Wednesday, December 2, 2009

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY: Vintage Silver Christmas Tree


Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday. Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone. If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
To participate, all you have to do is:

* * * * * * * Please everyone, follow these guidelines!

(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the link at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in.

It may come to a surprise to you that I have a rather obsession with VINTAGE things....hahahah....a few years ago, I purchased the ultimate item that brings back warm and fuzzy feelings from my childhood.....a vintage silver tree.

I have not put this tree up in several years, but decided this year, it was a must. I love this tree, it reminds me of happy times at my grandmothers house at Christmas time. My memaw always had a real tree in the large front window of her living room,decorated with red lights and red ornaments. But the crowning jewel was her aluminum silver tree complete with color wheel in the dining room window.

I can remember when we would arrive at her house, and if it was already dark outside, the first thing I would look for was the beautiful silver tree in her dining room window, glowing with beautiful colors provided by the color wheel. It was like magic and wonder for a young girl. These memories are forever carved in my heart, memories of a magic tree, the magic of Christmas and of course the never ending love of the most wonderful person I have ever known, my beloved grandmother.

I have several vintage ornaments I have displayed on the tree, most were purchased last year at a local antique mall, where one seller had nothing but vintage Christmas things....my normal thrifty self lost all control......no joke.

How can anyone who remembers the nostalgia of these trees not get a warm and fuzzy feeling.....happens to me every time. My husband appreciates this tree too, he remembers his own family having one...but my kids....they do not appreciate it like I do. They have memories of only green trees, not vintage magic ones....and I am hoping to change that...at least if I ever have grandchildren, they most certainly will feel the magic I felt years ago with my own grandmother when they come to visit...you can count on that!!!

Have a great Vintage Thingie Thursday everyone...and since I can barely get a post up a few times a week lately, and most certainly not two in one day,let me just say, if you missed my post about my cherished son earlier on Wed. click here.....you can read about another obsession I have......

60 comments:

  1. Like your grandmother's idea of using the silver tree in addition to a green tree.

    ReplyDelete
  2. One of my vintage thingies this week is a picture of our aluminum tree when I was little! Yours is so pretty, especially with that color wheel making it shine! I love the whole story of your Grandma's tree, and the fact that you're going to carry on the tradition and have such a pretty tree for your grandchildren to enjoy!
    Happy VTT!
    Carol

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, we had one of these little trees when I was little and I remember sitting for what seemed like hours watching the changing colors!
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I remember we have that kind of Christmas tree and I missed those kind of trees reminds me of my happy childhood.

    My Vintage Thingies Here

    ReplyDelete
  5. Silver trees were all the rage. Then tacky. Now treasures. Life is just one big circle, isn't it? What goes around, comes around. In every way.

    ReplyDelete
  6. what lovely memories for you Suzanne!..of a special grandmother who made Christmas that little bit extra special for her grandchildren..a lovely post and a GORGEOUS tree too :))

    ReplyDelete
  7. That is a great tree, I love how the light reflects on the silver and the ornaments. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. My aunt & uncle had a white one with all blue and silver ornaments. Yours is very cool!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey Suzanne!

    When I was 20 my boy friend's mother had one that had been her mother's. I thought it was neat! Years later I seen one in a flea market but my husband (not the boyfriend) didn't like it! So I didn't buy it. I'm glad that you found one just like the one from your childhood and now display it proudly in your home! Your grand kids will love it I'm sure!

    Vintage Thingies Thursday!
    Angela

    ReplyDelete
  10. Had I known they would be popular again, I would have kept mine. They are expensive in the stores and I just gave mine away year ago. O' well, you cannot keep everything. You have yours decorated very pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh Yes, I remember when this silver trees with the color wheel were all the rage. Very pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great tree - and I've caught the vintage china bug!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have SUCH lovely memories of the heyday of these trees, and their famous rainbow wheel. Half the houses on our street had those in the big front windows.

    And a lot of them kept the wheel TOWARD the room, so the family could get the full effect, with just some of the glitz making its way out the windows.

    And once, our school borrowed about ten of the things for a play and had them glinting off the armor and swords during a battle scene---impressive, and it seemed that there were WAY more warriors on that stage than there really were.

    (I hadn't thought of THAT in decades!)

    ReplyDelete
  14. My grandmother had a silver tree witht the rotating disk as a kid I loved it. I tried to link up but was unable I will try again later..Thxs for reminding me of the fun tree!

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a wonderful story about why the tree is special!

