Christmas trees are an almost universal symbol of the holiday season. Many people have fond memories of decorating the Christmas trees of their youth, and want to pass the tradition on to their own children. Most of us, though, probably don’t know the history of the little fir tree we’ll be sharing the holidays with.
Christmas trees have been around since at least the 1400s. Martin Luther, the German priest who initiated the Protestant Reformation, was interested in Christmas trees as a way to draw attention away from the Catholic Nativity scene.
In the United States, several cities lay claim to being the first one to have a proper Christmas tree. Like the exact origin of the Christmas tree itself, this fact will probably never be known.
Today, most Christmas trees are raised on tree farms. They’re usually cut and shipped to stores and nurseries when they are 7 or 8 years old. Most of the trees are a type of Douglas fir, as they don’t shed too much when dried out and they tend to keep their scent the longest.
Of course, artificial Christmas trees have become very popular because never before have they been so real-looking. And, the fact that they don’t shed at all, and that every year a tree won’t have to be cut down just for being in someone’s living room for a month (or sometimes even a shorter amount of time!), it seems like more and more people are opting to “go artificial” when thinking about buying a Christmas tree.
Christmas tree, 10, 907, “skirt”
