Our Vintage 1950s Aluminum Christmas Tree

Photo of vintage tree from Go Retro.

Aluminum trees were first manufactured in the late 1950s.  We never had one, but an aunt had one, and I thought it was very pretty. The tree consists of a center pole with holes drilled in at an angle, to which branches covered in aluminum "needles" are attached. By placing the branches in the holes, a tree shape is formed.  A rotating color wheel is used to light the tree, because it's not safe to put electric lights on it. 

The trees were in common usage until the late 1960s when they fell out of favor. Today, however, they are once again becoming popular with collectors.  Check out this blog, Go Retro,  for more information about these trees.  Pink aluminum trees are very rare - according to AluminumChristmasTrees.net, only one out of every 10,000 trees made during their height in popularity were pink.

Our vintage aluminum Christmas tree at Chatfield house.

After we furnished our Chatfield house living/dining room with vintage 50s furniture and accessories, I began my search for one of these trees.  Luckily several years ago I found one in an antique shop. It is in perfect condition, and it even has the rotating color wheel.  Most holidays I set up and decorate this vintage tree in the Chatfield house as I did the other day when I was in Cleveland County.

Great Little Kitchen Gadget

Nut Chopper by Progressive.(Photo from Progressive)

Many of the kitchen gadgets that I've been persuaded to buy because of some convincing ad have proven useless, but this Nut Chopper by Progressive is a great find.  It works beautifully for chopping nuts, either coarsely or finely, when you don't want to use the food processor.  I believe I ordered it after I had seen a positive review of it in the NY Times.  I've been using it a lot this Christmas season when I've needed chopped nuts for making English Toffee.

Chopping pecans for making English Toffee.

There are two settings, fine or coarse, depending on which way you turn the handle.  It's quick, and it cleans up quickly.  It's much easier to clean than a food processor.  Yes, this is one little kitchen gadget that lives up to its claims.

Northern Moore Family Resource Center

Northern Moore Family Resource Center

Each year at Christmas as gifts to our children, we make a donation in their honor to a favorite charity they designate.  This year daughter Mary Livingstone Farrell and her husband Dave have chosen the Northern Moore Family Resource Center in Robbins, NC.

Each summer, the Northern Moore Family Resource Center offers a themed six-week day camp that is designed to encourage children to keep reading and learning over the summer, while having fun as well.

NMFRC trip to the zoo for Summer Camp participants.

Participants in NMFRC Summer Camp.

The Resource Center partners with Robbins Elementary School to provide an after school program for 90 students classified as academically at-risk.

First graders getting help in the After School Program.

 Mary and Dave of  Westmoore Pottery have been very supportive of the Resource Center, and we are happy to make a contribution in their honor.

My Christmas Tree of Christmas Past : The Red Cedar

As a child growing up in Cleveland County, we never once bought a Christmas tree.  We always went out in the countryside on my grandmother's land and found a perfectly shaped and just the right size red cedar. I was in Cleveland County recently, and I noticed how common red cedars are in the landscape.  I wondered if folks were still using this tree at Christmas. 

Red cedar tree.

Years later when I studied botany, I learned that the Eastern red cedar isn't a cedar at all, but rather a juniper, Juniperus virginiana to be exact.  Furthermore, I learned that this conifer occurs as male trees and female trees.  One tree will produce only male cones and the other tree will produce only female cones. Most conifers produce male and female cones on the same tree.

Fleshy female cones ("berries") of Juniperus virginiana

 The female juniper trees produce fleshy blue cones that resemble small blue "berries" (they are not, botanically speaking, berries but cones).  In fact at this time of the year the whole tree has a bluish cast because of these fleshy cones.  A side note: Juniper "berries" are the main ingredient added to gin for its flavor.

Gin and tonic.

The male juniper trees produce small yellowish, brown cones on the branches that will release pollen near the end of winter.

Pollen cones of male Juniperus virginiana

I no longer go out in the countryside to cut my own Christmas tree as I did as a child (we generally buy a Balsam fir at the Farmer's Market), but if I did now I would know if I were getting a male or a female Christmas tree.  So if you are out in the countryside where you perhaps cut a red cedar--remember it is a juniper--you can check to see the sex of your tree.  And the next time you have a gin and tonic, remember what produces the main flavor of the gin.


And that's your botany lesson for the day.

Twelve Days of Christmas at the Carolina Inn: Part Two

Today's post shows days seven through twelve of the vignettes of the Twelve Days of Christmas that friend  Marcia and I enjoyed at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill.  Check out my blog of yesterday (December 11) for Part One that shows the first six days.

One of the seven swans a-swimming.

Nine ladies dancing on this cake made by Sugarland bakery.

Artist Riley Foster, from Mebane, NC, made ten drummers using found objects and recycled parts from vehicles and machines. A remarkable little band of drummers.

One of the ten drummers crafted by Riley Foster.

Susan Phillips from Apex, NC, designed a whimsical stained glass and mixed media looking box to portray the eleven pipers piping.  When you peek into the box you see nine dogs piping.  It was difficult getting a photo of this but here's the best I could do.

Eleven pipers piping.

Twelve lords a-leaping.  

Here there are cutouts of twelve of the most well known former UNC basketball players mounted on a Christmas tree made of something that looks like a basketball court and the "basketballs" are little basketball shaped ornaments.  Really clever.

Michael Jordan is one of the twelve lords a-leaping.

The Twelve Days of Christmas will be on display at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, NC thru January 3, 2012, so if you're in the area stop by and see these fun vignettes.  You will be captivated.