[Blindtlk] Aluminum Trees and Colorwheels

Sat Nov 25 15:53:35 CST 2006

Hello Allen and listers,

    For those who don't know color wheels were developed for use with
aluminum Christmas Trees, and can still be obtained via mail-order and can
be bought on the Web. I read of a company in Minnesota that still sells both
aluminum trees and colorwheels although they're rather pricy. Otherwise
there's good old E-Bay.

Aluminum Christmas Trees were a fad in the late 1950s and the early to mid
1960s although they could still be found in the late 1960s too. They were
made of a substance similar to aluminum foil that reflected light when a
spotlight, room lighting or the light from a colorwheel shined on them. The
common color of these trees was silver although one could obtain them in
blue, gold, green, and pink. They consisted of a wooden pole with holes
drilled in to it in to which the foil-covered aluminum branches were
inserted. A stand held the pole upright. The holes were drilled at different
angles to form the shape of a Christmas tree when all of the branches were
inserted. Since the branches were of the same length and design, a long
metal shaft covered with the aluminum material and a pompon at one end there
was no need to worry about finding branches for particular parts of the
tree. Many artificial trees still in use today often had branches of varying
lengths which must be inserted at particular locations on the pole. Although
the holes and branches for a particular part of the green tree were
color-coded a blind person can assemble these trees by feeling the size of
each branch. If you know the basic shape of a Christmas Tree of any kind
using this information as a, "Guide" will help you assemble your tree
correctly be it a green or an aluminum tree.

Now for the colorwheel. This was a large floodlight or spotlight bulb housed
in a casing that also contained a motor and a shaft. The unit was often
placed on a table, or on the floor next to the aluminum tree in order to
reflect its light on to the tree's branches. Some colorwheel models also
included a music box. The wheel itself was made of plastic and tended to be
divided in to four equal parts each was one of four colors usually red,
green, orange, and blue. If you imagine a pie cut in to four equal slices
you can easily understand how the color wheel sections were divided. The
sections were held together by metal clips and formed a circle when fully
assembled. The wheel was then mounted on to the shaft and a bracket and nut
were screwed on to hold the wheel in place. When the unit was turned on the
wheel rotated exposing each of its four sections to the light from the
floodlight or spotlight bulb. When pointed at the aluminum tree it caused
the tree and ornaments on it to shimmer as the light from the color wheel
was reflected by the aluminum, "Needles" on its branches.

    Some colorwheels were divided in to three instead of four sections with
the red and orange color sharing one section. A few of them were rainbow
colored with strips of various colors around the circumference of the wheel.
They weren't very appealing to many people and quickly lost favor although
the traditional colorwheels were around for quite some time. Another unique
feature of some colorwheel models was a built-in music box that played one
or more Christmas songs when the wheel was activated. Some aluminum trees
contained a motorized base that allowed them to rotate when it was turned
on. It was pretty when a colorwheel shined on a rotating tree, but some of
the tree bases were rather noisy and tended to rumble their way through the
Christmas Season. Perhaps one of the reasons why aluminum trees went out of
style was the fact that one could not, and was strongly warned by the tree
manufacturer and retail outfits not to put lights directly on the tree.
there were those who failed to heed this warning and decorated their
aluminum trees with lights only to have their holiday festivities go up in
smoke! We had several instances of this when I lived in Massachusetts, and
I'm sure it happened in other parts of the country as well.

    I need to tell of an incident t5hat occurred in 1993 when we visited
Fiesta Texas during their holiday extravaganza. We were in a 5&Dime Store
which sold Christmas ornaments and other merchandise that they sold to park
visitors. There were also several exhibits of Christmas Trees which were
around in the late 19950s and 1960s including an aluminum tree and a
colorwheel. I observed that the wheel was rotating, but no light was coming
from it. When I asked someone about it I was told that, "No one knows how to
fix that thing so it will light." Upon further examination I discovered that
the bulb was missing and asked if park maintenance could bring me a
floodlight bulb so I could fix it for them. Soon after that someone from
maintenance appeared with the bulb I needed. I then instructed him to unplug
the unit and to watch as I removed the wheel from the shaft, screwed in the
bulb, and reassembled the unit. I then instructed the maintenance worker to
plug the colorwheel back in and to everyone's delight the wheel not only
turned, but light came from it and reflected on to the aluminum tree at
which it was pointed. Several onlookers who watched the entire episode
unfold cheered when the colorwheel lit up the tree. Mary and I told them
that we weren't brave and wonderful and that like them we enjoyed the beauty
and festiveness of this time of year. While we were unable to see the colors
reflected off of the tree we took delight, and felt the sense of joy and an
inner peace by listening to the reactions of those around us knowing that we
brought joy and blessings in to their lives through this simple act of
kindness.