    There is a house in a town close to where we live that I love to drive by every Christmas because they have (I kid you NOT) probably 6 of these trees on the enclosed front porch! It's sooo pretty, it's like a silvery Christmas wonderland!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Suzanne,
    I have fond memories of my neighbor's silver Christmas tree, complete with the color wheel.
    I loved reading about the memories you have of your Grandma and the silver tree. It's funny how these things can evoke such great memories. Thanks for sharing!
    I tried to link but keep getting an error message. I'll try later.
    Jane

    ReplyDelete
  17. We never had a silver tree but I found a tiny on last year after Christmas and it is so cute!!

    I tried linky up but it wouldn't let me!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Susanne...
    First, I loved the post about your sweet son. Not only is that just the sweetest thing ever, but he's a cutie as well. Congratulations on your autograph..I just love her too.
    And I love your silver tree. My sons remember them well..it's the kind my late mother in law always had..it was always so pretty.
    And next, for some reason, I can't sign in with Linky. It says an internal serving error..I've tried several times, but thus far,no luck. But no matter, I will visit anyway.
    Happy VTT..have a lovely weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Suzanne, I loved the old silver trees, I remember having a small one, one year, but Mom was such a traditionalist she had to have a real tree every year. She said "if God intended for the trees to be made of silver he'd made them that way"...lol..she wouldn't fly either, said God would give her wings soon enough.
    I tried to post my blog this week but it wouldn't let me, kept giving me an error message...
    Molly

    ReplyDelete
  20. I too have had no luck with linking, but I have my post up! (Love the silver tree btw!)

    Virginia at Living the Local Life
    VTT - MY Kitchen
    http://livinglocalnh.blogspot.com/2009/12/vintage-thingies-thursday-my-kitchen.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. LADIES....LINK IS FIXED.....THE NICE MR. BRENT FIXED THE PROBLEM FOR EVERYONE!!! THAT IS WHY I LOVE MCLINKY....HE ALWAYS RESPONDS QUICK IF I HAVE A PROBLEM....SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT TO LINK IN......

    ReplyDelete
  22. That is a very special tree; how nice you found one like your Grandmother's. My best memory of my Grandmother's Christmas tree is the real chocolate baubles and fir cones in coloured tin foil she had among the glass baubles. We got to eat them when Christmas was over.

    ReplyDelete
  23. My parents had a silver tree when we were growing up. My mother only used blue glass ball ornaments to decorate it. We had the light with the wheel that changed the color of the tree too. I wish we still had it. I would have to use it as a second tree also. Enjoyed your post!

    ReplyDelete
  24. O my word, shades of the 60's and 70's! My parents had one of these silver trees, less "attractive" shall I say than this one, less branches & taller as I recall. O my it brings back some picture memories in my mind. You haver to understand, Australia is mostly desert, not too many fir trees, some scrub pine here & there maybe, no selling live trees on corner lots. I remember going out into the bush to cut one of those scrubby pines, not exactly a Noble Fir!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Lovely! A Merry Christmas Past and Present!

    ReplyDelete
  26. My grandparents had one of these trees with the same color wheel. I have my eyes peeled for one!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh you lucky, lucky girl! I would so love an aluminum tree, complete with color changing wheel. I can barely remember my parents having one when I was maybe 5 yrs old.
    What a wonderful story, thanks Suzanne!

    ReplyDelete
  28. I remember those silver trees with the color wheels, but they didn't have any ornaments on them--just the color wheel. I never had one, though, so maybe I'm remembering incorrectly.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I always remember seeing this... I love the sparkly thing. The jewelry-ish-ness of them :) Lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I enjoyed your post. Christmas is about traditions. I love silver trees!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I love your beautiful vintage tree. I would love to have one too. It shows off the ornaments so nicely.
    I wish I could buy a live tree like we used to get when I was a kid - the ungroomed ones that looked like real trees and had spaces between the branches that ornaments could hang in. And trunks that fit in the old tree stands... Oh well, pet peeve! But a vintage faux tree would solve the problem for me.
    Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  32. Oh my I do remember those aluminum trees with the color wheel. I wonder if they were actually the first artificial trees. Happy VTT!

    Jocelyn
    http://justalittlesouthernhospitality.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  33. Oh Sweetie...
    I write this with tears streaming down my face. My grandparents both passed away sadly in 1976, just a few months apart, and every year in her fron living room window, sat an aluminum tree with a color wheel under neath it. I loved that wheel and spent many hours laying on the floor, looking up at the beautiful reflections in that tree. I cannot begin to tell you what a wonderful memory you gave to me this morning. It is the best gift in the world. Thank you so much for sharing. What I wouldn't give to find one of these trees and a color wheel. So beautiful. Thank you Suzanne, from the bottom of my heart. Country hugs...Sherry

    ReplyDelete
  34. Boy...that sure brings back some memories. We had a tree just like that when I was growing up!

    ReplyDelete
  35. So pretty! I always loved that style/color tree but admired them in other people's homes as my parents refused to have anything other than a natural tree.
    They are all delightful and I think it's great to have variety!

