An artificial Christmas tree is an artificial pine or fir tree manufactured for the specific purpose of use as a

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

. The earliest artificial Christmas trees were wooden, tree-shaped pyramids or feather trees, both developed by Germans. Most modern trees are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) but many other types of trees have been and are available, including

aluminum Christmas trees An aluminum Christmas tree is a type of artificial Christmas tree that was popular in the United States from 1958 until about the mid-1960s. As its name suggests, the tree is made of aluminum, featuring foil needles and illumination from below vi ...

and fiber-optic illuminated Christmas trees.

History

The first artificial

s were developed in Germany during the 19th century, though earlier examples exist. These "trees" were made using goose

feathers Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...

that were dyed green.Forbes, Bruce David. ''Christmas: A Candid History'',
Google Books
, University of California Press, 2007, pp. 121–22, () The German feather trees were one response by Germans to continued

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

in Germany. Developed in the 1880s, the feather trees became increasingly popular during the early part of the 20th century.John, J. ''A Christmas Compendium'',
Google Books
, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005, p. 129, (). The German feather trees eventually made their way to the United States where they became rather popular as well.Silverthorne, Elizabeth. ''Christmas in Texas'',
Google Books
, Texas A&M University Press, 1994, p. 62, (). In fact, the use of natural Christmas trees in the United States was pre-dated by a type of artificial tree.Perkins, Broderick.

", ''Realty Times'', December 12, 2003, accessed December 15, 2008. These first trees were wooden, tree-shaped pyramids lit by candles, they were developed in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 1 ...

, by the German

Moravian Church The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...

in 1747.Christmas Tree Traditions
", ''University of Illinois Extension'', accessed December 15, 2008.

Types of artificial trees

Feathers

Feather Christmas trees, originally of German origin, became popular in the United States as well. Feather trees were initially made of green-dyed goose feathers which were attached to wire branches. These wire branches were then wrapped around a central

dowel A dowel is a cylindrical rod, usually made of wood, plastic, or metal. In its original manufactured form, a dowel is called a ''dowel rod''. Dowel rods are often cut into short lengths called dowel pins. Dowels are commonly used as structural ...

which acted as the trunk Feather Christmas trees ranged widely in size, from a small tree to a large tree sold in department stores during the 1920s. Often, the tree branches were tipped with artificial red berries which acted as candle holders. The branches were widely spaced to keep the candles from starting a fire, which allowed ample space for ornamentation. Other benefits touted for feather trees included the elimination of a trip to the tree lot and the lack of shed needles.Marling, Karal Ann. ''Merry Christmas!: Celebrating America's Greatest Holiday'',
Google Books
, Harvard University Press, 2000, pp. 58–62, (). In 1930 a British-based Addis Housewares Company created the first artificial Christmas tree made from

brush A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped durin ...

bristles.Cole, Peter, et al. ''Christmas Trees: Fun and Festive Ideas'',
Google Books
, Chronicle Books, 2002, p. 23, (). The trees were made from the same animal-hair bristles used in toilet brushes, save they were dyed green.

Aluminum

Tannenbaum_Geschenke_und_der_Mond_2007_by-RaBoe

Aluminum trees were manufactured in the United States, first in Chicago in 1958, and later in

Manitowoc, Wisconsin Manitowoc () is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2020 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,626, with over ...

where the majority of the trees were produced.Andrews, Candice Gaukel. ''Great Wisconsin Winter Weekends'',
Google Books
, Big Earth Publishing, 2006, p. 178, () Aluminum trees were manufactured into the 1970s,Fortin, Cassandra A.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (1958)
, ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

'', October 26, 2008, accessed December 14, 2008. and had their height of popularity from their inception until about 1965.A dark family secret: the artificial Christmas tree
, ''

Oakland Tribune The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the declin ...

'', December 24, 2006, via findarticles.com, accessed December 14, 2008.Pinto, Barbara.
Town Leads Aluminum Christmas Tree Revival
, ''

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...

