To those complaining about the colors of the tree not being red and green, this is my channel. Those who are subscribed know that this channel involves 1950's content but everything is always pink and girly. Pink may not have been the norm for everyone in the 50's but it certainly existed and was used! It's Christmas time and at the end of the day it is about Jesus being born, so let's focus on that and not the color scheme I use :) Merry Christmas!!
This video is so darling - I love vintage and seen to fit it into my decor, always. Also, I Love, love, love your comment - Jesus is the reason for the season and no matter how much I do this time of year, "As the deer panteth after the water, my soul longs for my Savior! I subscribed!
Great comment! I really enjoy your videos just the way they are, so keep pink and girly. I also really like how you focused in the end your comment around what Christmas really is about, people often forget it.
My parents lived through the Depression and WWII. Metal was scarce during the war so they would save their tinsel (icicles) from year to year. I still save mine; I can’t see the point of throwing it out if it still looks good. I grew up in the 50s but my family never used bubble lights on the tree. I always liked them though. They’re fun. My older brother had a huge set of Lionel trains that ran around the tree and across part of the living-room. My mother would decorate around the trains with cardboard “putz” houses, lights, metal people figurines, cotton “snow”, etc. to make a village. It looked fabulous. Those “putz” houses were a big thing in the 50s, too.
We always had a massive set up by my father every Christmas it spanned at least 2 4x8 plywood, Tyco miniature train set and then the big lionel set complete with hours of trees, snow, people, bridges animals all if it. Took my Dad twice nights after work to set it all up.
I love it! It brings back such wonderful memories of my granny's home. Thank you for all you post for us 1950s girls who are just born in the wrong era!! Merry Christmas!
Love your trees. I grew up in the 60's, and everything back then was dangerous. I don't know how we never had a fire. My Dad always decorated the tree. I'm not sure why he put ornaments on it, because when he was done adding the icicles (tinsel), you couldn't see any of them. To this day, I don't remember what any of them looked like. My Grandmother had an aluminum tree. Yes, silvery aluminum. She had a motorized light box that sat on the floor. There was a disk on it that faced the tree. The disc had cut-outs with different colored plastic in each cut-out. As the disk revolved, the light would shine through the cut-out and make the tree appear to be changing colors. At the time, we thought it was SO tacky. Now I know she was just ahead of her time. Keep up the good work!
This is too cute! I love vintage, especially 80s vintage. I dont know if you were around then but it was definitely the best decade I have experienced. I was born mid 70s. I have felt really connected to the 80s this year especially with Christmas and find myself very attracted to things that remind me of the Christmas style then. There were lots of plaids and poinsettias, I remember, very much like now. I think from the 50s-80s there was something so unique about each of those decades but once the 90s came, it was all over. It just changed too much, and not in a sweet nostalgic way. Thanks for sharing!
We put the ornaments on and the tinsel was the last thing. We also did popcorn on it's own, to this day I still do it. We bought the big lights C 7's and bubble lights two years ago. I do lights, bubble lights, then popcorn draped in loops, ornaments galore, candy canes, then tinsel was last. We did the three plastic light candles in each window or a cellophane red wreath with a candle in the center. On ebay you can find so much of this stuff. There were the Putz houses everyone used. Most put a Nativity Set under the tree more so than a train in my area. The candles that looked like santas, etc. Great effort by you. By the way I am 68 and grew up in the 50's.
To me you are such a breath of fresh air, I absolutely love and enjoy watching your videos. You have a sweetness and innocence that just isn't in the world anymore. I love your programs I always wanted to be the 50s mom as well. I didn't decorate in the 50s way or dress that way but I always wanted to be that type of wife and mother and for the most part I did I made sure my husband had breakfast and dinner and lunch and the house was picked up and cleaned and my children was on certain schedules. My children are all now grown and I'm probably a little bored but I sure do enjoy watching you a program.
You did a lovely job! So, just FYI, the tinsel from the 50s would have been heavier than what is available now...not made from plastic...so it hung nice and straight and static cling was not as much of an issue. Also, trees that are more dense with less space between the branches make hanging the tinsel straight more challenging. Having said that, you did an awesome job and I’m impressed!
My momma decorated our trees like that. I continued to carry on the tradition of the trees that I grew up with. The bubble lights are my granddaughter's Christmas decoration. I do add the tinsel, too! I love Christmas!
I grew up in the late 50's and remember "tinsel garland" being the reflective material like the vintage one you put on the tree. Then we had "regular" garland that was made from evergreen branches (most commonly cedar and pine) but I also remember that being called "roping" as it was actually tied to a rope. We used to wrap the porch posts with it, and add lights to it. I'm from the school that calledl the 'tinsel' you put on being called "Icicles" too. In fact they were made of lead or lead foil of some kind. Since that was determined to be hazardous it is now made of mylar plastic. The box or two I have of the old lead icicles are now for display only, they will probably never be taken out of the package.
I envied my friends with bubble lights and only now that I am grown did I have to buy some ....finally and c7 lights too ..Mom was afraid of fires as they get warm , but I bought a dimmer and that took care of that
My in-laws still have some bubble lights from their childhoods - they use them every year! They also have some lights that flicker like a real fire and give me a panic attack every time I see them out of the corner of my eye because they make the Christmas tree look like it's on fire.
Thank you for introducing me to bubble lights! This is the first time I’ve ever seen them...which blows my mind because I love Christmas and vintage! If anyone is looking for reproduction ones, Walmart’s website has lots!
This was fun to see. I was born in 1952, so my "Santa" years were mostly in the 50's. Everyone didn't do things the same, but there WAS pink in use ( a few people actually had pink trees, or blue) and certainly bubble lights. My grandmother had bubble lights, and I was fascinated by them. At our house, we used the giant regular lights. I never saw a train set under the tree until I was an adult. We put the gifts under there. The popcorn, etc., was mostly done for schoolroom trees in my area. We occasionally used the spray snow. Better off people had professionally flocked trees, and they were incredibly beautiful and luxurious looking. The trees were always real, so they didn't go up until two weeks before Christmas if you wanted to leave them up until New Year's. Otherwise, they just got too dry and dangerous.
