My Day In Tinsel Town
When I decorate my Christmas tree, tinsel features heavily in my design. My tree glitters with it in red and gold. But I had never put much thought into where it comes from until I found out that the tinsel I pick up in the supermarket while doing my weekly shop, is most likely made right here in Britain.
Festive Productions started making tinsel in 1983 and is now one of the world’s biggest producers. Beginning with just two machines in a small 10,000 sq ft factory in Cwmbran in South Wales, it has grown to fill a 17-acre site in the town and now has 35 machines to keep people both here and around the world supplied with the sparkly stuff. Festive also has a one-stop Christmas shop at Cwmbran where you can buy artificial trees and every decoration you could ever want.
Tinsel trees lined up and ready to go
The demand for tinsel is so high that from May to November the factory works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to keep up. During this time, ‘The boxes are stacked all the way to the ceiling in every single warehouse,’ says Cassie Hedlund of Festive Productions. The company makes tinsel for all the major supermarkets, garden centres and shops, she says.
Why not import the stuff? The answer is that tinsel doesn’t travel too well. The raw material to make it comes from China: one shipping container of this equates to 16 containers of the finished product, so manufacture in the UK hugely reduces its carbon footprint. Also tinsel made here is transported in free-standing display units, which work better than stuffing it into boxes.
Jason Nigel Porter, the machine-shop supervisor who makes sure that all the machines are running well, has been with Festive almost since the beginning. ‘Our very first order, believe it or not, was for Boots,’ he says.
Clockwise from top left: Rolls of the metallised PVC (the raw material); a machine cuts and attaches the metallised PVC to a metal wire; Dye cutting machines are used to create special shapes; The nished tinsel, stored on display units
So how exactly is our tinsel made? He explains that metallised PVC (that’s the shiny bit), is passed through a series of cutters. Once cut, the PVC is attached to a metal wire (they used to use cotton but it tended to fray) by passing it through a tube into a spinning bowl. It’s this spinning action that joins the two elements. If you imagine a big candyfloss machine filled with tinsel instead of sugar you’ve pretty much got the right idea. The process takes from four and a half minutes to 17, depending on the design.
Jason says that they can make tinsel in thicknesses ranging from 25mm to 250mm and with up to eight colours on one piece of tinsel by using double-sided metallised PVC with a diff erent colour on each side. The tinsel is produced in 24-metre lengths. These are wound around a wheel calibrated so that one cut will yield 12 two-metre pieces. This is the most common length although the company also manufactures three-metre long tinsel. ‘We just came up with that [calibrated wheel] in-house because it’s easier,’ he explains. ‘Going back a long time ago they used to do it on benches measuring and cutting it by hand, but this is a much easier way and you get continuity of the cuts. Then each one is exactly the same length,’ he says.
Melonie wraps the finished tinsel around a calibrated wheel to prepare it for cutting
As well as making basic tinsel, the factory also has dyecutting machines that can cut the raw material into special shapes. Some of the tinsel being made features hearts, for instance. The factory takes orders from around the world and is able to cater for most tastes. What is the craziest design that’s been requested?
‘Kangaroo and bear tinsel for Australia. It was for a garden centre for their grand opening at Christmas and they wanted to give away pieces of tinsel,’ says Jason. ‘We also used real silver for a product once,’ he adds. Apart from these out-of-the-ordinary products, Jason tells me that red, gold and silver have always been the favourites.
Melonie admires the finished products and decorations
While I walk round the factory I wonder why it stays open round the clock at certain times of year instead of making enough throughout the year to allow them to keep pace with the demand.
Jason says the factory starts to make tinsel in January but the ‘big boys [the supermarkets, etc] don’t confirm till about May,’ and this is why production goes 24-hour from May onwards.
As the man who has spent 30 years in the tinsel trade, what tickles Jason’s fancy when it comes to the sparkly stuff? ‘I like the traditional ones, the pine greens, dark greens… just very traditional colours. And a real Christmas tree, it’s the smell of Christmas.
Rows of Christmas trees ready for sale at the Festive Productions onsite Christmas shop
The team manages to make about 12 million metres a year. Does Jason feel our taste for tinsel is growing?
‘Certainly in the past four to five years it has increased,’ he says. Indeed, demand is such that the factory’s 35 tinsel machines will soon be joined by three more from Germany.
