Christmas just isn't the same without Asbestos Snow

[boingboing]

Originally published at: Christmas just isn't the same without Asbestos Snow - Boing Boing

…

[bashful]

@boingboing

"It’s not Christmas without “Asbestos Snow”!

And real lead tinsel. This modern mylar stuff just doesn’t hang on the branches the same way. Playing with the lead tinsel when the tree was taken down was much more fun - it could be molded and pressed into lots of shapes by hand.

[tcg550]

Tinsel foil spit ball wars with straws.

[FGD135]

@bashful

And real lead tinsel.

[FGD135]

[thekevinmonster]

There was also that snow stuff you could buy in an aerosol can and spray on things (the tree? around windows?) and I’m not sure what it was inside. It was definitely some sort of toxic petroleum product / solvent.

I have a story involving that stuff and mooning my parents.

Maybe that’s why I’m so weird.

[Melizmatic]

So glad I missed this “trend;” the use of asbestos was banned in the US by the late 70’s.

[SmilingDemon]

[vrplumber]

Asbestos Snow

It Will Take Your Breath Away!

[Melizmatic]

I should have clarified:

This particular product and all “new use” products were banned.

Didn’t mean to imply that existing “legacy” asbestos was no longer around.

[Gyrofrog]

@thekevinmonster

snow stuff

I’m remembering some kind of “snow” made out of spun glass. Kind of like cushion stuffing, but made out of glass.

[FSogol]

That was called angel hair. It cut up your hands if you didn’t wear gloves while handling it.

[nick_warr]

Getting tiny bits of glass embedded in my skin is a phobia of mine.

[Gyrofrog]

[tyroney]

My mother was super into mini bubble lights. (no screw base - they fit over the regular mini lights) I’d sit and stare at them for what felt like hours at a time. When they were just plugged in, some would take a while to get going and I’d flick the glass tubes with my finger to get them started. Not sure that did anything, but it seemed like it worked and it was satisfying. Not sure if they were the type filled with methylene chloride, but there were never any ER trips, at least.

[xkot]

My favorite tree was the one my mom made my dad spray with Sno*Flok (almost certainly asbestos) in 1968. It had all blue lights and blue ornaments and became the platonic ideal of what a Christmas tree should be.