The Christmas Tree

[imoldernu]

It has been years since we had a real Christmas tree, so when I saw this:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-the-best-day-to-buy-a-christmas-tree-2018-11-13
At $81.00 it was a bit of a shock, as I remember paying about $3 to $5.

Look around, I found that you can buy an artificial tree for up to about $1999.00, but that doesn't begin to compare with the Abu Dhabi Emirates Palace tree that is said to cost $11 million.
https://www.arabianbusiness.com/abu-dhabi-s-emirates-palace-regrets-11m-christmas-tree-368303.html

Gives new meaning to LBYM.

Take a look at Amazon... (prices high to low). Good deal with Amazon's guaranteed 30 day return policy..

Any stories you'd like to share?

 

[Rianne]

We don't have a Christmas tree this year. I don't get the warm fuzzy feeling from them anymore. When I saw the one at the market today, it looked thrown together quickly to fit the season. It feels forced. Maybe the news does not make me feel in the holiday spirit.

Call me scrooge, but I'm going to be nicer and pay attention to people. If they look sad, I'm going to reach out. I usually try to be that way: but this season has lost its luster with me. I just don't buy into it anymore.

 

[MichaelB]

At $81.00 it was a bit of a shock, as I remember paying about $3 to $5.

What were you driving at the time, a Model T Ford?

 

[TDub]

DW is a northerner and insists on buying the real deal from a tree farm every year. What is it with you northerners and your trees??

I secretly love it. The enthusiasm is contagious. Every year I feel like we’re the Griswolds.

 

[pb4uski]

DW is a northerner and insists on buying the real deal from a tree farm every year. What is it with you northerners and your trees??

I secretly love it. The enthusiasm is contagious. Every year I feel like we’re the Griswolds.

When the kids were young, getting the Christmas tree was a full afternoon "event". Drive to the local tree farm. Walk around with a saw and tape measure and select a tree.. preferably as close to 11' as possible since the peak of the great room was 12'... saw it down... drag it to the parking lot (or preferably have it dragged by the farm tractor to the parking lot)... put it on top of the car (or later and a lot easier, in the truck)... drive home without losing it off the top of the car (had at least one close call)... bring it in the house without wrecking much... then enjoy a well-deserved hot chocolate together. Elapsed time... 2-4 hours.

Today... take it out of the closet and put it up... elasped time.. 5 minutes!

I'll admit to missing the former though.

 

[Moemg]

We still get a live tree just a smaller tree than we used to get . They are usually around $40 or less at Home Depot . I am sure our tree days are numbered .

 

[braumeister]

DW still loves to have a tree in the living room (sigh), but she found one that only takes up half the usual floor space so it fits well in our condo. It's called a flatback tree and it goes right up against the wall. Still in great shape after five years and looks like it will last.

Here's an example:
Flatback tree

 

[Jerry1]

We shifted to an artificial tree early on in our married life. The thought of bringing a bug infested fire stick into the house didn’t appeal to me after our first year together. Plus, even at $40, an artificial tree has a good chance of paying for itself. They look so much better these days that I’m very satisfied with the look. BTW, a tree as full and as tall as our artificial tree wold be much more than $40. Probably closer to $100. DW is decorating ours now. I put it up Saturday.

If it were up to me, I’d have a couple small table top trees and call it good.

 

[pb4uski]

....It's called a flatback tree and it goes right up against the wall. ...

Your flatback tree reminded me of something. The 11' tree that we liked to get was against a ~6' wide wall that separated our living room from our kitchen. We were concerned with that tall a tree that the kids might get into it or the cats, so I ended up wiring it to the wall so that it wouldn't tip over.

 

[calico1597]

Funny story, years ago I went to a tree farm and bought a nice tree for $20. My dad was with me and being a cheapskate, told the salesman he only wanted a 3' tree. The guy wacked off the top 3' of a $20 tree and charged my dad $20!

 

[pb4uski]

That is funny!

 

[Bestwifeever]

We have a real Christmas tree if we’ll be home on Christmas—have never owned an artificial one. Finding a couple of needles hiding under a rug or behind a piece of furniture in July always makes me smile.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

We still buy a "real" tree every year and love it. As we travel we make a point to buy an ornament as a souvenir, so decorating the tree lets us review fond memories.

We like to get our tree around the end of the first week of December but it's getting harder to do that. A few years ago we went to Lowe's only to find they were completely sold out and had no plans to get any more. This year I saw some cut trees at Food Lion two weeks before Thanksgiving! How do they expect people to keep a tree fresh that's going to be six weeks old at New Year's?

As a former fire protection engineer, I would like to remind people to keep their natural trees watered:

 

[imoldernu]

What were you driving at the time, a Model T Ford?

Probably 1964... We were driving a 53 Nash Rambler or a 1954 Renault Dauphine. We're into classic cars.

 

[imoldernu]

I have a Christmas tree story...

My SIL and BIL were a classic pair. Way back into the '70's, we all lived on Cape Cod and lived a fun, creative life. Gordon had a great job selling school books to schools and had taken a year to sell a multi million dollar contract to the Boston School District. The then first lady mayor of Boston cancelled the sale and cost Gordon a $75K commission. They moved to PEI to start a new life, and bought some waterfront property for $13K... 12 acres of trees.