Now that I have learnt all there is to know about tinsel, and even had a chance to have a go at making some, I can’t wait to get home to decorate my tree. And, of course, I’ll only be using the best of British.
Festive Productions started making tinsel in 1983 and is now one of the world’s biggest producers. Beginning with just two machines in a small 10,000 sq ft factory in Cwmbran in South Wales, it has grown to fill a 17-acre site in the town and now has 35 machines to keep people both here and around the world supplied with the sparkly stuff. Festive also has a one-stop Christmas shop at Cwmbran where you can buy artificial trees and every decoration you could ever want.
Tinsel trees lined up and ready to goThe demand for tinsel is so high that from May to November the factory works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to keep up. During this time, ‘The boxes are stacked all the way to the ceiling in every single warehouse,’ says Cassie Hedlund of Festive Productions. The company makes tinsel for all the major supermarkets, garden centres and shops, she says.
Why not import the stuff? The answer is that tinsel doesn’t travel too well. The raw material to make it comes from China: one shipping container of this equates to 16 containers of the finished product, so manufacture in the UK hugely reduces its carbon footprint. Also tinsel made here is transported in free-standing display units, which work better than stuffing it into boxes.
Jason Nigel Porter, the machine-shop supervisor who makes sure that all the machines are running well, has been with Festive almost since the beginning. ‘Our very first order, believe it or not, was for Boots,’ he says.
Clockwise from top left: Rolls of the metallised PVC (the raw material); a machine cuts and attaches the metallised PVC to a metal wire; Dye cutting machines are used to create special shapes; The nished tinsel, stored on display unitsSo how exactly is our tinsel made? He explains that metallised PVC (that’s the shiny bit), is passed through a series of cutters. Once cut, the PVC is attached to a metal wire (they used to use cotton but it tended to fray) by passing it through a tube into a spinning bowl. It’s this spinning action that joins the two elements. If you imagine a big candyfloss machine filled with tinsel instead of sugar you’ve pretty much got the right idea. The process takes from four and a half minutes to 17, depending on the design.
Jason says that they can make tinsel in thicknesses ranging from 25mm to 250mm and with up to eight colours on one piece of tinsel by using double-sided metallised PVC with a diff erent colour on each side. The tinsel is produced in 24-metre lengths. These are wound around a wheel calibrated so that one cut will yield 12 two-metre pieces. This is the most common length although the company also manufactures three-metre long tinsel. ‘We just came up with that [calibrated wheel] in-house because it’s easier,’ he explains. ‘Going back a long time ago they used to do it on benches measuring and cutting it by hand, but this is a much easier way and you get continuity of the cuts. Then each one is exactly the same length,’ he says.
Melonie wraps the finished tinsel around a calibrated wheel to prepare it for cuttingAs well as making basic tinsel, the factory also has dyecutting machines that can cut the raw material into special shapes. Some of the tinsel being made features hearts, for instance. The factory takes orders from around the world and is able to cater for most tastes. What is the craziest design that’s been requested?
‘Kangaroo and bear tinsel for Australia. It was for a garden centre for their grand opening at Christmas and they wanted to give away pieces of tinsel,’ says Jason. ‘We also used real silver for a product once,’ he adds. Apart from these out-of-the-ordinary products, Jason tells me that red, gold and silver have always been the favourites.
Melonie admires the finished products and decorationsWhile I walk round the factory I wonder why it stays open round the clock at certain times of year instead of making enough throughout the year to allow them to keep pace with the demand.
Jason says the factory starts to make tinsel in January but the ‘big boys [the supermarkets, etc] don’t confirm till about May,’ and this is why production goes 24-hour from May onwards.
As the man who has spent 30 years in the tinsel trade, what tickles Jason’s fancy when it comes to the sparkly stuff? ‘I like the traditional ones, the pine greens, dark greens… just very traditional colours. And a real Christmas tree, it’s the smell of Christmas.
Rows of Christmas trees ready for sale at the Festive Productions onsite Christmas shopThe team manages to make about 12 million metres a year. Does Jason feel our taste for tinsel is growing?
‘Certainly in the past four to five years it has increased,’ he says. Indeed, demand is such that the factory’s 35 tinsel machines will soon be joined by three more from Germany.
Now that I have learnt all there is to know about tinsel, and even had a chance to have a go at making some, I can’t wait to get home to decorate my tree. And, of course, I’ll only be using the best of British.