Aluminum Hardwares, Inc.
ALUMINUM HARDWARES, INC
7301 W. Harrison
Forest Park IL
EStebrook 8-6100
What do aluminum Christmas trees have to do with portable ice-skating rinks? Why, that would be William J. Garvey, president of Aluminum Hardwares, Inc!
As early as 1959, AHI was seeking sales reps for multicolor trees up to 10 feet in height. “The only 10 ft. multicolor trees on the market…Wonderful opportunity for men!”
Reynolds Aluminum was the supplier, proudly declared in an ad from 1960. The same ad boasts more than one showroom, with Christmas tree offerings in silver, gold, blue and green.
In addition to trees and “a complete line of holiday decorations,” AHI had aluminum product lines for toys, lawn and garden décor, decorative garden ponds, home improvement and security, and a most-intriguing product called the Freez-Fun, a portable aluminum ice-skating rink.
The Company
Aluminum Distributors, Inc. was the parent company to Aluminum Hardwares, Inc. and Aluminum Hardgoods, Inc. There was also Alumestate, a real estate holding company under the ADI umbrella. William J. Garvey served in many high-level capacities, including president of Aluminum Hardwares, president of Aluminum Hardgoods, VP of Alumestate, and finally president of ADI. In 1966, ADI owned the largest all-aluminum warehouse in the US, and was a distributor for Reynolds Aluminum.
Garvey was a 1941 graduate of Notre Dame and did graduate work at Princeton. Mere months after becoming president of ADI, he died tragically. While working under a car, it slipped from the blocks and his chest was crushed.
Trees by Aluminum Hardwares, Inc. pop up once in a blue moon. In fact, The Aluminum Forest is currently trying to find one spiffy example to represent Aluminum Hardwares in the collection. We have never seen any colored tree by AHI. The silver Northern Lights model is the only one to have shown up in past sales research, in heights of 7’, 6’, 4’, and 2’. There is also a miniature boxed set of tabletop Northern Lights trees.
Thanks to Forest Friend, Michael Ficken of Iowa, we have some photos of his tree offered in the gallery below. Thanks Michael!
