In my family growing up, my grandmother had a gumdrop tree. 

My mother had a gumdrop tree. 

And when I got married, I was given a gumdrop tree at a Christmas wedding shower. 

The first one I had was a chintzy see-through plastic tree that was in a box that said "money tree".  I guess some people tied money to the branches as a way to give cash as a gift. 

But in our family, this small plastic object was pulled out each year and gumdrops were stuck to the ends of the branches.  The bottom tray held a bunch of gumdrops under the tree for the extras that would not fit on the branches. I loved my daily ritual in December of passing by the gumdrop tree that was placed in the hallway outside the kitchen and of snatching a few gumdrops.  (Note to anyone who tries this: You can always conceal your snacking by restocking the empty branches with gumdrops from the tray. Your real challenge comes when the tray is empty. Good luck on that one.) 

Here's the description I found on Amazon for these lovely holiday items: 

Gum Drop Tree

by Bandwagon

   52 customer reviews

• Adds a touch of sweetness to holiday décor
• Sure to delight children and adults alike
• Cheerful way to offer sweets to your guests
• Holds up to 75 gumdrops, gumdrops not included
• Plastic; 6 3/4 x 12 inches

Our first Christmas together (18 years ago!), I pulled out this beloved holiday item, and Jason looked at it and said, "What is that?!" with a very skeptical tone.  And I replied "It's a gumdrop tree." in a very matter-of-fact tone as if I were making an obvious statement like "people eat food."  How could he have not grown up with a gumdrop tree at his house?  He certainly must have been a deprived child.  We still laugh to this day about my comment, "It's a gumdrop tree." as if it were the craziest thing in the world that he had never heard of this. 

Thankfully, he puts up with me carrying on this goofy tradition and we've gotten it out without fail for the last 18 years. A few years ago, Target had these on sale in a fancy chrome model.  So, we upgraded from our plastic tree to the 2.0 silver version.  It's quite the table decoration. 

Anna and Taylor have embraced this tradition (and countless empty calories right along with me), and I love seeing them walk by the tree for a few gumdrops to keep the holiday sweet.