leah’s ebay finds: aluminum christmas tree
When I was growing up, our next-door neighbors had one of these aluminum Christmas trees, which they’d haul out every year and set up with a lighted color wheel turning its sparkly silver branches from neon red to yellow to blue to green and back again. I’m pretty sure my parents considered it the height of tackiness, but I thought it was absolutely magical.
I’d forgotten about it for years, and Christmas after Christmas my own family would drive out to the country to chop down a farm-grown tree — or, if our December weekends were especially packed, simply pick one up at a local lot. I always feel guilty and wasteful around January 2, when we toss the dried-out tree onto the curb for the trash pickup.
I recently remembered our neighbors’ space-age-style tree, and decided that I simply must have one. Not only will it work nicely with my favored holiday color scheme of silver and chartreuse with black accents — it turns out that, despite its glorious artificiality, a vintage aluminum tree (as opposed to a new, nonrecyclable fake evergreen, which uses all sorts of toxic chemicals and petroleum products in its manufacture) is actually a fairly Earth-friendly option. Plus, while new aluminum trees cost $300 or more, there are hundreds of vintage models on eBay starting at just 99 cents. I’m quite taken with the tree above, for instance, which stands 6 feet tall and comes with 46 pom-pom branches. Current bid: $10.
(P.S. Don’t forget the color wheel!)
See more of Leah’s great finds on her blog, More Ways to Waste Time.
November 26th, 2007 at 7:47 am
Don’t let kids touch the old ones. They’re heavy in lead.
November 26th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Your post reminded me to get out the silver fiber optic tree I got for the office last year. It’s just as you describe, with a color wheel and everything - it’s a tabletop model that I got after the holiday at Target last year. You might want to check there and see if they’ve got them this year as well. It’s just big enough to fulfill your silver wishes but small enough that you can have a big green tree as well if you’d like!
It’s similar to this one but without the LED lights: http://www.target.com/Fiber-Optic-Light-Christmas-Tree/dp/B000ROPTA0/sr=1-4/qid=1196099471/ref=sr_1_4/602-8466576-6347827?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Asilver%20tree&page=1
November 26th, 2007 at 9:57 am
Thanks, Christian — good to know!
Leah
November 26th, 2007 at 10:49 am
I have one of the vintage ones, bought it a few years ago off ebay (it may even be the exact one pictured, love the pom pom branches!). After losing auction after auction for a vintage color wheel, I found a new one @ Improvements: http://www.improvementscatalog.com/product/id/105633.do. My spinning base is vintage, though; I couldn’t find anyone still making those.
I’m going to have to put it up on a table this year to keep its leady goodness out of the reach of the Baby Who Eats Everything, but I can’t wait to set it up.
November 26th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
So, wait — the old ones contain lead? So even though they’re not producing more toxins in the new manufacture, I’d still be bringing lead in the house? Are there any links to where I can find out more on that?
November 26th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
omg, we had that same tree growing up! and i was embarassed because christmas trees were supposed to be green…at least to the 6 yr old me. now i wish it were still around (we finally convinced my mother to throw it out after many years, in favor of a newer, more realistic fake evergreen).
November 28th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Hi. i’m actually ammused by stuff that you called ‘vintage’ (& people bid for it?!) is actually a common thing here on the east side of the world. you have that aluminium tree, here in Malaysia we called that thing ‘bunga manggar’ , but with slightly different arrangement (n lots of other metallic colours too!), usually seen in a Malay wedding reception. Here’re some pics to share…
http://flickr.com/photos/archiprez/504917238/in/set-72157600231986243/
http://flickr.com/photos/archiprez/504912778/in/set-72157600231986243/
(photo credits to fellow friend who’s a wedding photographer, of wedding momments of one of my bestfriends)
November 28th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
fabulous! i’d better check out leah’s blog more often.
(pssst… come by + enter my giveaways)
November 29th, 2007 at 2:16 am
Hi. I’m ammused by things you find new/interesting/’vintage’ , while the same thing is somehow one common thing (& we sometimes take its presence for granted *sigh*) in another part of the world. The aluminium tree u feature here is the exact thing we have here in Malaysia called ‘bunga manggar’ (with slightly different arrangement though). It’s a must in any Malay wedding reception here! Usually ushering the bride&groom’s arrival. Some photos to share:
http://flickr.com/photos/archiprez/504912778/in/set-72157600231986243/
http://flickr.com/photos/archiprez/504917238/in/set-72157600231986243/
http://flickr.com/photos/archiprez/504944817/in/set-72157600231986243/
(photos credit to my wedding photographer friend, of the wedding reception of one of my bestfriends)
December 3rd, 2007 at 5:50 am
[...] P.S. Wouldn’t these look lovely on vintage aluminum tree? [...]
December 26th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
sarah’s momma, that is so cool!