'', December 18, 2005, accessed December 14, 2008. That year ''

A Charlie Brown Christmas ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' is a 1965 animated television special. It is the first TV special based on the comic strip ''Peanuts'', by Charles M. Schulz. Produced by Lee Mendelson and directed by Bill Melendez, the program made its debut on C ...

'' aired for the first time, and its negative portrayal of aluminum Christmas trees is credited for a subsequent decline in sales.

Plastic

Most artificial Christmas trees are made from PVC plastic. PVC trees are fire-retardant but not fire-resistant. Many of these trees are made in China; from January to August 2005 $69 million worth of artificial trees from China entered the United States. The prelit tree has become increasingly popular in the United States and Germany as well, due to added ease of not having to string one's own lights. Types of lights popular today include incandescent lights (also referred to as "mini lights") and LED lights (where each bulb has its own socket, preventing the whole string from going out should one bulb burn out). Prelit trees are subject to the mandatory regulations for the safety standards of electrical products and have to meet safety standards approved by a nationally recognized testing laboratory such as UL (

Underwriters Labs The UL enterprise is a global safety science company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, composed of three organizations, UL Research Institutes, UL Standards & Engagement and UL Solutions. Established in 1894, the UL enterprise was founded a ...

), CSA (

Canadian Standards Association The CSA Group (formerly the Canadian Standards Association; CSA) is a standards organization which develops standards in 57 areas. CSA publishes standards in print and electronic form, and provides training and advisory services. CSA is composed ...

), ETL (Intertek), GS, BS and RoHS. Artificial Christmas trees may be "frosted" or "glittered" and designed for outdoor uses with UV additives.Choices Abound for PVC Christmas Trees this Season
", ''Vinyl News Service'' (The Vinyl Institute), December 3, 2008, accessed December 15, 2008. Plastic trees can come in a variety of different colors, and one type came with built-in speakers and an

MP3 player A portable media player (PMP) (also including the related digital audio player (DAP)) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. The data is typically stored ...

. Companies such as Mountain King, Barcana and the National Tree Company have marketed increasingly realistic PVC trees made to closely resemble

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three v ...

Ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

or other common types of Christmas trees. During the 1990s trees not only began to appear more realistic but some also smelled more realistic. Many of these more modern models come with pre-strung lights and hinged branches which simply had to be snapped into position. More recently, companies such as Balsam Hill have begun to use (PE) plastic molded from natural tree branches in an effort to create more realistic artificial Christmas trees.

Other

Trends in artificial tree consumption have constantly evolved and a number of designer and other types of artificial Christmas trees have appeared on the market.

Fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

trees come in two major varieties, one resembles a traditional Christmas tree. The other type of fiber optic Christmas tree is one where the entire tree is made of wispy fiber optic cable, a tree composed entirely of light.Neer, Katherine.
How Christmas Trees Work
", ''

howstuffworks.com HowStuffWorks is an American commercial infotainment website founded by professor and author Marshall Brain, to provide its target audience an insight into the way many things work. The site uses various media to explain complex concepts, termino ...

'', December 2006, accessed December 15, 2008. David Gutshall, of

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, Johnstown is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, whi ...

, received a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

for the latter type of fiber optic tree in 1998.Chartrand, Sabra.
Patents; A host of products offer new ways to make the holiday season just a little bit more inventive
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', December 14, 1998, accessed December 15, 2008. One

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

-based company offers "holographic mylar" trees in many hues. Tree-shaped objects made from such materials as cardboard,"Table-top Christmas Tree",
Google Books
, ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...

