ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS: Who is credited with the invention of tinsel?
Share:
QUESTION Who is credited with the invention of tinsel?. Decorative tinsel was probably invented in Germany. However, the word tinsel has been known in the English language since the 15th century. This referred to a material made of satin or silk into which gold threads had been woven.
![[The word tinsel is thought to be derived from an old French word, estincele, meaning 'sparkle'. File image]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/23/93444011-14223043-The_word_tinsel_is_thought_to_be_derived_from_an_old_French_word-a-65_1734998040112.jpg)
In 1502, for instance, Elizabeth of York, the wife of Henry VII, bought 'blake tynselle saten... for an edge of a gowne of blake velvet'. The word tinsel is thought to be derived from an old French word, estincele, meaning 'sparkle', via the Latin scintilla, 'spark'.
![[The smallest and oldest standing army is the Pontifical Swiss Guard in Vatican City]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/23/93444143-14223043-The_smallest_and_oldest_standing_army_is_the_Pontifical_Swiss_Gu-a-64_1734998040111.jpg)
Despite Christmas miscellanies often stating that decorative tinsel, made of silver, had been created in Nuremberg from 1610, there is no particular evidence for this. Silver wouldn't make a good material for tinsel: it's expensive and would tarnish easily.
Images of Christmas trees from the mid-19th century, such as those issued by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who had a strong German connection, have candles and tin decorations, but tinsel is conspicuous by its absence. It was only in the 1890s that trees began to be adorned with an early form of tinsel known as lametta. These were long strands resembling very thin tinfoil, which were draped in large quantities over the branches of the Christmas tree, creating a glittering effect that mimicked the twinkling of an icicle.