The story: Christmas Trees on the Cape

We weren't there, but , yeah... we were, when we heard about the great Christmas Tree Caper. Our version: They had just bought on PEI, and decided to make a killing selling Xmas trees on the main Route 28 on Cape Cod. Bought a truck... and up to the PEI property to cut trees and bring them back to sell. Stopped at the border because they had no permit to bring in trees to the US. Came back, bought trees in Maine and back to the rented land on Rte.28 to sell them... Gordon the salesman and Les in a Santa Suit waving the motorists in to buy. Toward the end, (as the story goes) only junk trees left, which had been thrown down the hill in the back. Leslie waves in a couple, with a young boy. As they look over the poor quality trees that are left, Gordon brings the little boy down the hill to show him the "poor little Christmas tree that wouldn't have a home for Christmas". Enuf said... Gordon... salesman extraordinaire.

 

[Red Badger]

Artificial triplets.
4' in the family room on top of the fish tank/coffee table (rich folks have aquariums, we have a fish tank).
2' in the den (now fashionably referred to as a man cave, but ours shall remain a den).
1' on the dining table.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I have a artificial tree that is a foot tall. We downsized the tree this year)

 

[youbet]

We like to keep our place uncluttered and uncomplicated to allow for spontaneity, travel, whatever, that geezers are entitled to. But we still love traditional stuff too...... So we do the traditional things with the kids and grandkids keeping our own home pretty much unburdened with holiday "stuff."

The kids live about a half hour from us and lead very busy lives with two working parents and 17, 16 and 13 year old youngin's. At Thanksgiving, DW and I do the grocery shopping and meal planning even using their kitchen to do prep work the day before (while they're all at work and school). For Christmas, we take the grandkids to buy a real tree, do the decorating with them and organize a lot of the activities and holiday meals.

At our house? A wreath on the door and a few strands of lights thrown out on the evergreens in front of the house. Simple........ And little to do to "de-holidaze" the place before we leave for Florida in mid-January. Yet, we're fully immersed in the whole family, holiday experience which we love.

It seems to be a win-win for us and the kids.

 

[jollystomper]

When our kids where in the scouts, their troop used to sell trees that is where we got them from. After that, we'd go and cut our Christmas tree for many years. There are 2 tree farms within 5 miles of where we live, and a couple of friends lived on properties that had many pine trees and would invite us to come by and cut one down if we wanted to.

Once the kids got too old for this and/or began moving out, Dw and I decided the two of us were too old for the cut your old tree process and bought an artificial tree that has stayed in good shape for close to 10 years. But we will still go to the nearby tree farms for an evening on walking through the trees, watching other families cut trees down, drink hot cocoa/cider, maybe by a few wreaths, and just enjoy the evening.

Now that I have extra time I am debating getting a couple of small artificial trees for the family room and my man cave area. We already have lots of extra ornaments and light strands accumulated over the years.

 

[DAYDREAMER]

We had to cut this Christmas tree down, planted by original house owner 50 years ago. Felt bad to cut it down, but was at risk of hitting the house during a storm.

Not sure why it shows up sideways in the reply, but if you select the pic, it shows up correct.

 

[gerntz]

Funny story, years ago I went to a tree farm and bought a nice tree for $20. My dad was with me and being a cheapskate, told the salesman he only wanted a 3' tree. The guy wacked off the top 3' of a $20 tree and charged my dad $20!

That would look weird with 2" dia. or so of cut off trunk showing at top, no point. How could you attach top star or whatever?

 

[CardsFan]

We always used to cut a tree. When DW was 8.9 months pregnant, we cut a tree for our first house. Three hours of walking in 6" of snow in central Mass., and still falling, dragged it back, got home set it up, decorated the next morning. Can't imagine why she went into labor the next day?

Finally went fully artificial about 10 years ago (used to have one of each). We love a real tree, but have gotten used to the "other kind".

 

[pb4uski]

The first couple years that we were married we bought small live evergreen trees... root ball and all. We used them as a Christmas tree and then planted them in the yard.

My back hurts just thinking about it.

 

[sengsational]

"The Christmas Tree Problem" is a classic Industrial Engineering problem. Given various demand curves, you need to define an optimal pricing strategy. Obviously, they're not going to be "on sale" when everyone wants one (demand is high).


My high school buddy's dad was as cheap as they come. He'd wait until Christmas eve, then go to the lot and pick up a scraggly dry tree, usually for free because everyone had left the tree lot. Then, they'd decorate it on Christmas eve (that part I like), but they kept the tree up until Easter! What a fire hazard!

 

[Cat-tirement]

I've always had a real tree, both as a kid and as an adult. I remember as a kid feeling sorry for other kids who only had an artificial tree. Even as an adult I've never minded the extra work involved.

I remember 30 years ago we were making a long distance move in December. We drove to the new house a few days before Christmas with a few suitcases and cats. Due to scheduling and weather, the moving truck wouldn't arrive with our stuff until the 28th. So we were basically camping out in an empty house. Among some odds and ends left in the garage, we found an empty 5 gallon paint bucket. We found one of the last small trees at a local tree lot, propped it up in the bucket, and hung a few last day sale decorations on it. So while we didn't have any furniture, we spent the nights before the movers came on the carpet in front of the fireplace and tree.


In some later years, some friends had a few acres and grew Christmas trees as a hobby. Every year they would invite a bunch of friends over for a pot luck brunch, and then the guests would get to cut a tree to take home. We miss that since moving away.