I am a child of the 50's (shh born in 1956) and your first tree reminds me of our tree from pictures I have. We put ornaments on the tree as well as what you have done. I only have a few of what my parents had. They moved and many were broken or thrown away. I was able to find some at Target a few years ago that were 50's that I intend to pass to my children. You did a great job. I bet you had a lot of fun. It's funny but after all those year of real trees I am allergic and own fake trees now. So much less mess, at least I have memories and when I see cars with trees on top of their cars I smile with memories.
Great job! Angel hair was also used to decorate a Christmas tree. We actually had the bubbly candles lights on our tree when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I'm much older now. lol
In high school (late 70’s/early 80’s) I had a friend who Had the original vintage bubble lights on her tree. I was fascinated by them. We used to have the big bulbs with the foiled metallic reflectors that we screwed on between the wire and the bulb.
I grew up in the 50's. We had Bubble lights, glass ornament balls & tons of tinsel (which was made from lead...huge no-no now). Always had a sparkly Christmas star on top. We added the tinsel strand by strand so it hung nicely. Sometimes we would put angel hair on it to make it look snowy. Always had a real tree that smelled so good. And my brother's Lionel trains underneath. It was magically beautiful from my child's eye view.
evporretta Our mom handled the angel hair the manger scene sat on so we kids wouldn't get cut with the fiberglass. It was really sweet of her to protect us from that hazard.
streamoconsciousness So sweet of your mom to be so protective. Angel hair was a hazard. My mom stopped using it eventually. There were so few ornament options back then. She would put candles & tabletop floral decoration out. My dad would string lights outside. That was pretty much it. It was simple but we loved it.
evporretta Boys had a jr high gym teacher with your last name but it might have been just one r. Holland, Michigan EE Fell jr high, mid-1970s. Pretty sure his first name was Dan. So now he'd be in his 80s or older.
You did an incredible job of capturing the 50's era. Another thing they did was spray the canned snow in the window along the bottom like it had settled there and then take stencil's and spray shapes like candles, stars, ornaments, santa etc. on the window. Love those bubble lights:)
As a child I sat on the floor close to the tree to watch the bubble lights. Loved all the colors to yellow blue, red green many colors on the bubble lights.
we would use the spray snow on our windows around the inner edge to mimic real snow, and use our finger to write merry christmas. my mom hung paper garland from the four corners of the room to the center of the ceiling, then hang big paper xmas bells that came folded flat but you open & fan out in a circle. never had an artificial tree and the smell from the real trees was absolutely divine,
I’ve never seen bubble lights before in my life! Also I didn’t know tinsel. I’m from the Netherlands and back in the fifties over here people put real candles in their Christmas trees 🙈 Love that you looked up those old Christmas tree traditions 😊
Emiline ...50s were the best ...I love what you did ...those c7 lights are the best and I got some on ebay from the 50s ..My mom never let us have them as she was afraid of fires..but I put a dimmer on them ... and the bubble lights are terrific
SweetEmelyne's Hehe! I'm from Aus as well and I was like Garland? too haha! When ever I hear the word Garland I think of Judy Garland! haha! love your videos :)
SweetEmelyne's yeah i know 😊 but we dont use your 'tinsel' i dont think ive ever seen it here. As for your 'garlands' they have always been called tinsel here. Thats why i was surprised to see it and hear you call it garlands not tinsel.
EmmaAppleBerry I'm Aussie too and also just call the garlands 'tinsel'. (Although it makes sense, as a garland is basically a string of something.) The shredded tinsel is called lametta and isn't really popular here. Super cute tree though! I really like the bubble lights!
OMG... loving the bubble lights, never knew about them before now!! Thank you, on my shopping list for next Christmas lol - also, tinsel is what I believe you Americans call a garland (the pink tinsel on the tree, also gorgeous) and when the tinsel is in individual strands, it’s actually called lametta and imitates icicles hanging from the tree... I adore lametta, but as you say, it takes an age to put up and gets everywhere... I’m definitely going to be stealing some ideas for my mid century tree next year (I decorate with a retro collection of (50s through to the 70s) baubles, it’s taken me forever to amass my little collection, but I adore every one of them - love your channel, gorgeous pastel 50s tree, very authentic for the decade, well done from a mid century’aholic in the UK🎄xxx
I just wanted to say what a great comment section this has been to peruse..wonderful hearing everyone's Christmas memories! Thanks to all of you for sharing such great memories! This has really been a treat!
My dad was born in 1930 and my mom in in 1941 (I'm the youngest of 6 and I'm 38)but my mom always decorated the tree as she did in her childhood so this kinda reminds me of her (she passed in 2010) I honestly think (my opinion) is use what ever color scheme goes with your house. I've gotten into the habit of 2 trees .One artificial for the kids and one with a theme. Those bubble lights however I'd keep even if they didn't match the rest of the tree those are awesome!!
In the late 1960’s we still did a lot of this stuff. The fun thing with decorating is that it was a family thing. Even with friends who had no siblings they loved to decorate with their mother and father. Putting tinsel on the tree was a great time to converse. The can of snow made me laugh because my mother would spray our windows with it. I loved the tall artificial all white tree we had for several years. I’ve never seen bubble lights before and I think they are so cool!
Aww my Papa and Nana still add the tinsel on their tree with all the colored lights. My papa always called it "snow" because it looks like snow when your done coating the tree with it. Such a cute and nostalgic video
Wow. I’ve never seen or heard of bubble lights. I love them. I must have them. Weighing into the great debate of garland versus tinsel. I’m Australian. We call the colourful long piece you wrap around the tree tinsel. The single pieces are called tinsel strands. Garland is the green, leaf like stuff you put on stair bannisters. But everywhere is different. Your tree looks beautiful no matter what we all call things. I always had an angel on top of my tree growing up. My parents must have been very avant- guard in Australia in the 70s because no one else I know has ever heard of an angel on top of the tree, it’s always a star. You have a beautiful view out of your window.
Technically it’s tinsel garland- so I guess they shorten it to tinsel there and garland here. Ha By the way, I lived in Australia for 7 years. I remember trying to explain to my Aussie husband what I meant by tinsel- the actual tinsel strands!
