Five Reasons NOT to take Down Your Christmas Tree Yet

Jeff Westover Christmas Decorating, Christmas News December 26, 2016December 26, 2016Christmas trees 8 Comments

We live on a busy Main Street in our little town. We have a large picture window at the front of our house. Each Thanksgiving weekend we look forward to the beacon of light our Christmas tree becomes along our bustling street. But as the week of Christmas passes and New Year’s brings the month of January our Christmas tree quickly falls out of fashion. One year we left the tree up so long in such a visible place the neighbors began to ask out of concern if we were not well. Nothing was wrong, of course. We just loveRead more

The First Christmas Tree in England

Jeff Westover Christmas Features, Christmas History November 26, 2015October 8, 2015Christmas history, Christmas trees, England 1 Comment

It was the British royal family’s German connections which led to the introduction of the Christmas tree custom in England. King George III’s wife, Queen Charlotte — who was of German descent– arranged for a great yew tree to be erected inside the Queen’s Lodge at Windsor on December 25 1800. A party of children of the local great-and-good was to take place that Christmas Day, and she had the tree decorated with toys, sweetmeats, fruits and nuts wrapped in wax paper. The whole thing was then lit with small candles. She kept a Christmas tree in the royal familyRead more

What Your Christmas Tree is Doing Right Now

Jeff Westover Christmas Features, Christmas Video October 12, 2015Christmas trees 0 Comment

A month from now folks will begin heading out into the woods — if they have a permit — to snag a Christmas tree from U.S. Forest lands. Those rare few will get a tree cheap, at least compared to the cost of an artificial tree from a store or a real tree grown and harvested from a tree farm. Artificial trees can be shopped for now — and real trees are being “processed”, even as folks enjoy the warmth of autumn. What is your tree doing right now? First, most are getting a hair cut: And in not tooRead more

A Different Kind of History of Christmas Trees

Jeff Westover Christmas Decorating, Christmas Features, Christmas History, Christmas Legends, Christmas Traditions, Christmas Video December 3, 2014December 2, 2014ancient religion, Christmas trees, eternal life, paganism 1 Comment

Pick a history resource out there and you will find a history of Christmas trees that dates back to pagan traditions of the Winter Solstice. The History Channel says Christmas trees took root from ancient use of evergreens as an end-of-year ritual of hope and eternal life. Wikipedia, to its credit, admits that is purely a “speculative theory”. But even Christian history resources cite pagan roots for the modern Christmas tree. Like most history of Christmas all that is too lazy and too easy. Christmas trees are actually a complex form of celebration. And they are much, much older thanRead more

Tips for Keeping Your Christmas Tree Fresh

Jeff Westover Christmas Decorating, Christmas Features November 16, 2014November 15, 2014Christmas trees 0 Comment

By Walt Frazer, California Tree Grower The great debate of Christmas trees will usually lead to what is “wrong” with a real or artificial tree. The hard truth of the matter is that no Christmas tree is imperfect. If there are problems with any kind of Christmas tree it comes from likely not knowing how to handle it. This is especially true of real trees. Growing up near and later working for a local tree grower I eventually learned to explain to people that they need to treat their new tree like a pet. If people abused their pets theRead more

Christmas Debate: Real or Artificial?

Jeff Westover Christmas Debates, Christmas Features, Christmas Opinion October 11, 2014Christmas trees 2 Comments

By Jeff Westover (Author bias: We use an artificial tree in our home every holiday season but we do so under protest. If I could, I would use a real tree. But our choice of tree has nothing to do with environmental consciousness. The simple fact is that we live in a desert and real trees can’t be home grown and never last five days if imported. In my heart, I’m a Christmas purist, which means I believe a season of peace and goodwill is only properly celebrated by hacking down a living tree and drying it out to theRead more