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Vintage
Christmas Tree Photographs,
Page
Two
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Here is a 1916 view of a Christmas
tree at the Biltmore House in North Carolina, built at the turn of the
century by Charles Vanderbilt. The tree is lit by more than two hundred
multiple wired intermediate base C-7 carbon filament lamps, and was
just one of many electrically lit trees in the mansion. The picture has
been hand tinted by the photographer, and it appears that there was at
least one string of lights near the top of the 12 foot tall tree that
was not functional at the time the photograph was taken. Breathtaking
in its grandeur even by today's standards, these trees were quite a
novelty on the early 1900s, and impossibly expensive as well.
Vanderbilt had electrical outlets installed in the floor just for the
tree, which is sitting in a 30 gallon tub of water to help keep it
fresh. The tree is decorated with lights and lead tinsel only.
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| From 1929, this modest
tree in the New Haven, Connecticut home of Mr. and Mrs. George Holt is
lit by 5 strings of intermediate base C-9 lamps, more commonly seen in
outdoor use. Although difficult to make out in the picture, the Holt's
decorations include a charming Putz scene under the tree, recreating a
small village complete with stores, cottages, a farm with a barn and
animals, an ice skating pond and a large church. Such scenes were
traditional decoration of early and middle 20th century homes, and
remain popular to this day. Note the high ceiling of the Holt's home,
and the sparse use of ornaments as well. The tree sits on a wooden
platform used both to raise it higher and to provide a stable base for
the Putz scene. |
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This picture was taken
on December 15, 1940 at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Tucker of
Montvale, Tennessee. The tree is lit with just three stings of eight
C-6 miniature base lamps, and is more sparsely decorated than most
trees of the day. Among the presents under the tree are a metal musical
top, a toy delivery wagon complete with horse, several stuffed animals
a child-size tea table and chairs and a boy's Popeye play set which
included blocks for constructing buildings and characters from the
popular Popeye cartoon series. Note the 1920s style chandelier and the
wonderful 1940s overstuffed furniture. |
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Here is the 1941 year Christmas tree
from the same home as above. The Tuckers added lot more decorations and
lights to their tree, which now holds six strings of C-6 miniature base
lights-the maximum that the era's electric circuits could handle from a
single outlet. From the looks of things, the children must have been
extra good that year, for Santa seems to have left a lot more presents!
Sadly, this was the year of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and by the
time this picture was taken, (December 19th, 1941) the United States
was at war with Japan. It would not be until December of 1945 that any
new Christmas lights would be manufactured, as all factories would soon
be dedicated to producing products for the War effort. Next year, the
children's gifts would be made mostly of wood, due to wartime
manufacturing restrictions and materials shortages. It was during this
time that NOMA sold their line of wooden pull toys and vehicles. The
children look so innocent and happy, oblivious to the world in turmoil
around them...
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