Aluminum Christmas Tree w/ Rotating Stand & Color Wheel

Pricing & History

Sold for
Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.
Sold Date
Source eBay

CHRISTMAS IN JULY!Just cleaned out my father-in-law's attic and found this group of classic Christmas nostalgia items. My wife (age 58) is certain it was in their new home in 1964, but not as sure about the years before that.This is all ORIGINAL STUFF, NOT reproductions of 50's-60's era christmas decorations.Just for the record, you are bidding on the three piece set i.e. the 8 foot aluminum branched tree, the musical rotating stand, and the famous "color wheel", all of which are in fine functioning order. I know....., don't tell me, .... I could make more money by selling them separately in November, but time is at a premium for me, and my impatience is your gain! THE TREE: The tree is an 8 foot classic "stainless" aluminum tree from those high-chromed days of the 60s. This tree has 115 branches and has all but one of the original paper sleeves for protecting them during storage. The center pole is 2-pieced wood affair and has the same number of holes drilled in it. For this reason, I have to believe the tree is intact i.e. no pieces missing (but one is short), but I have no directions, so that is just my best guess. T is an extra triangular tree stand included, because the tree did not automatically come with the rotating stand. The rotating musical stand was considered an option and quite chic! You will note in the pictures that I did assemble the entire tree, (Seemed a bit odd in July!). I only have part of the original box that the tree was stored in. The attic was so dry that the cardboard bottom sort of fell apart, so I kept the top part just to authenticate this tree as an original. THE BASE: The rotating musical stand is white with some flecks of gold (Oh those 1960's!). It houses a motor that turns the special adapter into which the tree pole is inserted and which is then placed on top of the stand. I checked out the inside of the unit because originally the motor was making a barely audible high-pitched whistle. A spot of oil on the bearing points quickly arrested that...and now it's quiet as a church. The base has a second switch built in that actuates the tiny music box inside and it plays Jingle Bells while the tree rotates. You can turn the music box off separately and the tree continues to rotate silently. The base also has an outlet plug for the "Rotating Color Wheel." These things were sold more or less as a set. Again, t is a partial box included, which definitely dates it as an original. THE COLOR WHEEL: Everybody had to have one! The "coolest" variation of this whole set-up was to have the spinning color wheel which alternately lit the tree in four successive colors of red, green, yellow and blue, all while the tree was spinning, of course. Some people with lots of money had two color wheels, which produced some pretty psychedelic color combinations (Definitely not for the timid). This color wheel unit needed a slight bit of repair which is documented in picture 5. The celophane had begun to curl inward from the inside of the aluminum rim that rotates. T is evidence that my father-in-law dealt with this issue early on, with some scotch tape. Rather than go that way again, which was bound to fail again, I devised an inside rim insert made of hardboard which I pressed into place (picture 6). It worked like a charm and the the wheel works like new. T are one or two very tiny spots on the celophane w the stain or color has nicked off, but t are no holes or tears in the color surfaces w they pass over the light. It really is quite amazing that the whole thing is still in such good working order. The original lamp was a 150 watt flood light . I would definitely recommend that you NOT use that original bulb , but substitute one of the new energy saving floodlights that have just come out that look exactly like T-shaped floodlights, but which contain a spiral bulb with the equivalent lighting of 100 or more watts, but which use only about 23 watts. They run MUCH COOLER than the old floodlights and wil... read more

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

Flag item for content or copyright

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.