Tinsel - A Popular Christmas Tree Decoration

Tinsel
A Popular Christmas Tree Decoration

Tinsel is another Christmas decoration that was given to us by the Germans. The German name for tinsel is das Lametta, which is a form of the Italian word lama, meaning blade. It was invented in the early 1600s and a machine was made which pulled the silver into thin strips for the tinsel. Originally, tinsel was made from silver, although it was durable it tarnished quickly, partly from the smoke from the candles that were also on the Christmas Tree. Later attempts were made to use a mixture of lead and tin to try to cut down on the tarnishing of the silver. This proved to be to heavy and branches started to break under the weight. So, the tinsel made from silver was used until the 1950s.

At one point in time the government banned the use of tinsel as a Christmas decoration because it contained lead. Today the modern version of tinsel is made of strips of aluminium foil pressed between two layers of clear plastic. This modern lighter weight tinsel feels very different from tinsel from the 50s and does not have the drape of that the old tinsel had. Although it has none of the charm of the German original, tinsel is still a popular tree decoration.

Your Christmas HQ - For Unique Gift Ideas and Product Reviews - Click Here!