Did you know...
Did you know that when my mother was a little girl tinsel was actually made of tin? And was used over again year after year. That is why my mom makes us put tinsel on the tree one strand at a time, just like Nanny use to make her. It made taking it off the tree to wrap in tissue easier.Apparently it was originally made of real silver but because silver tarnishes they stopped using it. Tinsel dates back to 1610 when Christmas tree where just coming into vogue. At a time when candles were the only light source, tinsel was loved for its reflective qualities. It added sparkle to the tree like our modern twinkle lights.
The history of tinsel began in Germany. The tale goes that a poor widow tucked her children into bed on Christmas Eve, all the while dreading the morning because she had no presents for them on Christmas morning. To make up for it she went to the woods and cut down a tree. She decorated it with home-made decorations like cookies, fruit and ribbon. After she went to bed some kindly spiders came out of the woodwork and wanted to help decorate the tree. They spun the tree full of webs. When Santa came to leave presents he saw the tree and decided that would not due so he turned the webbing into silver.
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