# Old Fashioned Christmas Tree – 1940’s style - Link: https://www.oldhouseguy.com/old-fashioned-christmas-tree/ - Published: 2014-12-06T18:47:44-05:00 - Author: Ken Roginski Christmas is a holiday that inspires nostalgia to many. Having an old fashioned Christmas tree is one way families celebrate warm comforting memories of their earlier years. While the use of Christmas trees originated in Europe, by the 1880’s the custom was popular in the United States. Although what one thinks of as an old fashioned Christmas tree may vary to each person, to me it comes from early childhood and from watching old Christmas specials on TV. To me, an “Old Fashioned Christmas Tree” is not a live Christmas tree with wooden antique looking toys or home-made craft decorations, as it is to so many others. **Although decades before my time, to me it’s a 1940’s Christmas tree.** These trees are seen by all on black and white movies such as [“It’s a Wonderful Life” ](http://www.amazon.com/Wonderful-Life-60th-Anniversary-Edition/dp/B000HEWEJO/kenroginskihisto), [“Christmas in Connecticut” ](http://www.amazon.com/TCM-Greatest-Classic-Films-Collection/dp/B002GSXKQU/kenroginskihisto), etc. Do you remember seeing the wide tree with its outstretched arms, the screw in lights, and all the tinsel? My Christmas tree consists of the old screw in Christmas lights, and tinsel. Old fashioned Christmas decorations are mostly large tarnished glass ornaments. There are not any newer ornaments or decorations to disrupt the harmony. The original cardboard boxes are so fragile as are the ornaments. Thankfully today they still make replacement bulbs and now they also sell replacement bubbler lights in reproduction boxes using the “Noma” name. Bubbler lights were manufactured to replace real wax candles on the tree. All these old fashioned Christmas decorations are great but** more important than the decorations is the TREE ITSELF. The tree must be an old fashioned Christmas tree style.** **To get a true period feel, Old fashioned Christmas tree decorations WITHOUT the type of Christmas tree used during the era, would look like Victorian ornamentation on a ranch house.** During the period, the **Balsam Christmas trees were most popular.  They were very skimpy with giant spaces between the branches**. Hideous by today’s standards. They are what some now refer to as a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. This is how the trees were naturally and that is what was available for sale. Well I would say during the 1980’s or so, the public began to prefer fuller trees. To satisfy this request the Christmas tree growers started to shear their trees in the summer to make them grow fuller. This worked fine because most people were using small low wattage Christmas lights, smaller ornaments, and replaced the use of tinsel with garland. **By the early 1990’s the traditional old fashioned Christmas tree was not to be found**. Today there are many varieties of Christmas trees including the original old fashioned Balsam. All these trees however are now more like landscape trees. They are as thick as hedges for buyers consider a thicker fuller tree a better specimen. The difficulty of hanging ornaments on a full tree is no longer even considered. [⌊asbestos snow⌉⌊asbestos snow⌉[ Don’t use this however. [⌊old fashioned christmas tree⌉⌊old fashioned christmas tree⌉[ Old fashioned Christmas tree from the 1940’s. [⌊It's a Wonderful Life Christmas tree⌉⌊It's a Wonderful Life Christmas tree⌉[ It’s a Wonderful Life Christmas (1946) [⌊shiny brite christmas ornaments⌉⌊shiny brite christmas ornaments⌉[ Christmas ornament box. [⌊vintage glass christmas ornaments⌉⌊vintage glass christmas ornaments⌉[ Vintage glass Christmas ornaments. [⌊old fashioned Christmas bubble lights⌉⌊old fashioned Christmas bubble lights⌉[ Old fashioned Christmas bubble lights replaced real wax lighted candles. You can now buy an authentic reproduction of these lights. [Noma Old Fashioned Bubble Lights as Amazon. ](https://www.amazon.com/Bubble-Vintage-Special-Christmas-Nostalgia/dp/B004EF5RHI/kenroginskihisto) [⌊old fashioned christmas tree⌉⌊old fashioned christmas tree⌉[ Traditional tree with large spaces between branches for tinsel and large ornaments. Most people would never buy this tree nor understand how it needs to be decorated.( sounds like a lot of old house owners) ## **What do you do if you want an old-style tree?