The trees were different colors each year, and Stoecker kept notebooks to plan each new variation as the holidays approached. Its translucence allowed light to pass through the tree’s entire structure, as though it were made from glass. Stoecker was so pleased with this first cardboard tree that he started making new ones every Christmas, testing out new materials like masonite board, and eventually deciding that plexiglas was the best choice. Bliss recalls seeing the tree-which was elegantly suspended from the ceiling, and positioned on a base-spin slowly in the lights, watching the shadows play on the wall as the ornaments sparkled.

This first tree (in retrospect, the original prototype) comprised a series of concentric cardboard rings in graduated sizes, with the smallest at the top and largest at the bottom, each one connected to the next with wire, decorated with bands of fringed tinsel and glass ornaments. In the mid-1960s, he built a space age-style Christmas Tree in his home workshop. Stoecker also loved putting his creativity and know-how to use at home to surprise and delight his children and grandchildren.

Modern christmas trees from shark tank