Anyone Remember LEAD (Heavy) Icicles?

[arwalden]

I picked up 10 boxes of the stuff on Ebay last year and I've just finished adding it to my tree. So retro!!! So perfect!!

It's not at all like the mylar plastic lightweight spaghetti-thin stuff that passes for icicles today. This is the GOOD stuff that was outlawed because it's hazardous to children who might eat it.

It's wide. It's crinkled. It reflects beautifully. And it doesn't react to static electricity... nor does it cling to everything or get tangled up.

The old icicles, the C7's, the bubblers, the 35 and 40 year old ornaments (mixed with some old-style new ones) make this tree look like it's right out of one of my parent's old 8mm home movies.

Just thought I'd share.

-- Allen

[NJCher]

1. funny you should mention that

There was a decorating program on the other day that talked about the "look" those old kinds of icicles portray.

Wish you did digital photos. Would love to see that tree!


Cher

[nostamj]

2. i'm old enough to remember!

my mother would want us to hang them ONE STRAND AT A TIME.

we kids just wanted to throw clumps at the tree!

how about "bubble lights" ???

[arwalden]

4. Your mother would be proud of me... I hung them ONE at at time.

and about 3 on each branch tip. It was fun!!

Last minute Christmas eve decorating is always a hoot! I like it because the decorations still fell "new" on Christmas morning (instead of something that I've been looking at since before Thanksgiving.)

Bubblers? Of course!!!! We've discovered that the bubblers with blue liquid don't bubble as vigorously as the bubblers with the yellow, orange, or red liquid. Hmmm.

-- Allen

[Kolesar]

3. Yes! I remember those.

We had just a few of them to hang on our real tree. Merry Christmas!

[Piperay]

5. I LOVED them

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: Christmas trees just don't look the same without them, they just added a special look to a tree especially with the big lights, some bubble and some in different shapes. Lucky you, I bet your tree is just BEAUTIFUL!!! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[phaseolus]

6. Our cat used to love eating that lead stuff...

But, yeah, it was great. Dad, a thrifty soul who grew up during the Great Depression, would reuse it every year.

We also had these cherry hard candies with metal wires embedded in them for tying to the tree, which I loved to eat.

Practically everyone else we knew had one of those lamp fixtures with the PAR40 bulb and the motorized revolving color filters noisily grinding away in a corner, bathing the tree in a pool of light that changed color every few seconds. Our family thought they were tacky back then. Now, of course, the same thing would be extremely cool...

[Palacsinta]

7. My mom would save them year after year........

and they would break off in your hands whne they got old. Anyone remember making pictures on the windows with Glasswax? Glasswax came in a pink can, if I remember correctly, and we'd coat the windows with it and then etch out snow scenes......pretty!

BTW........i love all your "Bewitched" references. I was a HUGE fan!

[arwalden]

8. Hi Jethrine!

My grandmother would save them year after year too. --- I can't belive I paid $8 to $10 a box for icicles that had 59-cents pre-printed on the box.

Ah... but what the heck... it's worth it to me. I love them.

-- Allen

P.S. One day, if I ever get to build my "dream house" it will inspired by the Stephen's house at 1164 Morning Glory Circle.

[Palacsinta]

10. Ooooo........I hope you build it......

It's my ideal house, too!!! I loved the "back yard", Darren and Samantha's room........the den........such a modern kitchen! I was always so impressed with their bar (well, liquor cabinet)..............the height of suburban cool. (Of course, their house was not nearly as upscale as the Tates.)

[cosmicdot]

9. my childhood was in the '50s ... and, we put them on our tree

speaking of trees of yore ... in 1959, we brought the tree in, and found a note wrapped in foil ...

it was tied to the tree by a girl in Nova Scotia where the tree originated ... large family ...

my mom put together a care package ... some clothes and some of our home-made fudge, etc., and sent it to her ... they exchanged a couple of letters ... her mother passed away shortly after the New Year, and she had to quit school to take care of her brothers and sisters ...

I have the letters, and I became determined a few years ago (the Internet helped!) to locate her again ... using the Canadian phone directory and sending random letters here and there brought a response from her nephew who gave me her current address ... she's now living in Vancouver, and my next wish is to meet her in person ...

[Bozita]

12. That's a great story.

Thanks, Cosmicdot.

[Kool Kitty]

11. Sounds like my childhood Christmas tree.

*sigh* Those were the days. I still have some of the old ornaments, found when we were cleaning out my Dad's basement. No picture? Please, a picture?

[KoKo]

13. I chewed up some of it....spit it out. I'm here on DU many years later

.....does this mean it caused me "brain damage?" Lead poisoning. I did chew on it for awhile...really..I liked the tast......yuck....

On edit: When we were kids we would roll it up and step on it to make "silver coins." It would mold into forms and you could even "stamp impressions on it."

Would love to see your tree! And, agree that the "mylar" tinsel just wasn't the same. It all went out of favor in the 70's for more natural trees. But, they were fun trees and glad to see some folks are "into" them again. Post Pix...please!

[wingnut]

14. LEAD?

Ralph Nader is coming to get you.

[SoCalDem]

15. Yes.. and we were so cheap, we saved it from year to year

even when it was 59 cents a box.. We finally got rid of it all when our kids came along.. When we were kids we would roll it up into little balls and throw it at each other..