The Appeal of the Artificial Christmas Tree
By Joy J. Fine
The artificial Christmas tree first appeared in the United States in 1913 when it was advertised in the Sears Roebuck catalogue for the first time. They were known then as feather trees because they were made from goose feathers that had been dyed green. The idea seems to have first come from Germany and has its roots in the desire, even back then, to stop the destruction of their forests. They used sticks and put the feathers around them to make them appear like the branches of a tree. A bigger stick was used as the truck and the smaller ones were attached to it. Today those original little trees are considered collectibles. In 1930 these trees were changed in appearance when a toilet brush company began to produce them. They were made of twisted wire or animal hair that was dyed green. They were made easy to assemble by the company’s efforts to color code the pieces.
Now they are bought for many reasons. Saving our forests is often a common thought but allergies in the family, cleanliness, fire dangers and ease of care are also reasons that people consider this option at Christmas. Sometimes people that rent their homes, whether they are a house or apartment, are prohibited from putting up a real tree because the owner of the home is concerned about potential fire hazards. In this case an artificial Christmas tree is the perfect answer. Those people who have allergies to conifers and so cannot have a tree in their home find these trees the answer to making their homes have the Christmas spirit they crave. Another thing that makes them popular is their convenience. When it is time to put the tree up you do not need to go out in the cold, snow blowing in your face with a cold wind at your back, you simply go to your attic, garage or closet and bring out the tree. In minutes you are assembling it and shortly after the decorations are going up. You would still be in the cold picking out your tree by the time the artificial one is sitting in the corner of your living room, decorations in place, lights flashing on and off.
Currently the most common artificial tree is made of plastic. The branches are made different sizes to copy the way a real conifer looks. They even have brown needles mixed in with the green ones to make them look more realistic. The artificial tree gets more real looking all the time as tree manufactures strive to have the best one on the market. They come in different sizes and from full to slim so that they fit the needs of all families from those with large living rooms in their houses to the person with a small studio apartment.
There is never a shortage of new ideas for these artificial trees. A few years ago the upside-down tree was the new thing. It hangs from your ceiling and is designed to take up less space while giving more room for gifts underneath. There have also been singing Christmas trees and trees that blow fake snow on themselves. The snow is made from beads of Styrofoam and is blown onto the tree. The beads that fall are caught by a tray at the bottom and then blown back up on the tree. It makes you wonder what they will do next to make the artificial Christmas tree more appealing.
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