'' January 1937, p. 117. glass,Glass Christmas Tree
", ''Diablo Glass School'', one-day course listing, accessed December 16, 2008. ceramic or other materials can be found in use as tabletop decorations. Upside-down artificial Christmas trees were originally introduced as a marketing gimmick; they allowed consumers to get closer to ornaments for sale in retail stores as well as opened up floor space for more products.Demand Grows for Upside Down Christmas Tree
, (Audio), ''

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

'', "

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

", November 9, 2005, accessed December 16, 2008. There were three varieties of upside-down trees, those bolted to the ceiling, stand alone trees with a base, and half-trees bolted to walls.Wilson, Craig.
Fake trees turn Christmas on its head
, ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', November 10, 2008, accessed December 16, 2008.

Culture

The tradition of putting up and decorating a Christmas tree is considered an iconic symbol of the holiday and has become a focal point in the homes of those who participate in Christmas festivities. It is a ritual activity that many have fond memories of and there is a nostalgia to having a real tree. However, there was a change from classic to modern and this change occurred when numerous other artifacts became plasticized. The culture of Christmas intersects with the culture of plastic, and so the artificial Christmas tree is born. Its popularity has grown since its invention, creating a new demand. "Reports cite a 34 percent drop in live tree sales the past decade, and a 30 percent rise last year alone in the sale of fake trees, to 9.6 million".Langer, Gary. (2004, December 23). Poll: Fake Christmas Trees Grow Popular. Retrieved from ABC News: abcnews.go.com/US/PollVault/print?id=355330 A demand for plastic starts with economics: how cheap plastic objects are compared to their non-plastic counterpart. "...uncertain economic times ensure more Americans will be looking at Christmas trees as an investment...a single artificial Christmas tree costs 70 percent less than the purchase of ten real Christmas trees over the same period of time".Palmer, J. B. (2008, December 3). Choices Abound for PVC Christmas Trees This Season. Retrieved from Vinyl News Service: All of this mixed with our convenience culture that enjoys the ease of new technologies, the artificial Christmas tree has blossomed into the holiday staple that it is today. In 1992, in the United States, about 46 percent of homes displaying Christmas trees displayed an artificial tree.Holiday trees in oversupply
" ''The New York Times'', November 30, 1992, accessed December 14, 2008. Twelve years later, a 2004

/''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' poll revealed that 58 percent of U.S. residents used an artificial tree instead of a natural tree.Langer, Gary.
Poll: Fake Christmas Trees Grow Popular
" ''ABC News'', December 23, 2004, accessed December 14, 2008. The real versus artificial tree debate has been popular in mass media through the early 21st century. The debate is a frequent topic of news articles during the Christmas holiday season.Garofoli, Joe.
O Christmas tree, are ye real or fake?
" ''San Francisco Chronicle'', via Scripps Howard News Service, December 16, 2005, accessed December 14, 2008 Early 21st century coverage of the debate focused on the decrease in natural Christmas tree sales, and rise in artificial tree sales over the late 1990s and early 2000s.Muñoz, Sara, Schaefer.

," ''The Wall Street Journal'', December 21, 2006, accessed December 14, 2008. The rise in popularity of artificial trees did not go unnoticed by the Christmas tree farming industry in the United States. In 2004, the U.S. Christmas tree industry hired the advertising agency Smith-Harroff to spearhead an ad campaign aimed at rejuvenating lagging sales of natural trees. A 1975 poll by

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

showed the reasons why consumers were beginning to prefer artificial over natural Christmas trees. The reasons included safety, one-time purchasing, and environmental responsibility but the biggest reason respondents gave pollsters was no messy needle clean up.

Production

Most artificial Christmas trees are manufactured in the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region (PRD; ; pt, Delta do Rio das Pérolas (DRP)) is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Ma ...

area in China. Between January and September 2011, over 79.7 million dollars worth of artificial Christmas trees were exported to the United States. The number of artificial Christmas trees imported to United States rose 139 million in the same nine-month period in 2012. Promoters of artificial trees highlight them as convenient, reusable, and of better quality than artificial trees of old. Supporters also note that some apartment buildings have banned natural trees because of fire concerns.Langer, Gary.
Poll: Fake Christmas Trees Grow Popular
, ''ABC News'', 23 December 2004, accessed March 29, 2009. There is also a robust market for artificial Christmas trees in Poland. An estimated 20 percent of all Christmas trees sold in Poland are artificial, and many are made domestically by individual families. One producer from Koziegłówki stated that every other house was an artificial tree producer. The trees are made from a special film which is imported mostly from China or