You did an awesome job. I love this style. Brought back some fond memories. When my grandparents retired, they traveled a lot and always sent us beautiful Christmas ornaments that from around the world. So we had some really precious ornaments to fill our tree. She used to also send these chocolate ornaments that we put on the tree. Wrapped in colorful foil. We could not eat them until Christmas Day.
I have tinsel nightmares at Christmas. LOL You are 100% correct. In my moms home only 2 or 3 strands per branch, no tossing, no "clumps", everything perfectly straight. As a child we always used "Angel Hair" too. Is it even sold anymore? You did a beautiful job! Love your trees.
You are such a sweet girl and your tree is precious! Bah humbug to those criticizing your color scheme..It's your tree, your home, and from what I remember, pinks, aqua, and similar colors were big in the fifties..you do your own thing your own way, I think it looks great! As a matter of fact, I found some C9 bulbs from the fifties my grandmother's cellar..some of them were pink! And they were in the Christmas box! Long gone now , but it looked fabulous for the time we used them!
I remember putting tinsel on our tree as a kid(1970's) I know showing my age right lol It was the last decoration we put on and my dad & I would put tinsel on the tree for like a half an hour between the two of us lol Hope you have a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year :0)
You are just the cutest thing...love your videos... I was born in 1955 and remember my mom doing all the decorations the day after my birthday on the 11...... Santa brought back our tree....but you could hear my parents and grandparents laughing. We got to open our stocking that we're hung on the bedpost before we got up and always had tangerine and nuts.....not sure why.. but thanks for the memories. I'm off to do my tree
Not to be rude, tinsel always goes last. It goes lights, topper garland ornaments and then tinsel. Your tree! Your rules. It’s done for simplicity sake! Anyway thanks for sharing.
They use to use tinsel made out of lead. It was heavier and It hung really pretty. The modern stuff is made out of light weight Mylar, that’s why it is clingy and does not stay in place very well.
Should mention, much of the glassware/plastics of the era and into the 1980s, is full of heavy metal: arsenic, lead, cadmium and more. I wouldn't eat off or it or handle it without gloves. The best place would be not in your house at all, but a sealed China hutch would be next best.
We always had a tree that was tall my mother would never buy a short tree, and the liquid lights,we also had these small houses that the windows had red plastic on the inside, tinsel omg we had so much of it on the tree it was just awesome ,the Santa Claus ornaments glass balls just talking about it takes me back, enjoy your Christmas from the 50s.
Nice job, it brought back a lot of memories for me. My mom always made us string the popcorn and cranberries. And we'd make these ugly paper garlands. Different colors of construction paper cut into strips, stapled into a circle and then attached to the next one. I'm sure every schoolkid makes these still. No clue why my mom thought they looked good. I was born in the late 50s so I witnessed some of what you've researched. Thanks for the memories.
Very cute. I am a historian. My area of study is women's history and I spent a great deal of research time on studying the life of women in the 1950's. You are spot on. You did a great job. I will share your tree in class this week before finals.
My family usually just takes clumps of the tinsel and rubs it all over. It looks pretty much the same. Granted we usually use close to 4 packages of tinsel and we don't take it off when we put it away. We add more and more every year. Its so cool. But of course, it isn't the 50s. So this is pretty cool
Loving the Bubble lights. The big bulbs are called C4 and they generally come in red, green, orange, green, white and clear. In the 60's it was popular to put a stencil on your picture and kitchen window and spray the snow on your window. Carefully remove your stencil and you had a window decoration that could be seen from the road.
Thanks for posting this. I found it really interesting. I was born in mid 60s in the UK & our tree was very different. How I would have moved those Bubble lights as a kid! They must be an American thing. Don't exist here. We had like small bulb multi coloured lights with plastic covers on that were shaped like gems etc. If one bulb went the whole lot would go out & you had to test all of them. We called the garlands ,tinsel & what you call this tinsel we call lametta & still do. I think it may be down to trade names though. We did have holders for real candles on the tree but my mum wouldn't use them. Always an Angel on the top of the tree too & chocolate decorations that my brother & I would argue over. Now adays I opt for av pink parrot instead of the Angel. How v times have changed! Happy Christmas to you all.x
When I was little my dad and mom would always but a train set under our tree! We still have it in our basement, now I really want to get it back out. I love this video so much!
I just found you yesterday and I’ve been binge watching your 1950s housewife videos. I love them so much!! I would love to see some kind of 1950s housewife preparing for a New Years Eve party video! Just an idea!
One year my mother in law gave us all her Christmas decorations in it was an angle top just like yours, and some candle that go on the windows and some other vintage stuff. I mix my christmas decor with modern and vintage.
The reason why there are no vintage glass ornaments on my tree is because they are all packed away in storage from moving. I only had a few at my house and those were used in my last video :)
SweetEmelyne's Where are you finding your vintage Christmas items? Do you go to a particular website, or just search on the internet in different places? It was fun to see some of the stuff My mom would've had, and I personally have been wanting a Christmas train forever lol
I still have my little red plastic French horn that actually tooted, only now it's pink and doesn't toot. My favorites are the ornaments with the depression in the middle that had all different colors. Now they are calling them "reflector" ornaments. Radko is putting some out now - pricey but I'm tempted to get a few.
The depressions are called 'indents'. Pink. Does no one remember the ubiquitous pink plastic flamingo? My bedroom was turqiose. I use glass ornaments balls every year. The lights you use are correct in general size and shape for the fifties and earlier. The lights got 'fatter' in the sixties and the colors shifted. The star was the most popular. The angel and the finial were also popular. The finial is the ball shape with a spire on top, several inches tall. They frequently had indents and sometimes two or three balls stacked ending in a spire. Blown plastic decorations became popular in the sixties. They're easy to find on eBay. I'm glad there's still aerosol snow being made. Is aerosol snow easy to clean up? My mother insisted on placing 'icicles' (tinsel) by hand, one at a time. That took about half an hour to forty-five minutes. You may want to add gifts under the tree using fifties style wrapping paper and ribbon. Keep them for use every year. The most popular train maker, by far, at that time, was Lionel, and expensive too.
