Aluminum Christmas tree

As its name suggests, the tree is made of aluminum, featuring foil needles and illumination from below via a rotating color wheel.

[4] At the time they were produced in Manitowoc the trees, including the company's flagship product the "Evergleam", retailed for $25 and wholesaled for $11.25.

[1] As the mid-1960s passed, the aluminum Christmas tree began to fall out of favor, with many thrown away or relegated to basements and attics.

[3][7] The airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965 has been credited with ending the era of the aluminum tree,[4][6][7] and by 1967 their time had almost completely passed.

[1] The central pole had holes drilled into at angles so when the aluminum foil branches were attached they formed a tree shape.

[8] Aluminum Christmas trees have been variously described as futuristic or as cast in a style which evoked the glitter of the Space Age.

[3][6][7] A Money magazine article published on the CNN website in 2004 called the design of aluminum Christmas trees "clever".

[8] The Space Age-feel of the trees made them especially suited to the streamlined home decor of the time period.

[3] In the special, Lucy van Pelt implored Charlie Brown to get a "big, shiny aluminum tree...maybe painted pink" for the group's nativity play.

[11] The Children's Museum of Indianapolis holds a vintage aluminum Christmas tree and color wheel in its collections.

[12] The Wisconsin Historical Museum has held the "'Tis the Season" exhibition at least twice, featuring a collection of vintage aluminum Christmas trees.