Wisconsin's aluminum Christmas tree legacy

Silver Evergleam aluminum Christmas trees
Evergleam aluminum Christmas trees.
Courtesy Wisconsin Historical Museum

If you've ever watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas," you may recall Lucy telling Charlie Brown to "get the biggest aluminum Christmas tree you can find, maybe painted pink."

In 1965, when the program first aired, the world's leading manufacturer of aluminum Christmas trees, even pink ones, was in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

During the 1960s, the Aluminum Specialty Company manufactured nearly two million Evergleam Christmas trees.

A collection of those trees is currently on display at the Wisconsin Historical Museum in Madison. Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer talked with the curator of the exhibit, Joe Kapler.

(And, if you're in the market for the perfect natural tree, check out MPR's tongue-in-cheek video guide here.)

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