My aluminum forest- a tribute to my grandfather PaPa, who always had an aluminum tree
Evergleam, the original silver trees, were introduced by the Aluminum Specialty Company in Wisconsin in 1959. The trees were created as a way to use up all the extra postwar aluminum the company had. Due to the possibility of electric shock, lighting was provided by a rotating color wheel–a spotlight with three or four colored lenses that changed the color of the tree as the lens spun. Millions of the trees were purchased in the ten years they were manufactured, appealing to Space Age consumers. I have amassed quite a collection and usually plant a silver forest somewhere in my house. Remember that Lucy wanted Charlie Brown to find one of these when he instead scored the little scrub. CB: “I won’t let all this commercialism ruin my Christmas. I’ll take this little tree home and decorate it.” Merry #Christmas, Charlie Brown!
I love these trees. I had the revolving color wheel when I was a little kid and I remember being mesmerized as the tree shifted from orange, to yellow, to blue to green. Stunning.