Artificial Christmas Trees

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The earliest artificial Christmas trees can be traced back to Germany around the 1800's. The trees were made from feathers, of geese, swans, turkey's and even ostriches. The feathers were removed and dyed green to look like traditional evergreen trees. In the early 1900's artificial tress took a leap forward and were made of other man made materials. Some companies even produced artificial novelty trees made form a variety of products. One of the most famous being the Addis brush company's tree made from toilet bowl brushes.

With the development of plastics in the 1950's and 1960's the next generation of artificial trees was born. The tree limbs were made of lightweight aluminum and had plastic needles to simulate pine needles. While many of the early trees look somewhat primitive by today's standards they were quite revolutionary at the time. Design and improvements in materials science have continued to produce more lifelike and natural looking trees. Today you can artificial trees with a host of other options such as built in lighting, motorized turntable bases and special effects lighting. While some trees are made less than 6 feet in height the vast majority of trees sold today are in the six to eight foot range, however specialty trees exist up to 14 feet in height. Another option is color, while natural green is the most popular color trees also come in white, blue, pink and several other colors.

While most people prefer a real Christmas tree there are some places where an artificial tree is more desirable, such as warm climates, where natural trees would dry and become a fire hazard quickly. Additionally some people prefer the convenience of natural trees, assembly, storage and cleanup.

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