is an act of love to have taken care of the tinsel for all those years. But it is beautiful. Toni there are a lot of other quirky folks out there if that is the case. You never throw a tree out without removing the tinsel in our home. Donna thanks for the info. We do not have such a store here in Wis. I thought that the Christmas mouse was a story and a store.
Tooty, The Christmas mouse has a web site. The store is about 2 miles from my house. If there is something you want I could send it to you for probably a whole lot less postage then ordering direct. The shipping and handleing always scares me off from ordering on line.
