Happy Holidays!
I was thinking of how to decorate our Christmas tree this year. I have access to everything a woman could want to use on a Christmas tree, but I still like the simple tree with mercury glass beads and ornaments from the five and dime stores that my Grandma Lillian used to decorate her tree with. My Grandma always had a perfectly sweet tree that was a treat for all the grandchildren to stare at and dream of Santa Clause coming soon. It was almost magical. All the grand children are adults now, but I'm sure they all remember the beautiful tree and the love she gave to all of us.
I found some information about the first ornaments and how they have evolved. I'll make it short. Adornment for Christmas trees started about1500s with candles, fruits and ornaments. The next century 1600 decorating the Christmas tree with heavy ornaments was very chic in Germany. They also used red and white flowers to decorate the trees. Soon after, wax ornaments were made and the Christmas ornament business was created! It seems that fruit and nuts were used a lot to symbolize the fact that spring would come after a long winter. But where did the glass bulbs come from? I read that a German glass blower created them for his own Christmas tree and everyone loved it, and by the end of the 1800's all of Germany was using the glass bulbs. They were soon brought to the USA., by F.W Woolworth in 1880 to be sold in his five and dime stores. Around the nineteen thirties a business man who was involved with the import of German ornaments could see that his business could be affected by the war he decided to get together with F.W Woolworth and Corning company of NY to find a way to make the ornaments in the United States. Corning co. had a light bulb machine that soon was making Christmas bulbs for trees. By 1940, Corning was making about 300,000 ornaments a day that were lacquered by machines and hand painted. In the years to come, the ornaments were silvered on the inside and painted with a simple stripe in pastel colors. Corning was able to alter its machines and to get a better range of shape and sizes without using scarce war materials. The main provider of those ornaments was F.W Woolworth and his five and dime stores. Kres and Neisners where you could by these awesome ornaments for as little as a dime.
This year my choice of tree is the Norway Spruce. It is a beautiful tree. If you like vintage style, you can adorn it with mercury or silvered glass ornaments and garland then top it off with a sparkling silver star. Add some tinsel if I can find any, and don't forget white twinkle lights. A nice touch would be some small hand written notes of thanks for the things you and your family are thankful for.
Roslyn