I graduated from HS in 1954 and I do not remember bubble lights! Also, tinsel was not that long! And we did not have a train. I love trains but we did not have one.. I knew someone who put one under her tree until she passed away a few years ago. And we had carpets not laminate floors. No popcorn or cranberry garlands. What was wrong with us? But ornaments. Mostly ball shaped, large and small. And icicles later called tinsel. Not as long as what you have. And when I was growing up we took the icicles off before getting rid of the tree. In later years I think we put less on and left it on the tree! But I like your idea of the 50's! Great times
I'm not one to tell anyone what to do but this is fairly important. I would not use tinsel. It ruins your vacuum, brooms etc and the dog can choke on it, as well as, any small visitors you may have. And MANY HAVE! Other than that you got it pretty close but when it comes to Christmas decorating..it was the same in the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's. Only recently have people started really started branching out. Most people, anyway. You did great and I hope you had a verry Merry Christmas and that you have many, many more!
That's the kind of tree my grandparents had for their first tree as a married couple. I've seen some pictures of it. They both passed away earlier this year, but I managed to grab an ornament from that first tree! Grandma would tell us all the time how they were their first ornaments. The rest will likely be thrown in the dumpster along with the rest of the "useless" things. I should've grabbed many of them when I still had access to the house!
If you get bubble lights, be sure to get the new version and not the old vintage ones. The old ones get too hot and melt! they could cause a fire. Emelyne, you did a good job by getting the new version!
I remember tinsel and fake snow spray from my childhood (late 90s-early 2000s), come to think of it i haven’t seen spray snow since then. The bubble lights are cool though
I remember decorating with tinsel! (I'm probably older than your mom.) I still use garland! We always had a train set and a whole cityscape (small town) too!
Looks good, love them bubble lights. I still use that tinsel still today, but its called someting diffrent now, thinks its Lametta, we throw small hands full at the tree, it goes on fast and it lands well all over the tree.😀
I experienced the 50's & to those commenting about the pink used.. pink was a super popular choice. I remember my mum getting a pink aluminum tree for our dining room. She had another tree about a foot tall that was an aluminum tree in blue for our guest bathroom. I'm not talking the retro bright pinks and blues.. they were light shades.. pastels. In the 50's pink and white poinsettias were the hot number also. The traditional red & greens were out in the 50's for any home that was decorated for the times. Emelyne was spot on with her choice to use pink for a 50's theme.
They knew how to do it up right in the 50s! My mom and dad grew up in the 50s and they say it wAs such an awesome time! Just a note to those thinking about putting fake snow on their tree. Put it on before anything else. Let it dry. And it’s pretty much permanent.
Love your creativity! This looks like so much fun! I'd love to see 100 years of Christmas decor traditions 😍 I know that it is more helpful for dogs to be trained when acting fearful rather than consoled in new situations that could scare them, it translates to reinforcing their anxiety about the unknown.
The original bubble lights had a red and white bottom and a clear bubbler. My mom's still works. Lovely tree. She also has a star tree topper that was bought in the 50's that has had the bulb changed only once, It goes on her tree every year. I still put a train under a tree. Your tree is like the ones I remember.
To those complaining about the colors of the tree not being red and green, this is my channel. Those who are subscribed know that this channel involves 1950's content but everything is always pink and girly. Pink may not have been the norm for everyone in the 50's but it certainly existed and was used! It's Christmas time and at the end of the day it is about Jesus being born, so let's focus on that and not the color scheme I use :) Merry Christmas!!
SweetEmelyne's Love, you do not need to explain yourself, it's your channel & your money, you do you hunny. 👏😘
This video is so darling - I love vintage and seen to fit it into my decor, always. Also, I Love, love, love your comment - Jesus is the reason for the season and no matter how much I do this time of year, "As the deer panteth after the water, my soul longs for my Savior! I subscribed!
Great comment! I really enjoy your videos just the way they are, so keep pink and girly. I also really like how you focused in the end your comment around what Christmas really is about, people often forget it.
SweetEmelyne's right!? It's all about Jesus. Who has time to argue about decor! Cute vid. I love it.
I was not alive in the 1950's but I am pretty sure there were pink and blue trees that were very popular around that time.
My parents lived through the Depression and WWII. Metal was scarce during the war so they would save their tinsel (icicles) from year to year. I still save mine; I can’t see the point of throwing it out if it still looks good. I grew up in the 50s but my family never used bubble lights on the tree. I always liked them though. They’re fun. My older brother had a huge set of Lionel trains that ran around the tree and across part of the living-room. My mother would decorate around the trains with cardboard “putz” houses, lights, metal people figurines, cotton “snow”, etc. to make a village. It looked fabulous. Those “putz” houses were a big thing in the 50s, too.
I have never heard of bubble lights before. Interesting!
They are so fun!
Yessss the bubble lights ...I remember these.
I love them ❣️
I was born in 1960 and have never heard of or seen bubble lights. Absolutely fascinating. Did they have them in Britain?
Back in the '50s my grandparents had a tree that was covered with them. They fascinated me.
The train under the Christmas tree 😱😍 so cute. Reminds me of old Christmas cartoon movies
Thank you!! I'm still obsessed😍😍
We always had a massive set up by my father every Christmas it spanned at least 2 4x8 plywood, Tyco miniature train set and then the big lionel set complete with hours of trees, snow, people, bridges animals all if it. Took my Dad twice nights after work to set it all up.
I also look for vintage ornaments, garlands , trains and lights(not exactly safe but I unplug at night and when leaving the house)
When I was little we used tinsel ONCE and literally found it all over the house for years afterwards lmao
Hahah yesss! It can get very messy!
It's dangerous to have around pets!!
So, it's basically like glitter, then.
Is that why you only said "once"? 😂😂 Your mom probably thought "We're not decorating with this sh** again!" 😂😂
I could never put tinsel on our tree because we have a cat and she would totally think it’s a bunch of stringy snacks lol
Today's Mylar tinsel will never look like the trees of the 50s. Tinsel had real metals and hangs like a necklace from the weight.
I love it! It brings back such wonderful memories of my granny's home. Thank you for all you post for us 1950s girls who are just born in the wrong era!! Merry Christmas!
