For the past couple of days, in my mind, I have been hearing a soft chiming sound that reminds me of Christmases, oh so long ago and no, it's not time to get the straight jacket. It is reminding me of one of my favorite things - my mothers Christmas Carousel Chimes.
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| Photo from Wikipedia |
The first Christmas Carousel Chimes were made in Germany before WWII and were made out of tin. After WWII they were being made in Sweden out of brass and they spread throughout Europe and the USA. Today they are made cheaply in China.
The science behind the carousel is simple. The lighted candle produces heat. The heat rises and causes the fan on the carousel to turn. There are angles attached to the fan that have little rods attached to them. As the fan turns the rods hit the chimes - DING! The more candles you light (one on every Sunday of Advent = 4 Sundays before Christmas), the faster the fan will turn and the more the chimes will ring.
My mom's had angels on them, I found one with Santa and reindeer and am planning to order one for myself....Some memories are good enough to recreate :o)
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| from the Magic Cabin website |
We had one of these when I was a kid, too-I loved it. We just lit all the candles-I didn't realize there was one for each Sunday in Advent-we always had an advent wreath. I've only seen the really cheaply made ones recently, though. After Sue spent some time in Germany, she brought home a wooden one.
ReplyDeletePeggy
How were you to know? If lit all your candles and enjoyed it, that's perfectly ok.
ReplyDeleteThe wooden ones are called "Weihnachts Pyramide" or Christmas Pyramids. They usually don't have the bells, but are beautiful in their own way.
I remember going to Christmas markets and there would be booths just filled to the brim with every kind of pyramid you could imagine and those you couldn't....master pieces.
Ordered my chimes :) will have them for next year 0:-)
ReplyDeleteWas very surprised that my chimes arrived yesterday <3....my only christmas decoration this year
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