Maybe a short one tonight...

I only remember two times as we were growing up that we didn't have a standard evergreen tree with all the great decorations, and tinsel and silver icicles to top it off.  My personal favorite decoration, though I was never sure how these made it past Underwriters' Laboratories for their approval, were the lights that had a bulb at the bottom, and a clear glass tube extending out which was filled with some liquid  As the base heated up, the tube began to bubble.  I just looked on Google, and the most official name is "bubble lights".

Anyway, one year after aluminum trees had been in vogue for a year or two, Dad decided to try one.  As I remember it was a nightmare to assemble, which may have contributed to the slightly bent appearance of  many of the branches.  I believe we hung only blue balls on it, and I believe Dad also bought a multi-color light wheel (red, blue, yellow and green) to reflect off the metallic branches.  I do not believe this tree lasted more than a year.

After a few more years passed, there was another trend...regular Christmas trees "flocked" with some snowy white goop.  Dad once again felt adventurous.  If things went well, you had a tree that looked like it was coated with fluffy white snow.  For most people, however, their trees looked like a cat had gotten into a large container of cottage cheese, then decided to mount the Christmas tree to spread the joy.  We put only pink balls on this time, but we did still have the multi-colored light wheel, adding an eerie touch.  That was Dad's last foray into creative Christmas trees.