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. Entire families take part in production and the trees are sold throughout Poland with some being exported to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

.Pining Fir the Holidays
", ''

Warsaw Voice ''Warsaw Voice: Polish and Central European Review'' (shortly ''The Warsaw Voice'') is an English-language newspaper printed in Poland, concentrating on news about Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Centr ...

'', December 19, 2002, accessed March 29, 2009. The main artificial Christmas tree producer in Poland is in

Piła Piła (german: Schneidemühl) is a city in northwestern Poland and the capital of Piła County, situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Its population as of 2021 was 71,846, making it the third-largest city in the voivodeship after Poznań ...

Environmental issues

General issues

The debate about the environmental impact of artificial trees is ongoing. Generally, natural tree growers contend that artificial trees are more environmentally harmful than their natural counterpart.Hayes, Sharon Caskey.
Grower says real Christmas trees are better for environment than artificial ones
", ''Kingsport Times-News'' (

Kingsport, Tennessee Kingsport is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, Sullivan and Hawkins County, Tennessee, Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston Ri ...

), November 26, 2008, accessed December 14, 2008. On the other side of the debate, trade groups such as the American Christmas Tree Association, continue to refute that artificial trees are more harmful to the environment and maintain that the PVC used in

s has excellent recyclable properties.Facts on PVC Used in Artificial Christmas Trees
", ''American Christmas Tree Association'', official site, accessed December 15, 2008. One researcher at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

called the idea that artificial trees are eco-friendly an "urban myth".Artificial Christmas Trees Not Eco-Friendly
",

: ''Research and Extension News'', December 5, 2008, accessed December 15, 2008.

Lead contamination

In the past,

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

was often used as a stabilizer in PVC, but it is now prohibited by Chinese laws. Most PVC materials for making artificial Christmas trees are now using tin as a stabilizer. PVC was used in some of the 2007 recalled Chinese toys. A 2004 study found that while in general artificial trees pose little health risk from

lead contamination Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infer ...

, there do exist "worst-case scenarios" where major health risks to young children are present.Maas, Richard P. et al. ''Artificial Christmas trees: how real are the lead exposure risks?''
Abstract
via

PubMed PubMed is a free search engine accessing primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health maintai ...

) ''Journal of Environmental Health'', December 2004; 67(5): 20–4, 32, accessed December 15, 2008. The lead author of the 2004 study, Dr. Richard Maas, noted in 2005: "We found that if we leave one of these trees standing for a week, and we wipe under the tree we'll find large amounts of lead dust in many cases under the tree".Lead Found in Holiday Decorations
", '' WSBTV'' (

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

), November 29, 2005, accessed December 15, 2008. In 2007, U.S. Senator

Charles Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, hav ...

(D-NY) asked the Consumer Products Safety Commission to investigate lead levels in Chinese imported artificial trees. Lead-free artificial Christmas trees do exist; for example, one U.S.-based company uses

barium Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element. Th ...

instead of lead as a stabilizer in its PVC trees.Lovley, Erika.
Lawmakers target fake Christmas trees
, ''

The Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'', December 13, 2007, accessed December 15, 2008. A 2008

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon pro ...

report found that as the PVC in artificial Christmas trees aged it began to degrade. The report determined that of the 50 million artificial trees in the United States approximately 20 million were 9 or more years old, the point where dangerous lead contamination levels are reached.Levin, Ronnie, et al.
Lead Exposures in U.S. Children, 2008: Implications for Prevention
, ''Environmental Health Perspective'' October 2008; 116(10): 1285–1293, accessed December 15, 2008.

References

External links

American Christmas Tree Association
industry trade group {{Christmas trees Christmas in the United States