# Tinsel > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tinsel > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tinsel.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinsel > Source revision: 1345535953 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Decorative material that mimics the effect of ice}} {{other uses}} 300px|thumb|Tinsel garland on a Christmas tree '''Tinsel''' is a type of decorative material that mimics the effect of ice. It consists of thin strips of sparkling material attached to a thread. When in long narrow strips not attached to thread, it is called "'''lametta'''", and emulates icicles. It was originally a metallic [garland](/source/garland_(decoration)) for [Christmas decoration](/source/Christmas_decoration). The modern production of tinsel typically involves plastic, and is used particularly to decorate [Christmas tree](/source/Christmas_tree)s. It may be hung from ceilings or wrapped around statues and lampposts. Modern tinsel was invented in [Nuremberg](/source/Nuremberg), [Germany](/source/Germany), in 1610, and was originally made of shredded [silver](/source/silver). thumb|upright|Original lametta (silver foil with tin and lead) According to the ''[Concise Oxford Dictionary](/source/Concise_Oxford_Dictionary)'', the word is from the [Old French](/source/Old_French) word ''estincele'', meaning "[sparkle](/source/wiktionary%3Asparkle)". ==History== In the 16th century the word "tinsel" was used for a variety of lightweight fabrics with a metallic effect made with silk and gold and silver thread, including "tinselled satin".[Maria Hayward](/source/Maria_Hayward), ''Rich Apparel: Clothing and the Law in Henry VIII's England'' (Farnham, 2009). The fabric was associated in England with Christmas festivities. A 1443 court case at [Norwich](/source/Norwich) heard how John Gladman rode through the town as the "King of Christmas" with his horse "trapped with tyneseyle".[Sarah Carpenter](/source/Sarah_Carpenter) and [Meg Twycross](/source/Meg_Twycross), ''Masks and Masking in Medieval and Early Tudor England'' (Ashgate, 2002), pp. 79–80.Chris Humphrey, "To make new king: Seasonal Drama and Local Politics in Norwich, 1443",''Medieval English Theatre'', 17 (1995), p. 32. These tinsel fabrics were used in elite clothes (regulated by [sumptuary law](/source/sumptuary_law)), [masque](/source/masque) costume,Jane Ashelford, 'Female Masque Dress in late Sixteenth-Century England', ''Costume'', 42:1 (January 1978), 42. and for heraldic banners and flags.[Janet Arnold](/source/Janet_Arnold), ''Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd'' (Maney, 1988), p. 374. [Elizabeth of York](/source/Elizabeth_of_York) bought "tynsell satin" in 1502 and the wardrobe of [Margaret Tudor](/source/Margaret_Tudor) included "tynsen" in 1515. Tinsel and "tilsent" were a less costly alternative to [cloth of gold](/source/cloth_of_gold).M. Channing Linthicum, ''Costume in the Drama of Shakespeare and his Contemporaries'' (Oxford, 1936), pp. 116-7. Tinsel was used for a veil or [caul](/source/Caul_(headgear)) worn by [Mary I of England](/source/Mary_I_of_England) at her [coronation in 1553](/source/coronation_of_Mary_I_of_England).John Stow, [https://archive.org/details/b30330300/page/616/mode/2up ''Annales, or, a generall chronicle of England'' (London, 1631), p. 616] Silver tinsel fabric, described in Italian as ''tocca d'argento'', was used for the sails of mechanical ships at a masque at the [wedding of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Francis, Dauphin of France](/source/wedding_of_Mary%2C_Queen_of_Scots%2C_and_Francis%2C_Dauphin_of_France) in April 1558.Herbert Van Scoy, Bernerd C. Weber, 'The Marriage of Mary Queen of Scots and the Dauphin', ''Scottish Historical Review'', 31:111, Part 1 (April 1952), pp. 47–48: Hermann W. Haller, ''John Florio: A Worlde of Wordes'' (University of Toronto, 2013), p. 728, "toccadoro". Modern tinsel was invented in [Nuremberg](/source/Nuremberg) around 1610.{{cite web | url=http://www.christmascarnivals.com/christmas-history/christmas-history-tinsel.html | title=Christmas History Tinsel | publisher=Christmascarnivals.com | access-date=2009-12-29}} Tinsel was originally made from [extruded](/source/extruded) strands of [silver](/source/silver). Because silver [tarnish](/source/tarnish)es quickly, other shiny metals were substituted. Before the 19th century, tinsel was used for adorning [sculptures](/source/sculptures) rather than Christmas trees. It was added to [Christmas trees](/source/Christmas_trees) to enhance the flickering of the candles on the tree. Tinsel was used to represent the starry sky over a Nativity scene.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}} thumb|upright|A Christmas tree decorated with dangling strands of lametta. By the early 20th century, manufacturing advances allowed cheap aluminium-based tinsel, and until [World War I](/source/World_War_I), [France](/source/France) was the world leader in its manufacture. Production was curtailed during the First World War as a result of wartime demand for [copper](/source/copper).{{cite book|author=United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Bureau of Manufactures|title=Commerce reports, Volume 1|year=1917|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tiIoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA83 83], [https://books.google.com/books?id=tiIoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA412 412]}} During the 1950s, tinsel and tinsel garlands were so popular that they frequently were used more than Christmas lights, as tinsel was much less of a fire hazard than lights were for the then-popular [aluminum Christmas tree](/source/aluminum_Christmas_tree)s, some of which were made from flammable aluminized paper.{{cite patent | country = US | number = US3480502 | status = application | title = Method of making christmas tinsel | pubdate = 25 November 1969 | fdate = | pridate = | invent1 = Walter J. Schrenk | assign1 = [Dow Chemicals](/source/Dow_Chemicals)}} [Lead](/source/Lead) [foil](/source/foil_(metal)) was a popular material for tinsel manufacture for several decades of the 20th century. Unlike silver, lead tinsel did not tarnish, so it retained its shine. However, use of lead tinsel was phased out after the 1960s due to concern over potential [lead poisoning](/source/lead_poisoning) in children.