Throwback Thursday – Serving Tree

by Robyn Wright on December 27, 2012

in Food

Pickle tree, olive tree, or gumdrop tree?

It is Throwback Thursday time again – this item is a little more unique and I’m not sure of the age. My aunt has this lovely little tree, it used to be my grandma’s she said. There are two pieces that slide together to form the standing tree and you place in the bottom tray. Simple design, but very functional. My aunt said it was either an olive or pickle tree – I can’t recall which. She uses it for a variety of things though. On Christmas Eve she had me put gumdrops on it. Cute isn’t it?

Sadly this one has a few broken branches. Have you ever seen these yourself? I would love to find a new one, actually two of them, one for me and one for Aunt Judy.

Do you have any unique serving pieces in your family?

© 2012 – 2013, Robyn Wright. All rights reserved.

Tagged as: kitchen, meme, memory lane, serving pieces, Throwback Thursday

  • http://shopannies.blogspot.com angie

    bringing back some great memories, we had a gumdrop tree just like this. I made my mom a lollipop tree in jr. high and she loved it and then we also have many great vintage pieces I think that is what helps make the holidays so fun

    • http://www.RobynsOnlineWorld.com Robyn Wright

      How did you make the lollipop tree? That would be fun! I remember at carnivals they always had those and if your stick had marker on the end you won an extra prize too.

  • Lisa G.
    • http://www.RobynsOnlineWorld.com Robyn Wright

      OMG! Thank you, thank you, thank you Lisa! So it actually is a gum drop tree and not a pickle or olive tree – that’s funny! I will be ordering one for myself and my aunt!

  • nannypanpan

    glad it really is a gumdrop tree…cause it’s cute as that..would be great on the dessert table for the kids

    • http://www.RobynsOnlineWorld.com Robyn Wright

      I’m thinking it would be fun using different shapes of candy too. Gummy worms on halloween jumped into my head especially!

  • Katherine

    My grandma had one too~ Thanks for the Amazon link~

  • http://historyinculture.wordpress.com Robin O

    oh! My great-aunt had one of those olive trees (back then I didn’t like olives, so I would l have liked it if she put gumdrop on it)! It would be fun to get one for a party.

  • Donna

    I had one of these as a child, that was ordered from the Sears catalog by my dad. I was only five or so, and actually thought that when you placed an order, the item would arrive INSTANTLY. I must have watched too much ‘Bewitched’ or something. I cried and cried, because it took several days for the tree to arrive.

    • http://www.RobynsOnlineWorld.com Robyn Wright

      Awww, poor thing. I bet you were super excited when it finally arrived though!

  • Margie

    I think I remember my aunt having one of these. It might be cute with miniature Christmas ornaments.

  • GlArthy

    This looks really inviting to buy, but I am not a ‘sweets’ person and find the ‘sugars’ too much – lol. BUT, would not want to spoil a kid’s party on my account. Nice buy.

    • http://www.RobynsOnlineWorld.com Robyn Wright

      Do olives, pickles, cheese, par-boiled veggies, etc. – anything you want. It doesn’t have to be candy

  • Lucy Lorf

    This is a cute tree. I’d like one. I sooooo love gumdrops

    • http://www.RobynsOnlineWorld.com Robyn Wright

      I love them too but while I was putting them on the tree I did not eat even one!

  • Ravzie

    Now there’s a blast from the past! We all had one back in the day, didn’t we??? My mom’s got completely crushed in the storage. I don’t have anything that would be considered unique. I’m not big on serving guests anyway. I am a party guest, not a party host, LOL.

    • http://www.RobynsOnlineWorld.com Robyn Wright

      I love having different serving pieces, sadly I have limited storage right now. My dream house has a giant storage area to hold all the fun serving pieces I can find!

  • Mendy Dinsmore

    I love that tree. The story behind it makes it even more special. I have a turkey serving platter from my aunt. I do not use it, I’m scared I’ll break it.

    • http://www.RobynsOnlineWorld.com Robyn Wright

      My grandma had a great turkey platter too – I’m not sure what happened to that. You should totally use it though! Share with the newer members of the family how special it is and keep the tradition going!

  • Heather Garcia

    Would love this at one of our church gatherings, the kids would love something fun like this for them!!

  • http://brokenwon.blogspot.com Wendy T

    That is cute..and it’s my kind of Christmas tree.

    I don’t have any special serving pieces, but I do have a leaf tray, the kind you’d put on your dresser to drop your change, etc. It was my Grandma’s and I’m so glad to have it- 35 years after she passed!

  • Christy Graham Brayboy

    Love this tree, haven’t seen one in year’s. Now I can make my own…

  • http://www.fotomacro.etsy.com angie

    This made me smile and laugh. I so remember these. We never had one in my family, but some of my friend’s families had them and I always thought they were so cute!! We don’t have anything out of the ordinary like this now either.

  • Gretchen reichenberg Lucas

    i really love this idea,it get the item out in the open for all to see. Thank you!

  • Melissa VandenBerg

    Love this…how fun. My grandpa used to make wooden sucker trees….they have always been a hit at family parties!

    bergiejrfhe at yahoo dot com

  • ellen

    I have seen these- they are plastic and they do break easily. It seems my Aunt had one and I know at various points I have seen them in auction boxes- if I run across another, I have to remember you want one! The gumdrops look nice on it!

  • Gaye M

    Oh gosh, that brings back memories. My mother had a gumdrop tree just like that and it was only brought out at Christmas time for red and green gumdrops. I think that was back in the ’50s.

  • Michelle S

    Hahaha that’s totally unique, BUT a good way to serve food if people are germ-phobes (the kind that are one touch from another person and it’s toxic would love this).

  • Carla

    I had one of these in a gold color. It came in 2 pieces, plus the base. But I lost a piece. I used to put gumdrops on it and use it for a centerpiece at Easter. Wish I could find one at a yard sale…

  • Donna

    I love the tree! My daughters love doing arts and crafts and my eldest works with children. I know that they would have a blast with this

  • Michelle Tucker

    OMG, we used to have one of these. Thanks for the memories. It sat in the middle of our table every year…of course we’d have most of the candy gone in a day or so, much to my mothers chagrin.
    michelletucker at baconnation dot net

  • Tanya B

    This is such a cute idea

  • http://www.realposhmom.com Jennifer Buxton

    My grandmother had a tree like this & she passed it down to me. Unfortunately I don’t have one to give as now I have given it to my brother…like you, it is a cherished piece of memories.

  • Amy Orvin

    What a cute centerpiece! I love gumdrops.

  • Kerry G

    Super cute and I love your idea for the Halloween tree. You could even draw little faces on the gumdrops to make them look like ghosts. Will be looking for one of these myself.

  • Susan Smith

    That tree is cute plus we can eat the gumdrops when Christmas is over.

  • niki glanden

    sweet love your page

  • Jeanette H.

    How cute! What a great, festive idea. Will have to save this for next year…lol.

  • Ben Sorrells

    It would be cute to use this for mini cupcakes or donut holes.

  • suzy

    my dog would find a way to eat that no matter how high it would be, but its so cute!

  • Ashley

    That is adorable. We don’t have anything festive like that for the holidays but I wish we did

  • Linda

    Very creative tree!

  • Sylvia

    I love that tree! It is very cute! I tried making a Hershey kiss tree several years ago with Styrofoam and toothpicks; it fell apart. :)

  • Rachel V

    My mom used to have one & used the gumdrops on it too. They break pretty easily. Surprised an updated version hasn’t been produced.

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