Well, yrs ago, my kids had me get a Barbie style angel, big puffy skirt, holding 2 "candles." Now it is a tradition, so it stays. I'm not particularly into angels anymore, so if it was up to me I would choose something different. But it's not up to me.
Before kids, I used to use the Jet Age star that used to go atop my childhood trees. It is chrome colored, with a round area at the bottom, which is indented in the the middle, which area is magenta. It than has a big pointy spike on top. You could imagine it on the Jetson's tree. It reminds me of the Shiny Brite balls I also got from my mom and grandmoms.
Saw part of an interesting show on TV last night about "xmas" trees. I missed the beginning, which I assume had stuff about pagan ideas, too bad... But anyway, the beautiful German ornaments people had in the 19th and early 20th century, blown glass in all kinds of shapes, were no longer imported during and after WWII. So the Corning Glass Co, in NY, which was the US's biggest manufacturer of lightbulbs, refitted some of their machines to make ornaments. These were the Shiny Brite balls. They were all round, but some had the indentation, and some were painted in patterns, usually striped. Woolworths started selling them, and they were the biggest selling item Woolworth ever sold!
In 1985, Christopher Radko's family tree, loaded with ornaments brought into the US by family members from Germany and Poland, fell over and all the balls were crushed. These kind of ornaments were no longer being made in Germany. He went over and encouraged some craftsmen to begin making them again, and now, of course, they are all the rage, once again!
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