Love your trees. I grew up in the 60's, and everything back then was dangerous. I don't know how we never had a fire. My Dad always decorated the tree. I'm not sure why he put ornaments on it, because when he was done adding the icicles (tinsel), you couldn't see any of them. To this day, I don't remember what any of them looked like. My Grandmother had an aluminum tree. Yes, silvery aluminum. She had a motorized light box that sat on the floor. There was a disk on it that faced the tree. The disc had cut-outs with different colored plastic in each cut-out. As the disk revolved, the light would shine through the cut-out and make the tree appear to be changing colors. At the time, we thought it was SO tacky. Now I know she was just ahead of her time. Keep up the good work!
This is too cute! I love vintage, especially 80s vintage. I dont know if you were around then but it was definitely the best decade I have experienced. I was born mid 70s. I have felt really connected to the 80s this year especially with Christmas and find myself very attracted to things that remind me of the Christmas style then. There were lots of plaids and poinsettias, I remember, very much like now. I think from the 50s-80s there was something so unique about each of those decades but once the 90s came, it was all over. It just changed too much, and not in a sweet nostalgic way. Thanks for sharing!
I loveeee this!! The 50s is my fav era and everything is so cute. Christmas is my fav holiday so when you put the two together it’s the best!!
Agreed!!😍😍❄️🎄💓
You did a beautiful job with the 50’s Christmas decorations!🎄🕊👍🏼!
How awesome! I am 68 years old so this brought back lots of memories!
We put the ornaments on and the tinsel was the last thing. We also did popcorn on it's own, to this day I still do it. We bought the big lights C 7's and bubble lights two years ago. I do lights, bubble lights, then popcorn draped in loops, ornaments galore, candy canes, then tinsel was last. We did the three plastic light candles in each window or a cellophane red wreath with a candle in the center. On ebay you can find so much of this stuff. There were the Putz houses everyone used. Most put a Nativity Set under the tree more so than a train in my area. The candles that looked like santas, etc. Great effort by you. By the way I am 68 and grew up in the 50's.
10:31-10:33 shouldn't it be the other around????????
To me you are such a breath of fresh air, I absolutely love and enjoy watching your videos. You have a sweetness and innocence that just isn't in the world anymore. I love your programs I always wanted to be the 50s mom as well. I didn't decorate in the 50s way or dress that way but I always wanted to be that type of wife and mother and for the most part I did I made sure my husband had breakfast and dinner and lunch and the house was picked up and cleaned and my children was on certain schedules. My children are all now grown and I'm probably a little bored but I sure do enjoy watching you a program.
You did a lovely job!
So, just FYI, the tinsel from the 50s would have been heavier than what is available now...not made from plastic...so it hung nice and straight and static cling was not as much of an issue. Also, trees that are more dense with less space between the branches make hanging the tinsel straight more challenging. Having said that, you did an awesome job and I’m impressed!
The tree is absolutely adorable. Brings back wonderful memories of my childhood🎄
I loved this. I am actually a 50's girl and you were spot on!!
Thank you so so much!!
@Pretty Girl dont generalize
@Pretty Girl I wonder if you're an ignorant race-baiting troll
Probably. Bye.
My momma decorated our trees like that. I continued to carry on the tradition of the trees that I grew up with. The bubble lights are my granddaughter's Christmas decoration. I do add the tinsel, too! I love Christmas!
I grew up in the late 50's and remember "tinsel garland" being the reflective material like the vintage one you put on the tree. Then we had "regular" garland that was made from evergreen branches (most commonly cedar and pine) but I also remember that being called "roping" as it was actually tied to a rope. We used to wrap the porch posts with it, and add lights to it.
I'm from the school that calledl the 'tinsel' you put on being called "Icicles" too. In fact they were made of lead or lead foil of some kind. Since that was determined to be hazardous it is now made of mylar plastic. The box or two I have of the old lead icicles are now for display only, they will probably never be taken out of the package.
I have never heard of bubble lights, how weird and cool!
I envied my friends with bubble lights and only now that I am grown did I have to buy some ....finally and c7 lights too ..Mom was afraid of fires as they get warm , but I bought a dimmer and that took care of that
My in-laws still have some bubble lights from their childhoods - they use them every year! They also have some lights that flicker like a real fire and give me a panic attack every time I see them out of the corner of my eye because they make the Christmas tree look like it's on fire.
The old tinsel used to be metal not the plastic kind we have now. Very cute tree and video.
Thank you for introducing me to bubble lights! This is the first time I’ve ever seen them...which blows my mind because I love Christmas and vintage! If anyone is looking for reproduction ones, Walmart’s website has lots!
The angel is exactly the one we've had since I was little. (I am 60 now.) She's been packed away for ages. Going to find her. Great memory. Thank you.
I love this VIDEO !! Thank You Emelyne !! :D I remember back in the early 60's having a tree decorated like this. I was just a kid.. but WOW!
This was fun to see. I was born in 1952, so my "Santa" years were mostly in the 50's. Everyone didn't do things the same, but there WAS pink in use ( a few people actually had pink trees, or blue) and certainly bubble lights. My grandmother had bubble lights, and I was fascinated by them. At our house, we used the giant regular lights. I never saw a train set under the tree until I was an adult. We put the gifts under there. The popcorn, etc., was mostly done for schoolroom trees in my area. We occasionally used the spray snow. Better off people had professionally flocked trees, and they were incredibly beautiful and luxurious looking. The trees were always real, so they didn't go up until two weeks before Christmas if you wanted to leave them up until New Year's. Otherwise, they just got too dry and dangerous.
@Olivia of course we watered them, but a cut tree still eventually dries out. Do your cut flowers live forever just because they are in water?????
I am a child of the 50's (shh born in 1956) and your first tree reminds me of our tree from pictures I have. We put ornaments on the tree as well as what you have done. I only have a few of what my parents had. They moved and many were broken or thrown away. I was able to find some at Target a few years ago that were 50's that I intend to pass to my children. You did a great job. I bet you had a lot of fun. It's funny but after all those year of real trees I am allergic and own fake trees now. So much less mess, at least I have memories and when I see cars with trees on top of their cars I smile with memories.