    ReplyDelete
  36. What an amazing vintage silver tree! I love that look, and was so excited to get my artificial white tree last year- I am a nostalgia fanatic.
    Marie @ Lemondrop ViNtAge
    Charmed giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  37. My mother had an 4 ft. aluminum tree but didn't have the color wheel. I remember the box had a warning not to put lights on the tree. It still was a conversation piece all by itself. I wish I had it now. Happy VTT!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Oh my, do I EVER remember these trees. We never had ones, but many others did!!!

    ReplyDelete
  39. My mom had one of those trees - her's had a light wheel at the bottom. What memories!


    Cheers,

    Jo

    ReplyDelete
  40. I am beyond jealous! I want one of those so badly! I just made some ornaments that would look SOOO good on one!

    ReplyDelete
  41. How lucky you are to have one of those trees. You cannot find them anymore but if you should be lucky enough to run across one, it's soooo expensive. No wonder everyone wants one, they are so pretty. Lucky you!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Hi Suzanne!
    I just posted about VTT and your aluminium tree almost gave me a heart attack...in a GOOD way!
    xo
    Pam

    ReplyDelete
  43. What wonderful memories! I love your tree. Would love to have one, but let them all get away when they were bargains. Oh, well. My grandmother had one too. Lane

    ReplyDelete
  44. Love the tree. My grandparents had one years ago, and with the color wheels also.
    While out thrifty today for books to sell I spotted an old white short tree. Passed it by. Maybe will go back and see what they want for it. thanks for the memories

    ReplyDelete
  45. We always had a green tree but one of our neighbors had a silver tree with the light wheel. I remember how magical it looked!
    And what a sweet heart (and cute) son you have. Can't believe none of the ladies asked for his phone number for their daughters.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Awesome tree! Yes, I get that fuzzy nostalgic feeling when I look at it. My grandma had a silver table top model!

    ReplyDelete
  47. Hi Suzanne!

    What a great thing to have to remind you of wonderful childhood memories! Love it.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Dear CL,

    I'm remiss in putting in the link to you yesterday---I thought I would get it remedied, but my screen has narrowed, and the "copy" part of the cut and paste feature is so covered that I cannot click on it properly.

    I've had so many wonderful visitors via your site, and have replied to the ones whose comments are posted down the middle, but I'll have to get this remedied before I can link OR comment to the ones with the left-side little comment screen.

    I'm so sorry that I took the fun part and didn't fulfil my own reciprocation this time---I hope it won't happen again.

    Best thoughts for a wonderful Christmas season!!

    rachel

    ReplyDelete
  49. i was so late to post mine! Well, maybe better luck next time!

    ReplyDelete
  50. I remember having one of these when my kids were very small. They still talk about it ~ :-)

    ReplyDelete
  51. I remember the silver Christmas trees, they had such a modern style to them.

    ReplyDelete
  52. I have never seen a tree like that...it's really cool!

    ReplyDelete
  53. Suzanne, I had one of those trees and a light to go with it. They were beautiful in their day.
    I wish I had kept mine.

    Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  54. This is so lovely Suzanne.I have one just like this too. We never had a tree in Jamaica until I was about 11 or 12 and it was a green artificial one so it is not a matter of memory for me. It is more a matter of love.It is nice to read about your grandmother's Christmas traditions.

    ReplyDelete
  55. How cool! I love it.

    I hope you're well!

    ReplyDelete
  56. Ohhhh I can so relate!!!!! What is it that just makes us stop and smile when we see one of these!!! Oh and the old timey bubble lights ohhhhhh my word I saw some the other day and just started crying!!!!! I think it is the memory of a simplier time in life and the world when things were still really hard but somehow folks just seemed different and families just truly looked out for each other and had honor and loyality...when a man's word was as good as a contract and where home was more than a roof over your head...loved this post girl! Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  57. I LOVE that tree-my neighbor has one just like it and i always admired hers...photos just cant do this tree justice and your pics are great...amazing

    ReplyDelete
  58. The first tree I can remember as a child was an aluminum tree with a color wheel. Don't remember the decorations though. Then at my Grandma's her tree I don't remember it having lights and she would put smarties on it for decorations. So all of the kids always had candy when we went to see her on Christmas Day. That and hershey kisses in which she called silver tips, which was her favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  59. just in case you see this I dug back to find out if you showed any pics of your vintage tree. I was a non-blogger over the Christmas break just to get thru the business without overdoing. Love this post.

    ReplyDelete

Sometimes someone says something really small, and it's like it fits into this empty space in your heart!

Thank you for stopping by and leaving your thoughts here, they really mean a lot to me!

Suzanne

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...