- Joined
- Nov 26, 2016
- Location
- central NC
The Christmas Tree Painting by Henry Mosler
It was a common practice to cut off the tip of a large fir tree to use as a Christmas tree. This practice prevented the tree from growing taller and made it useless as a timber tree. To protect the forests, statutes were enacted to limit people from having more than one tree. However, this problem found a happy solution with the introduction of the "goose feather" feather tree. Goose feathers were plentiful and these feather trees began to be produced as an alternative to cutting a live tree.
The goose feather tree became the first artificial Victorian Christmas tree. Metal wire or sticks were covered with goose, turkey, ostrich or swan feathers. The feather sticks were drilled into a larger one to resemble the branches on a tree and the feathers were often dyed green to imitate pine needles. The trees were made to resemble the locally growing white pines of the German forestland thus the wide spaces between their branches, short "needles," and composition "berries" on the end of every branch tip.
When the Germans immigrated to the United States, they took their beloved portable feather tree with them to use in their new homes. These German immigrants introduced the Victorian feather Christmas tree into the U.S., but the practice of using artificial trees really did not take off in America until Sears Roebuck first advertised artificial trees for sale in their 1913 catalogs. These artificial trees usually had berries and candleholders at the branch-tips and a round white base. They ranged in size from 55 inches to 17 inches tall. By the late teens, Japan followed suit and manufactured feather trees for the U.S. market.
For many folks cut, live trees are still the cherished way to make the holidays come alive. What is your tradition? Do you enjoy having a real or an artificial tree?