Great ideas! And I'm glad that I am not the only one who gets excited over things like that! 😊🎅
Great job! Angel hair was also used to decorate a Christmas tree. We actually had the bubbly candles lights on our tree when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I'm much older now. lol
In high school (late 70’s/early 80’s) I had a friend who
Had the original vintage bubble lights on her tree. I was fascinated by them. We used to have the big bulbs with the foiled metallic reflectors that we screwed on between the wire and the bulb.
I grew up in the 50's. We had Bubble lights, glass ornament balls & tons of tinsel (which was made from lead...huge no-no now). Always had a sparkly Christmas star on top. We added the tinsel strand by strand so it hung nicely. Sometimes we would put angel hair on it to make it look snowy. Always had a real tree that smelled so good. And my brother's Lionel trains underneath. It was magically beautiful from my child's eye view.
that sounds so beautiful!
evporretta Our mom handled the angel hair the manger scene sat on so we kids wouldn't get cut with the fiberglass. It was really sweet of her to protect us from that hazard.
streamoconsciousness So sweet of your mom to be so protective. Angel hair was a hazard. My mom stopped using it eventually. There were so few ornament options back then. She would put candles & tabletop floral decoration out. My dad would string lights outside. That was pretty much it. It was simple but we loved it.
evporretta Boys had a jr high gym teacher with your last name but it might have been just one r. Holland, Michigan EE Fell jr high, mid-1970s. Pretty sure his first name was Dan. So now he'd be in his 80s or older.
streamoconsciousness No relation that I know of but there are a lot of Porrettas in Mich.
You did an incredible job of capturing the 50's era. Another thing they did was spray the canned snow in the window along the bottom like it had settled there and then take stencil's and spray shapes like candles, stars, ornaments, santa etc. on the window. Love those bubble lights:)
thank you!! I love frosted windows! I will have to try that!
I've been wanting bubble lights like forever! They are adooooooorable!!!
As a child I sat on the floor close to the tree to watch the bubble lights. Loved all the colors to yellow blue, red green many colors on the bubble lights.
we would use the spray snow on our windows around the inner edge to mimic real snow, and use our finger to write merry christmas. my mom hung paper garland from the four corners of the room to the center of the ceiling, then hang big paper xmas bells that came folded flat but you open & fan out in a circle. never had an artificial tree and the smell from the real trees was absolutely divine,
I remember the plastic stencils with cut outs of santa, reindeer, ornaments and so on. We used moistened cleanser and a sponge to apply to windows.
I’ve never seen bubble lights before in my life! Also I didn’t know tinsel. I’m from the Netherlands and back in the fifties over here people put real candles in their Christmas trees 🙈 Love that you looked up those old Christmas tree traditions 😊
Emiline ...50s were the best ...I love what you did ...those c7 lights are the best and I got some on ebay from the 50s ..My mom never let us have them as she was afraid of fires..but I put a dimmer on them ... and the bubble lights are terrific
I love all of your decorations. It is nice to see young people love the vintage look.
Garland? In australia we call it tinsel.
Garland we wrap around trees, tinsel is the strands I hung on the tree later in the video!
SweetEmelyne's Hehe! I'm from Aus as well and I was like Garland? too haha! When ever I hear the word Garland I think of Judy Garland! haha! love your videos :)
SweetEmelyne's yeah i know 😊 but we dont use your 'tinsel' i dont think ive ever seen it here. As for your 'garlands' they have always been called tinsel here. Thats why i was surprised to see it and hear you call it garlands not tinsel.
EmmaAppleBerry I'm Aussie too and also just call the garlands 'tinsel'. (Although it makes sense, as a garland is basically a string of something.) The shredded tinsel is called lametta and isn't really popular here.
Super cute tree though! I really like the bubble lights!
I'm from UK and we call all of it tinsel. We call garlands the long, usually tree-like decorations we put on the mantelpiece.
OMG... loving the bubble lights, never knew about them before now!! Thank you, on my shopping list for next Christmas lol - also, tinsel is what I believe you Americans call a garland (the pink tinsel on the tree, also gorgeous) and when the tinsel is in individual strands, it’s actually called lametta and imitates icicles hanging from the tree... I adore lametta, but as you say, it takes an age to put up and gets everywhere... I’m definitely going to be stealing some ideas for my mid century tree next year (I decorate with a retro collection of (50s through to the 70s) baubles, it’s taken me forever to amass my little collection, but I adore every one of them - love your channel, gorgeous pastel 50s tree, very authentic for the decade, well done from a mid century’aholic in the UK🎄xxx
The bubble lights go fine with your decor. Looks sweet
I enjoy your videos so much! I was born in 1959 & I love anything vintage 1950s! Thank you!
I just wanted to say what a great comment section this has been to peruse..wonderful hearing everyone's Christmas memories! Thanks to all of you for sharing such great memories! This has really been a treat!
I’m totally doing this next year! Those bubble light though.❤️❤️❤️
My dad was born in 1930 and my mom in in 1941 (I'm the youngest of 6 and I'm 38)but my mom always decorated the tree as she did in her childhood so this kinda reminds me of her (she passed in 2010) I honestly think (my opinion) is use what ever color scheme goes with your house. I've gotten into the habit of 2 trees .One artificial for the kids and one with a theme. Those bubble lights however I'd keep even if they didn't match the rest of the tree those are awesome!!
I enjoyed this so much! Obsessed with tht 1950s Christmas look!
In the late 1960’s we still did a lot of this stuff. The fun thing with decorating is that it was a family thing. Even with friends who had no siblings they loved to decorate with their mother and father. Putting tinsel on the tree was a great time to converse. The can of snow made me laugh because my mother would spray our windows with it. I loved the tall artificial all white tree we had for several years. I’ve never seen bubble lights before and I think they are so cool!
Aww my Papa and Nana still add the tinsel on their tree with all the colored lights. My papa always called it "snow" because it looks like snow when your done coating the tree with it. Such a cute and nostalgic video
I love the bubble lights. I've used them for years. Love the pink colors too.