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=N-lFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wPwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4872,2687963|title=Decorations spanned decades in development|last=Werne|first=Jo|date=December 20, 1981|work=Telegraph-Herald|page=25|access-date=17 December 2011|location=Dubuque, Iowa}} In the [United States](/source/United_States), the [Food and Drug Administration](/source/Food_and_Drug_Administration) (FDA) concluded in August 1971 that lead tinsel caused an unnecessary risk to [children](/source/children), and convinced manufacturers and importers to voluntarily stop producing or importing lead tinsel after January 1, 1972. The FDA did not formally ban the product because the agency lacked sufficient evidence needed to declare lead tinsel a "health [hazard](/source/hazard)."{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19721115&id=gQ9XAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QkMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5569,3402989|title=Lead Tinsel Seen Off the Market|agency=[Associated Press](/source/Associated_Press)|date=November 15, 1972|work=[Reading Eagle](/source/Reading_Eagle) |access-date=17 December 2011|location=Reading, Pennsylvania |via=[Google News](/source/Google_News)}} Modern tinsel is typically made from [polyvinyl chloride](/source/polyvinyl_chloride) (PVC) film coated with a metallic finish.{{cite journal |last1=Drahl |first1=Carmen |title=What Is Tinsel Made Of? |journal=[Chemical & Engineering News](/source/Chemical_%26_Engineering_News) |date=December 15, 2014 |volume=92 |issue=50 |url=https://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i50/Tinsel-MadeChanged-Over-Years.html |access-date=4 April 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vFNSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qzYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1137,4045237|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124154424/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vFNSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qzYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1137,4045237|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 24, 2013|title=Tinsel plant unites many cultures|last=Deleon|first=Clark|date=December 26, 1994|work=The Post and Courier|publisher=Knight Ridder|access-date=17 December 2011|location=Charleston, South Carolina}} Coated [mylar](/source/mylar) film also has been used. These plastic forms of tinsel do not hang as well as tinsel made from heavy metals such as silver and lead. == Figurative use == Germans refer to a row of [military Awards and decorations](/source/Awards_and_decorations_of_the_German_Armed_Forces) as ''Lametta'' ([German](/source/German_language) for tinsel), similar to dressing in full regalia or with a high level of formality. The expression was coined earlier to describe the appearance of [Hermann Göring](/source/Hermann_G%C3%B6ring), e.g. in a ''[Chanson](/source/Chanson)'' by [Claire Waldoff](/source/Claire_Waldoff), ''Rechts Lametta, links Lametta, Und der Bauch wird imma fetta'' (Tinsel on the right, tinsel on the left, and the belly gets fatter and fatter).{{cite book |title=Underground Humour In Nazi Germany, 1933–1945 |first=F. K. M. |last=Hillenbrand |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |isbn=1-138-00672-6 }} Humorist [Loriot](/source/Vicco_von_B%C3%BClow)'s 1977 film ''Weihnachten bei Hoppenstedts'' about a family Christmas involved a [Prussian-educated](/source/Prussian_education_system) grandfather humming the ''{{ill|Helenenmarsch|de|vertical-align=sup}}'' with "ra-da-buff" and deploring the lack of tinsel („''Früher war mehr Lametta!''“ "There used to be more tinsel!"), thus lamenting the changes in life due to the course of time, has become proverbial.IMDb Title tt0393440 Loriot 14: ''Weihnachten bei Hoppenstedts.'' ==Other uses== [[File:Skelt, Martin and Matthew - theatrical tinsel portrait - Madame Vestris as Apollo - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|[Tinsel print](/source/Tinsel_print) of ''[Madame Vestris](/source/Lucia_Elizabeth_Vestris) as Apollo'', English, 1837-40]] [Tinsel print](/source/Tinsel_print)s are two different types of print, where tinsel is added after printing, for decorative effect. The older type is a rare style of German religious [woodcut](/source/woodcut) from the early 15th century. The later type is English and 19th-century, especially used for prints of actors in their roles."Flock and tinsel prints", ''The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art'', ed. Gerald W. R. Ward, 2008, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|0195313917}}, 9780195313918 Tinsel has many traditional uses in [India](/source/India), including decorations on images, garlands for weddings and other ceremonies, and ornamental trappings for horses and elephants.{{cite book| last=Mukerjee| first=Radhakamal| title=The foundations of Indian economics| year=1916| publisher=Longmans, Green and Co.| pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22215/page/n264 220]}} Tinsels of various types are popular materials used in [fly tying](/source/fly_tying).{{Cite web |title=3. Working with wire and tinsels |url=https://www.oldhatflytying.com/3-working-with-wire-and-tinsels.html |access-date=2026-03-26 |website=Old Hat Fly Tying |language=en}} ==See also== * [Chaff (countermeasure)](/source/Chaff_(countermeasure)) * [Festoon](/source/Festoon) * [Legend of the Christmas Spider](/source/Legend_of_the_Christmas_Spider) == References == {{Reflist}} == External links == {{Wiktionary|tinsel|lametta}} * {{Commons category-inline}} {{Christmas trees}} {{Authority control}} Category:Christmas decorations Category:Christmas in Germany Category:Christmas trees --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tinsel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinsel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinsel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.