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Christmas Tree Facts

Tall ones, short ones, real ones or artificial, Christmas Trees come in all sizes and shapes.

Christians the world over celebrate December 25th as Christ’s birthday and the Christmas tree has long been a part of that celebration.   Decorations for the tree can range from homemade strands of berries and popcorn to elaborate glass ornaments costing hundreds of dollars each.  So how did this "tree tradition" get started in the first place?

The first Christmas tree actually started with Martin Luther in 1510.  He was walking through a forest late one night when he was mesmerized by the moonlight glistening on the branches of a fir tree.  He wanted to share this sight with his children so he chopped down a tree, took it home and wired some candles to the branches.

Because there was no mass communication, it took a while for the tradition to travel around the world.  The Puritans forbade the celebration of Christmas other than with Church services, so Christmas trees were not used in this puritanical society.  In fact it wasn’t until 1846 when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were illustrated in the London News standing next to a Christmas tree that this trend really caught on. Because Victoria was so popular with her subjects, not only in Britain but with the American Society as well, it wasn’t long until the Christmas tree was incorporated into the celebration and gained mass appeal.

In the late 1800’s, glass ornaments, electric lights and metal hooks for safer hanging of decorations were introduced.  The Christmas tree had become a status symbol.  The more affluent the family, the larger the tree and the more elaborately it was decorated.   

Fast forward to the 1950’s and the silver aluminum tree was born.  Who can forget the marvel of the “Silver Pine Tree” with it’s revolving light source and colored  windows which allowed the tree to shine in different shades as it revolved under the tree.  Needless to say, no other decorations were needed on this "modern" interpretation.  This tree paved the wave for future artifical trees.

Artificial trees today offer such good likenesses, that they are hard to detect at first glance. The convenience of keeping the tree up longer, safety issues, money savings and not having to clean up pine needles has made the artificial option a popular choice. They even come pre-strung with miniature lights.  And no, you don’t have the smell of pine, but a pine scented candle or strategic placement of a couple of cast-off branches from the Christmas tree lot, may just fool your senses into believing the tree is real. And after all, believing is what the season is all about anyway…

 Christmas Tree Facts: (real trees)
• Christmas trees have been sold commercially in the US since about 1850
• The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition began in 1933
• Christmas trees usually take 6-8 years to mature
• Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states including Hawaii and Alaska
• 100,000 people are employed in the Christmas tree industry