The tree looks so cute, I used to use Lametta in the early 90s (in the uk tinsel is those very long sparkly ropes) my kids loved it
Love vintage decorations
So much cuter than whats available now
Also prefer using tinsel
Love your trees.I have alot of 50's ornaments from the 40's and 50's that were my grans.They just make the tree so gorgeous.
your 50's Christmas tree looks awesome.
Wow. I’ve never seen or heard of bubble lights. I love them. I must have them. Weighing into the great debate of garland versus tinsel. I’m Australian. We call the colourful long piece you wrap around the tree tinsel. The single pieces are called tinsel strands. Garland is the green, leaf like stuff you put on stair bannisters. But everywhere is different. Your tree looks beautiful no matter what we all call things. I always had an angel on top of my tree growing up. My parents must have been very avant- guard in Australia in the 70s because no one else I know has ever heard of an angel on top of the tree, it’s always a star. You have a beautiful view out of your window.
Technically it’s tinsel garland- so I guess they shorten it to tinsel there and garland here. Ha By the way, I lived in Australia for 7 years. I remember trying to explain to my Aussie husband what I meant by tinsel- the actual tinsel strands!
You did an awesome job. I love this style. Brought back some fond memories. When my grandparents retired, they traveled a lot and always sent us beautiful Christmas ornaments that from around the world. So we had some really precious ornaments to fill our tree. She used to also send these chocolate ornaments that we put on the tree. Wrapped in colorful foil. We could not eat them until Christmas Day.
That's so sweet! I love hearing memories like this from my subscribers! It really makes my day:)
I have tinsel nightmares at Christmas. LOL You are 100% correct. In my moms home only 2 or 3 strands per branch, no tossing, no "clumps", everything perfectly straight. As a child we always used "Angel Hair" too. Is it even sold anymore? You did a beautiful job! Love your trees.
You are such a sweet girl and your tree is precious! Bah humbug to those criticizing your color scheme..It's your tree, your home, and from what I remember, pinks, aqua, and similar colors were big in the fifties..you do your own thing your own way, I think it looks great! As a matter of fact, I found some C9 bulbs from the fifties my grandmother's cellar..some of them were pink! And they were in the Christmas box! Long gone now , but it looked fabulous for the time we used them!
I love the tinsel, really makes a tree look super cool
I am a 50's child and we used to have glass ornaments! We also saved the previous years cards and cut out our favorites for ornaments!
I remember those old antique Christmas lights - ‘50’s / ‘60’s - and how Hot that they got 😁
I remember putting tinsel on our tree as a kid(1970's) I know showing my age right lol It was the last decoration we put on and my dad & I would put tinsel on the tree for like a half an hour between the two of us lol Hope you have a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year :0)
You are just the cutest thing...love your videos... I was born in 1955 and remember my mom doing all the decorations the day after my birthday on the 11...... Santa brought back our tree....but you could hear my parents and grandparents laughing. We got to open our stocking that we're hung on the bedpost before we got up and always had tangerine and nuts.....not sure why.. but thanks for the memories. I'm off to do my tree
Awww such a sweet comment! That sounds so magical!
Not to be rude, tinsel always goes last. It goes lights, topper garland ornaments and then tinsel. Your tree! Your rules. It’s done for simplicity sake! Anyway thanks for sharing.
They use to use tinsel made out of lead. It was heavier and It hung really pretty. The modern stuff is made out of light weight Mylar, that’s why it is clingy and does not stay in place very well.
Should mention, much of the glassware/plastics of the era and into the 1980s, is full of heavy metal: arsenic, lead, cadmium and more. I wouldn't eat off or it or handle it without gloves. The best place would be not in your house at all, but a sealed China hutch would be next best.
Neeeeever heard of bubble lights! 😉🎄❤💚❤💚❤💚❤🎄
Wowee!❄
We always had a tree that was tall my mother would never buy a short tree, and the liquid lights,we also had these small houses that the windows had red plastic on the inside, tinsel omg we had so much of it on the tree it was just awesome ,the Santa Claus ornaments glass balls just talking about it takes me back, enjoy your Christmas from the 50s.
Nice job, it brought back a lot of memories for me. My mom always made us string the popcorn and cranberries. And we'd make these ugly paper garlands. Different colors of construction paper cut into strips, stapled into a circle and then attached to the next one. I'm sure every schoolkid makes these still. No clue why my mom thought they looked good. I was born in the late 50s so I witnessed some of what you've researched. Thanks for the memories.
Very cute. I am a historian. My area of study is women's history and I spent a great deal of research time on studying the life of women in the 1950's. You are spot on. You did a great job. I will share your tree in class this week before finals.
Aww thank you so much! That means a lot to me!
Love this! My granny used to have a white tree & bubble lights I loved them so much 🎅🏻☃️💕
awww!!
SweetEmelyne's I can not put tinsel on my tree my kitten would eat it lol I miss it though
My family usually just takes clumps of the tinsel and rubs it all over. It looks pretty much the same. Granted we usually use close to 4 packages of tinsel and we don't take it off when we put it away. We add more and more every year. Its so cool.
But of course, it isn't the 50s. So this is pretty cool
Both trees look great.
Love your popcorn and cranberry garland... it's beautiful!
Loving the Bubble lights. The big bulbs are called C4 and they generally come in red, green, orange, green, white and clear. In the 60's it was popular to put a stencil on your picture and kitchen window and spray the snow on your window. Carefully remove your stencil and you had a window decoration that could be seen from the road.
Oh my goodness. We had the tinsel on our tree when I was a kid in the 90s. I'd love to find some!! I'll check the links!
I've found it at Walmart every year until this one (and I did not look because I've limited my shopping due to the pandemic)
So fun! We always made popcorn garland, and colored construction paper chains and cut out paper snowflakes as well!
Wow, never heard of bubble lights..cool!