 I'll see if I can find that company that still sells aluminum trees and
colorwheels for anyone wanting to purchase a piece of holiday nostalgia.

Peter Donahue

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alan Wheeler" <awheeler at neb.rr.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 1:41 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Christmas questions

Peter,
You mentioned one of my favorite things from childhood: the color wheels.
Are those still readily available?

Alan Wheeler
awheeler at neb.rr.com or alan_wheeler at neb.rr.com
redwheel1 on skype
http://alan-wheeler.blogspot.com/
"Tell the people the truth and the country will be free"
  --Abraham Lincoln

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Peter Donahue
Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 10:24 AM
To: NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Christmas questions

Good morning Chasity and listers,

    The timing on this message is just right as Mary and I are currently in
the middle of putting up our outdoor Christmas displays. In a while I need
to run up to the store to do some grocery shopping and to pick up another
string of icecyccle lights as the one we got yesterday was a little short.
In order to run icecyccles completely across the front patio I need to
extend that string. Both of our front patios and bushes around our apartment
are covered in miniature lights. While we may not be able to see them
ourselves we can enjoy the comments and reactions of others when they see
them lit up during the holiday season. The same holds true for the Christmas
tree. Perhaps you can't enjoy seeing the lights and decorations, but you can
smell the piney aroma which fills your living space; particularly when you
have a real tree as you do.

    When I was young we used to get Balsam Fir Trees when we lived in
Massachusetts. These can be bought in a wide variety of sizes and contain
tightly packed short needles. Since Balsams aren't available in San Antonio
we've gotten Frasier Firs instead. They have a look and feel similar to the
Balsam Fir. When the tree is in our living room I love sitting next to it
and stroking its branches. Since the feel of the Frasier's branches are
similar to those of a Balsam Fir stroking the tree branches tends to evoke
many memories of our Christmases past.

    If you want to know about Christmas lights I'm the one to ask. I can
tell you everything about C5's, C7's, C9's, colorwheels,iceciccle lights,
luminarias,bubble lights, rope lights, fairy lights, (The miniature lights
commonly used today), lighted tree stands, you name it I've seen it or used
it during one Christmas or other. And while not always able to see the
finished lighted displays I get enjoyment out of hearing the reactions of
others, and even teaching them how to build lighted displays of their own. I
just did this several days ago when Jessica helped me string lights on our
large bush in the front of our apartment. She, a sighted woman has most
likely by now collected her boyfriend and they're putting up their own
lights using the technique I showed her to prevent gaps in light strings so
they appear as a continuous string of lights when lit. Most miniature light
strings have a long section on the end where the pronged plug is located.
It's about a foot of wire devoid of light bulbs. When strung on a wall, or
along a border the lights appear to have breaks in the strings if the gap is
not removed and one sees a continuous string of Christmas Lights. Looping
the string on itself and at the end of the adjoining string and tying it off
after the first light bulb on each string eliminates this problem. Using
ornaments of different sizes and textures to trim a tree can make the
experience more enjoyable for both blind and sighted people alike.

    Before leaving the subject of lights and decorations on several
occasions we were surprised to have folks comment that they saw flashes
outside of our apartment. On closer investigation we discovered that someone
was taking pictures of our outdoor lights. This just happened last night in
fact. Now if only they knew that a blind person put them up. On occasions
when folks knew I put the lights up I received some of the, "Isn't that
amazing" routine, but on others they've told us how much they appreciated
knowing that their friends and neighbors despite whatever their life's
circumstances were found ways to enjoy the holidays and to participate in
all aspects of the celebration. I've told folks on various occasions that
lighting up for the holidays is just another way to tell the World that
although we're blind we're just normal human beings who enjoy the holiday
season the same way they do. Let me not forget to mention that our national
office is always decorated for this festive time of year and communicates
the same message to all who visit or who participate in federation
activities held at our national center at this time of year. Mary will be
going there next weekend.

    While it's nice to be able to see reactions on the faces of children
when they open that present they wanted from Santa hearing their reactions
verbally works just as well. As for enjoying holiday music and films let
sighted folks enjoy the visuals while you concentrate on following the story
and pondering the message the composer or producer wants to communicate to
his/her audience whether you have DVS or not.

