Thursday, December 15, 2011

Shiny Brite Aluminum Christmas Tree

Well, it must already be quite obvious from The Grim Happy Christmas (with a cast of kitsch gnomes dating around the fifties), that there is great deal of interest in vintage Christmas too around the Bindlegrim household. And over the past year the gnomes have been helping collect just a few boxes of wonderful old Shiny Brite ornaments for the second year's go at an aluminum Christmas tree.


For tips on identification (vintage vs Radko), company history, and a variety of vintage ornament photos check out these links:
Mid-Century Modern Glass Tree Ornaments: Shiny Brites
Vintage Shiny Brite Christmas Ornaments
and you might try shopping around on etsy for them:
shiny brite ornaments on Etsy
and here's a site on: Aluminum Christmas Trees
Of special attraction here were the assorted mod/retro/abstract shapes that were produced. And here's a handful of photos featuring a few of those designs:

Retro Abstract 2011 Retro Abstract 2011
Retro Abstract 2011 Retro Abstract 2011
Retro Abstract 2011 Retro Abstract 2011


Of course the Christmas gnomes just had to get into the act too, in true appreciation of the aluminum tree, and here's a few portraits of some of the band members:

Vocals Lute
Accordion Castanets

For more vintage Christmas images of fun designs from the past check out these fun groups on flickr:

 Wishing you all a joyous season from Bumble (bah humbug) Bindlegrim!

Aluminum with Shiny Brites 2011
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4 comments:

  1. cricketkingdomDecember 16, 2011 at 7:59 PM

    Nice checking out your blog. You made some gorgeous pic of your ornaments. thanks for all the links as well.

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  2. Archive LibrarianDecember 17, 2011 at 7:43 AM

    Thank you ever so much! Glad you enjoyed the photos (it was such a fun trip through this world of aluminum branches), and very glad the links were of interest too!

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  3. Sheila @SZInteriorsDecember 17, 2011 at 11:40 PM

    Thank you for visiting my site, and for linking to it! I'm so glad you enjoyed the article. It was a lot of fun to write.

    I love the ornaments featured here, and your photographs are gorgeous! Not too long ago I came across a Mid-Century Modern aluminum table top tree in an antique store. It was reasonably priced and I contemplated buying it, but didn't. The next day I stopped in again, and the tree was already gone!

    It's tough to beat shiny brite ornaments, especially on a vintage tinsel tree!

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  4. Archive LibrarianDecember 18, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    I was so glad to have found your blog entry on Shiny Brites for the great photos and the design history of these ornaments. Thank you for stopping over here for a visit!

    I know what you mean about the aluminum trees. I had the same thing happen to me - when I found an aluminum door-decor version - that was gone when I went back. I was very sad. Fortunately the antique store was having a sale when I grabbed the big tree (I think it was ignored because it was just stuck in its box & not set up for display) - and I lucked out because not all of these trees are "filled out" very well in my opinion, so it was a fantastic bargain. It's not the best I've seen but still very attractive. Oh, and then don't me started on color wheels...!

    ReplyDelete