The Sun News | 12/14/2005 | A nostalgic tribute to tacky decor
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - It was mostly a gag when Charlotte native Stephen Jackson decorated 37 fake trees in an old storefront and claimed it was the world's only museum for aluminum Christmas trees.
He got a lot of laughs that day back in December 2000. But when HGTV, National Public Radio, the BBC and dozens of foreign publications covered the Brevard-based 'museum,' Jackson decided that the world truly wanted a Graceland-type shrine for metallic Christmas trees.
This Christmas, his Aluminum Tree and Ornament Museum is going 'official' as a 60-tree extravaganza inside Asheville's historic Smith-McDowell Museum.
The Christmas trees themselves are collectibles from the '50s, '60s and '70s - with a couple of possible exceptions. Two of the trees are labeled as "very rare" aluminum palm trees and a third exhibit is the "world's only" aluminum bonsai tree.
All three look suspiciously homemade. "Genetic engineering done in our lab," Jackson claims. "Did you know that 550 feet of aluminum foil can be harvested from an aluminum palm tree?"
All 60 trees are crammed into three rooms, while the rest of the 6,000-square-foot Smith-McDowell House is filled with decorations from the Victorian period and early 20th century.
The contrast is jarring, but house manager Tammy Walsh says it's justified because the mansion was a children's dorm in the '60s, when aluminum trees were the rage. She's the one who came up with the idea of hosting the exhibit and admits there was some resistance at first.
He got a lot of laughs that day back in December 2000. But when HGTV, National Public Radio, the BBC and dozens of foreign publications covered the Brevard-based 'museum,' Jackson decided that the world truly wanted a Graceland-type shrine for metallic Christmas trees.
This Christmas, his Aluminum Tree and Ornament Museum is going 'official' as a 60-tree extravaganza inside Asheville's historic Smith-McDowell Museum.
The Christmas trees themselves are collectibles from the '50s, '60s and '70s - with a couple of possible exceptions. Two of the trees are labeled as "very rare" aluminum palm trees and a third exhibit is the "world's only" aluminum bonsai tree.
All three look suspiciously homemade. "Genetic engineering done in our lab," Jackson claims. "Did you know that 550 feet of aluminum foil can be harvested from an aluminum palm tree?"
All 60 trees are crammed into three rooms, while the rest of the 6,000-square-foot Smith-McDowell House is filled with decorations from the Victorian period and early 20th century.
The contrast is jarring, but house manager Tammy Walsh says it's justified because the mansion was a children's dorm in the '60s, when aluminum trees were the rage. She's the one who came up with the idea of hosting the exhibit and admits there was some resistance at first.
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posted by Davor Novakovic @ Wednesday, December 14, 2005
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