Although German settlers had brought Christmas trees to America in the early 1800s, and records point to the existence of Christmas trees in Colonial German homes as early as 1747, Americans were slow to accept the Christmas tree. Probably due to the Puritans’ fierce invective against all things pagan, it took a British monarch to start the Christmas tree on the road to its incredible popularity today. In 1846, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, her German consort, were sketched standing around a Christmas tree with their children. Victoria was popular amongst her subjects, unlike the previous monarch William IV, and whatever happened at the court immediately became fashionable amongst her subjects, and not just in Britain. In fashion-conscious East Coast U.S. society, whatever was adopted in Britain as vogue became adopted soon after. The Christmas tree had finally arrived in America.
In the late 19th century/early 20th century, Christmas trees were decorated with handmade wooden ornaments. Britons liked their trees to be table-top height, while Americans liked their trees to be floor-to-ceiling monuments. German-Americans continued their earlier tradition of decorating their trees with nuts, marzipan cookies and nuts. Dyed popcorn strung up with berries and nuts made its first appearance soon afterward.
Decorations signify an intention to beautify one’s surroundings. There are all kinds of decorations available for Christmas trees today, made of all sorts of materials. Round balls, wooden Santa carvings, even miniature Christmas trees to hang on Christmas trees! But all these details fail to get at the real heart of the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree is a symbol of the goodwill of Christmas, a celebration of “Peace on earth to men of goodwill”. Ultimately the Christmas tree is not about the decorations, or even about the pine tree itself. The tree is about gathering around and celebrating the time of Christmas, a time so sacred that during one Christmas Eve in World War I French, German and English soldiers ceased hostilities to celebrate it together.
With the coming of electricity, it became possible to light Christmas trees for days or even weeks. President Calvin Coolidge introduced the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House lawn in 1923. Since they have been introduced Christmas trees have been an indispensable symbol of Christmas all over the world. Let’s keep it that way.
The pine tree is a staple of American society. It is one of the few kinds of trees to be specifically grown on farms for commercial use. Of all the uses for pine trees, Christmas trees are doubtlessly the most famous. Pine trees are evergreen trees with long, needle-shaped leaves. An evergreen tree means that the tree has leaves year-round. Unlike deciduous trees, evergreen trees lose their needles on an individual basis throughout the tree’s life.
They are planted all over North America, particularly in northern parts of the United States. Some pine trees do not grow to be full-blown trees, often they simply turn out to be shrubs. The crown, or top, of the tree is a cone-like shape when young, but rounds out or even flattens out as the tree ages.
The distinctive characteristic of a pine tree is the cone, which the pine tree uses to reproduce. Pine cones first emerge as green-colored scaly buds from the ends of pine branches. As the cones mature, they dry out and open. Each ‘petal’ of the cone is actually a seed that is either picked up by birds or by the wind. The seeds will hopefully be spread out so the pine trees spread.
Usually for cones to mature takes about two to three years, depending on the particular species of the tree. Also, the cone petals may be sealed with resin for long periods of time even after the cone has reached maturity. These cones will only be opened with the resin is dried by fire; this is why forest fires help generate new flora growth, especially if the fires are controlled as they burn.
A pine tree’s bark is basically the skin of the tree. It protects the soft inner wood of the tree from animals or marauding air-borne particles. The bark grows along with the tree and often can help to identify the tree’s age to specialists. Bark on older trees is thicker and ‘gnarlier’ than bark on younger trees. This is because a tree grows a new ‘skin’ of bark over the old skin every year. This is what produces growth rings when you look at a cross-section of a tree’s trunk. Usually the most growth happens in the spring due to the fact that there is more moisture in the spring. During the summer growth begins to taper off, and by the fall season growth has almost stopped entirely due to the lack of moisture.
Pine trees are versatile plants capable of living for many hundreds of years. The wood is used in everything from bookshelves to tables to chairs, and then some. Pine furniture, pine bedroom furniture, pine living room furniture, pine office furniture, etc. can be a valuable addition to your home.