Thanks for posting this. I found it really interesting. I was born in mid 60s in the UK & our tree was very different. How I would have moved those Bubble lights as a kid! They must be an American thing. Don't exist here. We had like small bulb multi coloured lights with plastic covers on that were shaped like gems etc. If one bulb went the whole lot would go out & you had to test all of them. We called the garlands ,tinsel & what you call this tinsel we call lametta & still do. I think it may be down to trade names though. We did have holders for real candles on the tree but my mum wouldn't use them. Always an Angel on the top of the tree too & chocolate decorations that my brother & I would argue over. Now adays I opt for av pink parrot instead of the Angel. How v times have changed! Happy Christmas to you all.x
When I was little my dad and mom would always but a train set under our tree! We still have it in our basement, now I really want to get it back out. I love this video so much!
I just found you yesterday and I’ve been binge watching your 1950s housewife videos. I love them so much!! I would love to see some kind of 1950s housewife preparing for a New Years Eve party video! Just an idea!
I love that idea!
One year my mother in law gave us all her Christmas decorations in it was an angle top just like yours, and some candle that go on the windows and some other vintage stuff. I mix my christmas decor with modern and vintage.
I love love love 50s Christmas 😍😍😍🤶🎅🎄 Vintage Christmas is the best 🎄
This was such fun! I absolutely loved the bubble lights when I was little.
The reason why there are no vintage glass ornaments on my tree is because they are all packed away in storage from moving. I only had a few at my house and those were used in my last video :)
SweetEmelyne's Where are you finding your vintage Christmas items? Do you go to a particular website, or just search on the internet in different places? It was fun to see some of the stuff My mom would've had, and I personally have been wanting a Christmas train forever lol
I still have my little red plastic French horn that actually tooted, only now it's pink and doesn't toot. My favorites are the ornaments with the depression in the middle that had all different colors. Now they are calling them "reflector" ornaments. Radko is putting some out now - pricey but I'm tempted to get a few.
The depressions are called 'indents'.
Pink. Does no one remember the ubiquitous pink plastic flamingo? My bedroom was turqiose.
I use glass ornaments balls every year. The lights you use are correct in general size and shape for the fifties and earlier. The lights got 'fatter' in the sixties and the colors shifted. The star was the most popular. The angel and the finial were also popular. The finial is the ball shape with a spire on top, several inches tall. They frequently had indents and sometimes two or three balls stacked ending in a spire. Blown plastic decorations became popular in the sixties. They're easy to find on eBay. I'm glad there's still aerosol snow being made. Is aerosol snow easy to clean up? My mother insisted on placing 'icicles' (tinsel) by hand, one at a time. That took about half an hour to forty-five minutes. You may want to add gifts under the tree using fifties style wrapping paper and ribbon. Keep them for use every year. The most popular train maker, by far, at that time, was Lionel, and expensive too.
Don't they get hot, or am I mistaken?
I graduated from HS in 1954 and I do not remember bubble lights! Also, tinsel was not that long! And we did not have a train. I love trains but we did not have one.. I knew someone who put one under her tree until she passed away a few years ago. And we had carpets not laminate floors. No popcorn or cranberry garlands. What was wrong with us? But ornaments. Mostly ball shaped, large and small. And icicles later called tinsel. Not as long as what you have. And when I was growing up we took the icicles off before getting rid of the tree. In later years I think we put less on and left it on the tree! But I like your idea of the 50's! Great times
I'm not one to tell anyone what to do but this is fairly important. I would not use tinsel. It ruins your vacuum, brooms etc and the dog can choke on it, as well as, any small visitors you may have. And MANY HAVE! Other than that you got it pretty close but when it comes to Christmas decorating..it was the same in the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's. Only recently have people started really started branching out. Most people, anyway. You did great and I hope you had a verry Merry Christmas and that you have many, many more!
You inspire me . Love your videos
That's the kind of tree my grandparents had for their first tree as a married couple. I've seen some pictures of it. They both passed away earlier this year, but I managed to grab an ornament from that first tree! Grandma would tell us all the time how they were their first ornaments. The rest will likely be thrown in the dumpster along with the rest of the "useless" things. I should've grabbed many of them when I still had access to the house!
Those bubbles lights are cute. We use to put up tensil every year. I didn’t take us us that long though we sort of plopped them anywhere lol.
If you get bubble lights, be sure to get the new version and not the old vintage ones. The old ones get too hot and melt! they could cause a fire. Emelyne, you did a good job by getting the new version!
I remember tinsel and fake snow spray from my childhood (late 90s-early 2000s), come to think of it i haven’t seen spray snow since then. The bubble lights are cool though
I remember decorating with tinsel! (I'm probably older than your mom.) I still use garland! We always had a train set and a whole cityscape (small town) too!
Looks good, love them bubble lights. I still use that tinsel still today, but its called someting diffrent now, thinks its Lametta, we throw small hands full at the tree, it goes on fast and it lands well all over the tree.😀
Brings me back to my child hood, so glad you did this in milinneal days.
Aw thank you!! Merry Christmas :)
I experienced the 50's & to those commenting about the pink used.. pink was a super popular choice. I remember my mum getting a pink aluminum tree for our dining room. She had another tree about a foot tall that was an aluminum tree in blue for our guest bathroom. I'm not talking the retro bright pinks and blues.. they were light shades.. pastels. In the 50's pink and white poinsettias were the hot number also. The traditional red & greens were out in the 50's for any home that was decorated for the times. Emelyne was spot on with her choice to use pink for a 50's theme.
We had bubble lights when I was a child and I used to watch them bubble, how fun !
They knew how to do it up right in the 50s! My mom and dad grew up in the 50s and they say it wAs such an awesome time! Just a note to those thinking about putting fake snow on their tree. Put it on before anything else. Let it dry. And it’s pretty much permanent.
I put tinsel on my tree every year. I love it! Tinsel is what makes it magical!
Love your creativity! This looks like so much fun! I'd love to see 100 years of Christmas decor traditions 😍
I know that it is more helpful for dogs to be trained when acting fearful rather than consoled in new situations that could scare them, it translates to reinforcing their anxiety about the unknown.
We always used to put stencils on the mirrors and/windows and spray them with the canned snow
The original bubble lights had a red and white bottom and a clear bubbler. My mom's still works. Lovely tree. She also has a star tree topper that was bought in the 50's that has had the bulb changed only once, It goes on her tree every year. I still put a train under a tree.
Your tree is like the ones I remember.
The popcorn garland came way before the 50's . Along with paper hoop garland