I’ve always had fake. There was something so special about getting out the tree each year, knowing it had shared every Christmas with my family since my parents were first married.
I think it made it through about 24 Christmases, but it was getting shaky, and rather sparse looking, so it was retired and replaced with a new tree a couple of years ago. Mum and I cried.
Best thing about fake trees - no allergic reaction, no watering or other maintenence, no mess, no fuss, same tree every year becomes part of the family, no going out to find a tree each year, designed for purpose - so easy to decorate, never misshapen or too big or too small.
I think of Christmas trees like I think of women’s breasts. Sure the fake ones look nice, but nothing beats the feel of real. It doesn’t hurt the forests too much either. In my area, most trees are grown on a tree farm and not taken straight out of the woods.
Much as I prefer real ones, Mrs. Rastahomie insisted on a fake one the first Christmas we were married, and I’ve had no complaints since then. No pine needles to clean up, no bloodying up my hands and arms trying to position it, yada yada yada.
Each year our cat has taken a shine to it and tried climbing it, swiping at the ornaments with his paw, etc. However, a few shots of water with the squirt gun cure that problem.
Glad you brought that up. Most are. Most people want the “ideal” Christmas tree and pay nothing for it. Since you have a tough time finding those in nature, the best way is to do mass production and care for them.
Actually, I can’t remember the last time I saw trees for sale that came from the wilds.
We had the same experience as PunditLisa. We bought our tree early in December during a Santa Ana wind condition (happens freqently in December - hot, fast wind that parches everything in its path and sets your nerves on edge). The trees had probably been cut in October or even earlier, for all I know, and had been standing around in the hot wind drying to a crisp.
I had a hard time decorating the tree without causing it to shed all its needles on the spot, but it had cost so much that I persevered. Then I spent the entire Christmas season terrified of my tree. I was afraid to turn the lights on, afraid to leave them on for longer that a few minutes at a time, afraid the dang tree would just spontaneously combust; not to mention the daily vacuuming of needles that somehow went everywhere, and that I was still finding years later, woven into the carpet.
Immediately after Christmas we took advantage of a post-Christmas fake tree sale, and I have never been sorry, except that I do miss the smell. (Although my Santa Ana tree from hell was so dry that it had no odor anyway.)
Fake. Always had a fake one - a really nice one. Obviously fake but not PLASTICLY fake, if you know what I mean. Nobody was going to think it was a Douglas fir, but it was an attractive tree. And it was always fun to drag it out and assemble it - the whole familiy could help, the youngest children take the branches out of the box and sort them by their color codes, the middle ones help sort and fluff the branches out, the oldest put them on the base.
I’m probably allergic to the real ones, and I wouldn’t want to have to go out and wander around in the cold to pick one out then haul it home and worry about it falling off the roof and then get it home and set it up and worry about falling needles and fire hazards. Just not worth it to me.
Fake-a-roonie. You can leave it up for six weeks without a fire department permit and no one sneezes. Besides, all my Looney Tunes ornaments and Marvin the Martian tree toppers would just look crass on real greenery.
Had eight and nine foot real ones all the years I was growing up. Now we have a four foot fake one. Just too damn lazy to go out and get a real one anymore. Another plus is that now you can buy fake ones with built-in fiber optic lighting; really pretty!
Chalk this one up in the things FallenAngel does for love category…
I HATE the smell of evergreens. All of them. Even the species that are less “fragrant”. It’s one of those smells that just automatically wrinkles my nose and makes me want to say, “PLAH!”
Mrs. Angel loves the smell. Revels in it. Gets a big smile on her face every time she catches a whiff.
Our first four years together, we used her traditional family fake tree three years and put a santa hat on my big chalk Buddha the other.
Every year for the last seven, though, it’s been real trees. Gack. Still, it makes her happy, it’s only for one month +/- out of the year, and that makes it worth it.
Except for the fact that she’s short and can’t carry it out to the garbage by herself on Jan 2…
After many years of real trees, and suffering every year with itchy eyes and runny noses throughout the holiday season, I finally convinced my parents to get a fake tree. (Well, actually just my mom–we decorated it and fooled my stepdad–he thought it was real until he noticed there was no smell and inspected it very closely.) I can’t believe how much more enjoyable Christmas is now.
Here is my short list of advantages of artificial trees:
[ul]
no messy needles to clean up
no watering
fireproof!
easy to put up
inexpensive, one-time purchase
good for people allergic to natural trees (like me)
some look completely real
easier to decorate (no weak branches)
no water for pets to drink up
less chance of introducing bugs, molds and other creepy crawlies into the home
you can keep it up as long as you want
[/ul]
Grew up with real getting & decorating about 1 1/2-2 weeks before.
Hubby grew up with fake - decorate the day after Thanskgiving.
Went with fake when living in apartment - now have two of them. I miss the smell (may get a wreath this year) but they are a lot cleaner & easier to decorate.
Of course, we put so many ornaments on the tree it’s hard to tell WHAT it is…
When my sister and I were little kids, we had real trees. Then one year our house caught on fire. (Some electric candles in the window shorted out and fired up the ancient draperies.)
After that, my parents got paranoid about a dried-out real tree catching fire from the huge hot fat old Christmas bulb lights we used, so it was fake trees ever since.
I myself am the proud owner of one of those nasty tacky spindly silver tinsel trees. I got it and all of the decorations that go on it at an Amvets Thrift Store for seven bucks about ten years ago. Man, I love that tree.
Fake all the way. A few years back, spent a good amount on a very good one to replace the $20 Charlie Brown model and from 3 feet, you can’t tell that it’s fake. Each branch has about 16 small branches all the way in, brown “dead” needles mixed throughout, etc. Can make it bushy or slim, and anywhere from 3 feet to 7 feet. I always have the exact tree I want, when I want it. I also take it down when I feel like it (one year, took the decorations off it and left it up until April… kinda like a big plant). No shedding, no mess, no work getting it in or out, fireproof, and like Politzania we Griswald the hell out of it so much that it doesn’t matter anymore even if it was a lame tree. Wife blows a little pine scented air freshener on it and apparently it’s just fine.
The only drawback was this year (today actually). Last year, the puppy kept messing with the bottom of it, so I sprinkled a bunch of cayenne powder on the lower branches. It kept the dog away great, but today when putting it together and fluffing it and stuff I learned that even after a year, cayenne can be some potent stuff.
Thanks for all the advice. A fake one would probably be a better idea, I forgot to mention we have 3 dogs and 2 cats. Maybe no tree would be a better idea. Maybe I’ll get one of those Norfolk pines…
…horrible metallic aluminum trees from the 1950’s? You had a projector with a color wheel that turned-so your glittery tree would be red/green/blue/yellow alternately! I really liked those-are they available today? Part of my 1950’s nostalgia!
buddy1, dude, check around at your local Salvation Army, Amvets, or downtown assorted thift stores. You may be able to find one used. I don’t know how much it’ll cost; mine cost me seven bucks ten years ago. I don’t know if they sell 'em new or not. They are great, ain’t they? Good luck!
as a tyke we had a fake tree. get this… a silver tinsel fake tree.
now that i am in charge of the tree, i’m with johnny la the tree in the pot. i’m also with delphica, the tree dies every year when i transplant it outside… hope like christmas springs eternal!!!