Recreate the fun and flair of the postwar decades with retro Christmas decorations that capture the colorful, lighthearted mood of the era.
The fifties and sixties were a positive time in American history and nothing reflects the upbeat energy of the time like the holiday decor of the period. "Modern" was the key in all aspects of interior design, and the heavy, fussy prewar style of the thirties and forties was banished by clean lines, geometric shapes, and clear, bright colors. Nowhere was this more apparent than in holiday decorating, which took an abrupt turn away from time-honored tradition to glitzy, glittery, and frankly fun.
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The booming post-war economy brought a new level of affluence to the average American family, and mass manufacturing transformed items like glass Christmas tree ornaments from rare and costly heirlooms to affordable additions that could be picked up at the corner five & dime.
The nation's growing fascination with technology and the new manmade materials like synthetics, fiberglass, plastics really took off during the "space age" decades. In holiday decorating, natural greens vied with unabashedly artificial creations of tinsel, foil, or plastic.
No part of holiday decor changed more during the retro period than the Christmas tree itself. Once a hallmark of serious and meaningful tradition, the retro era saw the tree became a lighthearted and even whimsical showcase for personal expression. Artificial trees in sparkling mettalics or frosty whites and pastels became wildly popular during the period, often decorated in a single color theme. Perhaps the most classic of all retro Christmas images is the white or silver artificial tree, garlanded with tinsel and hung with gleaming silver balls, skirted with a blanket of fiberglass "snow", and illuminated by a slowly revolving colorwheel light that bathed it in a constantly changing colored glow.
Though Christmas tree lights were actually invented in the 19th century, they remained both costly and delicate and for almost half a century. But in the fifties manufacturing innovations made them both affordable and reliable, and they quickly became the backbone of both interior and exterior holiday decorating. Unlike the small and subtle lights that became common in the seventies, the tree lights of the fifties and sixties were big, bright color accents.
Just about every fifties Christmas tree had at least one string of bubble lights, a novelty that quickly became the epitome of retro holiday decor. Bubble lights consisted of a slender, pointed glass vial filled with a liquid (usually methylene chloride or lightweight oil) positioned above a colored plastic globe that housed a small light bulb. Because the liquid in the vial had a very low boiling point, the heat of the bulb was enough to cause bubbles to rise and create a unique "active" ornament.
Retro Christmas Decorations Capture the Upbeat Energy of the Postwar Era
Fill your home with the fun and flair of retro Christmas decorations this year - find out how at Vintage Christmas Decorations.