    Like sighted people blind people too are free to decide on which aspects
of holiday celebrations to participate in or not. There are many reasons for
decorating your abode during this time of year, as well as other reasons for
not doing so. But for us not being able to see them is not a good reason for
not decorating. It all comes down to personal choice. Let me encourage
anyone on this list who has never put up holiday decorations to take the
plunge and give it a go. There are several Kernel Book Articles written on
this subject I would urge you to read as well. You never know what kind of
creations you could make and the joy they'll bring in to the lives of those
around you as we've experienced over the years. Best wishes for a great
holiday season. Now I'm off to get that string of icecyccle lights.

Peter Donahue

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chasity Jackson" <chasity0713 at charter.net>
To: <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 8:58 AM
Subject: [Blindtlk] Christmas questions

Hi everyone,

Recently, some discussions I have had with blind friends have brought up
some interesting points and opinions, and I am curious about some things.

Many of you may know Tom Anderson from the CCB. I talk to Tom and Linda
quite frequently. The other night, before Thanksgiving, we were talking
about different things we do at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I asked if they
usually put up a tree. And they said no because they are usually in
Minnesota with his family at Christmas or in Kansas with hers. Then Tom made
the point that, "Even if we were home, I don't think we would put up a
tree." I was just curious and asked, "Do you think it's because you both are
totally blind and can't see the lights and decorations," and Linda said yes.
I never really thought that, and I guess it just came to mind right there
when she mentioned that. So I asked a couple more blind friends and they
don't put up trees and decorations either for the same reason. I'm not
saying this is right or wrong. I just think it's an interesting discussion.
Then, another friend of mine who is blind asked what I usually do for
Christmas. So we got to talking and I asked her the same thing. She and her
husband are both totally blind and they go all out with decorations and the
tree, lights and such, but they have two kids and now have grandchildren. So
that just made me curious about everyone's Christmas situation. Are you
partially blind or totally blind, and do you go all out for Christmas or
not? Does anything such as having children or grandchildren have a factor on
what you do? For instance, maybe you probably wouldn't put a tree up for
yourself because you can't see it, but you do because you have sighted kids,
grandkids or family that come over.

Chris and I put up a tree each year. This will be our first year putting up
a big tree because we now have the space for it. Before, we had little
apartments and used a short fiberoptic tree we put on our table. Now, I
really want to go all out and get a six and a half foot artificial pre-lit
tree from Walmart.

I have to admit that this is the time of year when I am greatful to have
what sight I do have. Any of you who know me know I have no problems with my
blindness and that it doesn't hinder my independence or stop me from
traveling or doing whatever I decide to do. But I just have to say I am
really glad to have the sight I do have to be able to enjoy the holidays,
see the Christmas lights on the tree, see the lights on peoples' houses when
we drive down the road, see the first snowfall of each winter, the houses
and cars covered in snow, see the snowey Christmas scenes in Frosty the
Snowman and Rudolph and all the other holiday movies, etc. I have to get two
inches from the TV to do that, but I can still see a lot of what's going on
if I get close enough. I have to admit, although the DVS version of Rudolph
describes everything very well, it still doesn't beat being able to see it
visually. Chris' parents go all out and their house looks like a Christmas
scene at the holidays. This year is the first time we will spend Christmas
with his family. I am really looking forward to seeing the lights and
decorations. I have to say that if I lost my sight tomorrow, I wouldn't
worry about anything related to my independence like traveling, cleaning,
cooking, managing things around the house and every day things, because I
know how to do those things without my sight anyway. I don't have enough
sight to see cars when I walk down the road. So I've obviously learned
alternative techniques for every day things like that. The thing I would be
most upset about is not being able to see seasonal things like this at
Christmas or like it is in the spring or fall. But I really think about
these things around the holidays because things look so different when
they're all decorated and lit up. Although we can still enjoy 99% of life
without our sight, you hav to admit there are some things that are just 100%
visual that absolutely need sight to be able to enjoy such as Christmas
lights. I like being able to stand back from the tree and see it all lit up
and see the patterns of lights, etc. But, if you are totally blind, you
can't get that same enjoyment by simply touching the lights. LOL. All you
would be able to do is feel they were warm because of being on, right? Don't
get me wrong, I'm not saying you have to be partially blind or sighted to
enjoy the holidays, but there are some aspects of seasonal times of the
year, such as the holidays, that are visual. At the same time, there are
more than visual things that you can enjoy. It just made me wonder, for
those of you who are blind and have kids or raised kids previously, did it
ever bother you when they would open up their gifts on Christmas, and
although you could hear the excitement in their voice, you couldn't see them
opening their gifts or see the expressions on their faces?

Just wanted to bring this up to generate some discussion on the topic since
I found that interesting

Chasity

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