My folks always had natural Christmas trees until Christmas, 1968 when the first artificial one arrived. That one lasted until 1978 when another artificial tree arrived. An all white one. It was beautiful, but after a few years, those red hot C-7 bulbs were beginning to leave scorch marks. So it was replaced in 1982 with one of those "Scotch Pine" trees. The ones that have those bottle brush bristles. I immediately hated it. It was really hard, if not impossible the hang ornaments right. So in 1985, we went back to natural trees. The look, aroma and the joy of going out to buy one and tying it to the roof of the wagon, well that was Christmas. And I was on a mission to find the right tree. I was the only one at Home Depot with a box cutter and gloves.
But now the downside of a real Christmas tree. Sometimes, no matter what you did, they did not last. I hated I could not put a tree up before say, December 14 and have it last until January 6 (Feast of the Epiphany). And a few times the tree was all put dried up before new years eve. Another annoyance were the branches being too weak to support ornaments and light strings. Then the horror of taking it down. All the scratches and cuts on my hands and arms from taking down the lights. Then wrapping it in plastic, and hauling it down to the designated disposal site. Not to mention the MESS of needles that it left behind.
Three years ago, I switched back to artificial, yes it can't compare to a real tree in terms of beauty and aroma, but no more messes, no more injuries and no more nervously wondering if the tree will last.
When they develop a GMO tree that stays fresh for months and has strong branches, then I might be swayed back into a natural Christmas tree.
