When you think of Christmas, you might picture dazzling lights, snowy scenes, and Santa Claus, but the ultimate sign of the season is the Christmas tree. The tradition of finding a tree and decorating it has been around since devout German Christians introduced it in the 16th century.

But behind the glow and cheer these holiday trees bring, an age-old war continues to be fought over real trees versus fake ones. While the argument might just bring some lighthearted debate among competitive family members, entire industries are impacted by which one you decide to buy.

Origins of the First Christmas Trees

In the United States, Christmas trees weren’t always used in celebrations the way they have been in modern times. While popular in Germany in the 1500s, the tradition wasn’t recognized globally until around 1850. For Americans, Christmas trees and other decorations were initially viewed largely as pagan symbols.

It wasn’t until England’s Illustrated London News released a family portrait of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their children around a Christmas tree that the tradition became more widely practiced. 

Up until this point, fake trees were no threat to the real tree industry; they had not entered the market until about 1880 when deforestation slashed the number of trees in Germany. When they did finally get on the scene, they simply were not a visual match for a real tree.

The first artificial Christmas trees were made with dyed goose feathers and attached to wired branches. The trees were bare and not very festive in comparison to the real thing but as in many other industries, innovation happened.

“What really helped the trees take off, I think, is when people went to a different needle technology that looked more realistic. At Balsam Hill, we call it true needle, and that’s polyethylene molded branches. And they look much more like a real tree,” Mac Harman, founder and CEO of Balsam Hill, told Cheddar.

Between the early 1900s and the 1980s, a number of different materials, like aluminum or plastic, were used to create better quality needles. One company even tried using toilet brush bristles. Plastic won the battle and continues to be used in today’s artificial trees. 

Once artificial trees could match up with the real thing in terms of appearance and families could just store them in an attic or basement, it was game on for the fake tree industry, and by the early 2000s, sales were skyrocketing.

Artificial Trees: Convenience vs. Pollution

While people may enjoy the convenience of an artificial tree, it turns out they aren’t so great for the environment. In fact, artificial trees have a carbon footprint that emits more than twice the amount of greenhouse gases that a real tree would.

“They’re made out of PVC and metals. They’re shipped here and after five-plus years, they end up in our landfills and are not biodegradable like real trees,” Doug Hundley, spokesman for the National Christmas Tree Association told Cheddar.

The environment isn’t the only thing hurting with the rise of the artificial Christmas tree. Farmers have also been taking losses over the years. 

“Every kid was taught in school, 'Don’t waste paper, save a tree,' so they just sort of learn that message subliminally, possibly that their cutting trees was bad. Well, they don’t realize that Christmas trees are a crop grown by farmers specifically for this purpose and [are a] 100 percent recyclable and renewable, sustainable resource,” George Richardson, tree farmer, told Cheddar.

As the world seeks out renewable resources to use in our everyday lives, the damage that's been done to the environment also makes the real Christmas tree industry’s uphill battle that much steeper. Climate change is shifting weather patterns and parts of the United States and Australia are dealing with extreme heat and dry weather that can spark wildfires that wipe out entire farms.

Perhaps an even more dire threat to the industry is that its cultivators are not grooming replacements as they age out of the business. A 2019 survey among Indiana farmers by the University of Bloomington found that 62 percent of Christmas tree farmers had no plan to hand the business over to a replacement.

The average age of a farmer was 64-years-old.

Millennials to the Rescue

All is not lost for the real Christmas tree industry, however. Corners of the U.S. market are thriving as sales remain steady in places like North Carolina and Oregon. With families spending the holidays apart this year, people might be more inclined to buy real trees as a way to bring some additional cheer to the season. 

“[The millennial generation] is marrying and having children now. So they're wanting to have these traditions of real trees, real food, real everything. So we’re glad to be part of that and glad to offer that to the young people,” Hundley said.

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The Rise and Fall of Real Christmas Trees
Christmas trees weren’t always a staple of the holiday. But today, Christmas wouldn’t be complete without a decked-out tree — real or artificial. Cheddar explains how the two competing traditions came about.
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