** For me there was an exhaustive state wide search. This was very important especially when my house was open to the public for a Historic House Tour during Christmas. The tree had to be perfect. The solution was to purchase a large 30 foot or so tree and use the top. The top was cut off for me at the tree farm. At times I found some neglected trees in the back of tree farms I could use. At the Christmas tree farms I was told that a full hedge like tree is what people expect– what people now look for in a Christmas tree has evolved. I however refuse to give in! You’re probably thinking that a full tree could be thinned out by cutting out some of the branches. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way – I wish it did. My tree is purchased about two weeks before Christmas and decorated about a week before. I live in a private home. I am not a retail business that needs to decorate in October to try to get people to spend money. I also believe in keeping the Christmas season alive until February 2nd (Candlemas day).  Just because the stores in the mall take down their decorations at New Years I refuse to feel intimidated by them or the majority of the population cleaning up early. I keep my house cool and the tree is very fresh up to the end. [⌊traditional christmas tree⌉⌊traditional christmas tree⌉[ Monkeyface sitting in front of tree. [⌊old fashioned christmas tree⌉⌊old fashioned christmas tree⌉[ [⌊old fashioned christmas⌉⌊old fashioned christmas⌉[ B&W photo looks like it could be from an old movie. So this is my story about what I have to go through each year to find a Christmas tree. It’s not easy being me sometimes! [⌊old fashioned christmas ornaments⌉⌊old fashioned christmas ornaments⌉[ Short needles, wide spaces between branches make room for tinsel and vintage ornaments. The tinsel and large lights and ornaments fill in the spaces and make the tree look full. ## Update: Old Fashioned Christmas Tree For those who want an old fashioned christmas tree, there are other options. While not wide like the 1940’s tree this tree is definitely old fashioned. A Silvertip Fur is found in the upper elevations of the California and Oregon mountains.The good news is that although they are not that popular they can still be found out west. For those who have a Victorian house and really want to be authentic there is the Victorian Feather Tree. Almost a lost art, there are only a couple people making them anymore. (Thanks for the photos Pam) [⌊old fashioned christmas tree silvertip fur⌉⌊old fashioned christmas tree silvertip fur⌉[ Silvertip Fur for an old fashioned Christmas tree.   [⌊victorian feather tree⌉⌊victorian feather tree⌉[ Victorian feather tree.   A lot of people have inquired about finding old fashioned Christmas trees. If you have a source please post the information in the comments. Please remember to list your location for people from all over are reading this. [⌊costume jewelry christmas tree⌉⌊costume jewelry christmas tree⌉[ A Christmas tree made out of costume jewelry. Read about this [Costume Jewelry Christmas Tree. ](https://retrorenovation.com/2017/12/04/make-vintage-costume-jewelry-christmas-tree-get-tips/) ## Aluminum Christmas Trees A more modern tree but I am sticking this in since the story is really interesting. In 1965 fake Aluminum Christmas trees were the holiday status symbol. Families bought them to feel modern and sophisticated.  When the Charlie Brown Christmas Special premiered in 1965, Charlie Brown calls them out for being fake, commercial and cold. He favored the imperfect real tree as we like here.  Viewers got the message and sales of aluminum trees tanked almost immediately. This ended it for aluminum trees. Here is a great video that discusses this aspect plus other interesting things we never knew about this show.     [⌊christmas gift for wife⌉⌊christmas gift for wife⌉[ **or will she . . .** ## Forgotten Christmas Traditions from the 1960s. ## Why Almost All Christmas Music is From the 1940s and 1950s. ## Vintage Christmas 1920s and 1930s. **Please share any memories and traditions of yours below.** ![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/icon1.jpg)   [The History of Artificial Christmas Trees ](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/artificial-christmas-tree-history)   [1926 Yuletide Lighting catalog from General Electric ](https://archive.org/details/YuletideLightingWishingYouAMerryChristmas/mode/2up).