Quick Folklore & History Facts

Real Christmas Trees: Some Family Traditions Just Don't Fade Away

Celebrating the Holiday Season with a Real Christmas Tree is a long-standing tradition. Each year, 25 to 30 million American families celebrate the holiday season with a fresh, farm-grown Real Christmas Tree. Real Christmas Tree enthusiasts believe the aroma of a Real Christmas Tree is a strong reminder and symbol of life, family traditions, and the innocence of childhood itself.

Much like other crops provide food for the body, the aroma of a farm-grown Real Christmas Tree provides food for the soul.

Understanding the Legends and History

The use of evergreens as a symbol and celebration of life during Winter Solstice celebrations started in ancient Roman and Egyptian times. This practice evolved over the centuries to be incorporated in the celebration of Christmas in the Germanic areas of Europe.

The first recorded display of a decorated Real Christmas Tree was in 1510, in Riga, Latvia. Christmas Trees were decorated with fruit, cookies and candy that would later be shared among family members as gifts after the Holiday Season was over.

By the 1700's, the tradition of celebrating the holidays with a Real Christmas Tree was widely used throughout Europe. Decorations included lace, ribbon, tin, food items and lit candles. Hessian mercenaries brought the tradition to the United States during the Revolutionary War.

In 1804, U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Dearborn, in Chicago, used evergreen trees in their barracks for Christmas. The popularity of the Real Christmas Tree then proliferated. In 1856, Franklin Pierce, our 14th President, brought the Real Christmas Tree tradition to the White House.

Since 1966, members of the National Christmas Tree Association have presented a beautiful, fresh Real Christmas Tree to the President and First Family. This tree is displayed each year in the Blue Room of the White House...no doubt filling the room with the aroma of life, family traditions and childhood innocence shared by so many others during the holidays.

Modern Traditions

Now in the 21st Century, the tradition of families choosing their centerpiece of holiday celebrations has become generational, inheritable and transferable. Many tree farmers and retailers across America witness this phenomena first-hand each year.

"When a young couple marries and buys a Real Christmas Tree for their first holiday together in their own home, it makes for an interesting discussion," says Diana Carpenter, member of NCTA and owner of Peacock Road Tree Farm in Laingsburg, MI. "They can spend all day discussing how ‘my family always chose a tree’, and ‘what my family always did on this day’ and so many other traditions that they must blend together into new ones."

Lately, many in the Real Christmas Tree business report that people are showing a tendency toward more family involvement and tradition and many customers are returning to a real tree.

QUICK FOLKLORE & HISTORY FACTS

• 1510, the first decorated Real Christmas Tree is in Riga, Latvia. Early Christmas Trees are decorated with paper, fruits and sweets.

• 1531, the first retail Real Christmas Tree lots are started in German cities.

• By the 1600's, Christmas Trees are decorated with ribbon, tin shapes, small books and lace as well as food.

• 18th century, the first recorded Real Christmas Tree decorated with lit candles.

• 1777, the tradition of the Real Christmas Tree is brought to Colonial America by Hessian troops fighting for Britain in the Revolution War.

• 1804, U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Dearborn (now Chicago) bring evergreen trees into their barracks at Christmas.

• 1842, Charles Minnegrode introduces the custom of a decorated Real Christmas Tree in Williamsburg, Va.

• 1851, Mark Carr opens a retail Real Christmas Tree lot in New York City, the first in the United States.

• 1856, Franklin Pierce, our 14th President, brings the first Real Christmas Tree into the White House.

• 1923, President Calvin Coolidge starts the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony now held every year on the White house lawn.

• 1966, members of the National Christmas Tree Association start the tradition of presenting a Real Christmas Tree each year to the President and First Family.