Fake Christmas Trees

[azhong]

Feel very entertained after reading the whole thread. I intended to find some information about Christmas as the festival is coming, and I'm a Chinese not really celebrating it. I visited wikipedia many times to understand each food you mentioned. And I think I'm quite full now.

In Taiwan, I think it's almost impossible to find a real Christmas tree, unless it's an alive tree decorated at its original place.

In my yard, I do have an evergreen shrub Polyscias fruticosa. I guess the previous family building this house and growing the tree might use it as a Christmas tree; they were Catholic. And I think the tree suits very well to be a Christmas tree, with a height limit as about two meters IME. But I never decorate it. I just prune it.

[linguoboy]

In Taiwan, I think it's almost impossible to find a real Christmas tree, unless it's an alive tree decorated atin its original place.

I guess the previous family who builtding this house and growingplanted the tree might have used it as a Christmas tree; they were Catholic. And I think the tree suitsis very well suited to be a Christmas tree, with a height limit asof about two meters IME. But I never decorate it. I just prune it.

[Linguaphile]

I do have a fake tree. My cats would destroy a real one and the needles make a mess (and can be harmful to cats). I'm glad to read from a post above that a fake tree should be used for 20 years to be as environmentally green as a real one, because I've used mine for that long (a bit longer actually). I know other people use fake trees because they are fireproof (though I've also never known anyone whose real tree caught fire), and also because they may want to put the tree up so early in the year that a real one might not still look nice at Christmas.
What I really miss about my fake tree is the real smell of balsam! I miss it so much that I actually use a scented spray around Christmas time so that my house still has the "real tree" smell.
As for the history of (real) Christmas trees, as far as I know Germany, Estonia and Latvia each claim to have had the very first one.

[Naava]

I do have a fake tree. My cats would destroy a real one and the needles make a mess (and can be harmful to cats).

My parents got a fake tree last year because of the needles... No matter how careful you were, there would be needles everywhere (mostly on your socks, stinging you when you least expected it). I have no idea where they hid themselves, but you could still find random needles on the floors even in midsummer! 🙄

Another reason they got a fake tree was that you never knew what the real one would look like because they tended to look better and smaller in nature than indoors. Once you got the tree inside, you'd realise there were gaps or the branches were much longer on one side or the top was bending against the ceiling... It was an unnecessary stress at a time that's already stressful by default.

The only reason my parents put off getting a fake tree so long was that the fake trees looked so fake. My family were used to trees that grow in forests here (something like this) but majority of the fake trees looked like this: too long needles made of paper-like plastic, too thick, too many branches, wrong shade of green etc. Any tree that looked real was always sold out in seconds and/or costed too much.

I know other people use fake trees because they are fireproof (though I've also never known anyone whose real tree caught fire)

Why would a real tree caught fire? Can't imagine how that'd happen, unless you were using real candles.

What I really miss about my fake tree is the real smell of balsam!

I miss the smell of a real spruce, too, but I'm not too sad about it because the real trees didn't always smell either or the scent disappeared quickly. There was also one year when a cat had peed on the tree while it was outside, and when we brought it in and it started to melt....... That's a smell I do not miss!

[Linguaphile]

The only reason my parents put off getting a fake tree so long was that the fake trees looked so fake. My family were used to trees that grow in forests here (something like this) but majority of the fake trees looked like this: too long needles made of paper-like plastic, too thick, too many branches, wrong shade of green etc. Any tree that looked real was always sold out in seconds and/or costed too much.

Yeah, I know what you mean about some of them looking too fake! But it helps that here there are many different kinds of trees used so among the real Christmas trees that we are used to seeing there are different shades of green, some with more branches than others, etc. so the fake ones seem to blend in better. For example, we used to get either noble fir or douglas fir for our Christmas trees, and they do have a lot of branches without much space in between, like your photo of the fake tree. I imagine the fake tree is designed with that type of real Christmas tree in mind, it's just not what grows in the forests near you, so it's not what a Christmas tree looks like to you. It actually looks okay to me, other than the weird needles on the trunk... what's up with that? And we'd cover the bottom of it with a tree skirt (whether it was a real tree or a fake one), so those "feet" on the fake one wouldn't be an issue.
But that trunk though.....

This discussion reminds me of the fake tree cell phone towers. We have some around here. They are massively taller than any of the real trees nearby and look ridiculous. (I don't know, maybe they do look better than a plain tower would look, but they certainly don't fool anyone into think they are actual trees.)

I know other people use fake trees because they are fireproof (though I've also never known anyone whose real tree caught fire)

Why would a real tree caught fire? Can't imagine how that'd happen, unless you were using real candles.

I have no idea, I imagine it's a fear left over when back when people used real candles, but I've had that fear engrained since I was little - I was always afraid the electric lights we put on the tree would cause the needles or branches to catch fire and set the whole thing aflame, but I don't think that ever happens, so I don't know where the fear came from. But I think the fire department also used to have announcements about being careful about it, so there must be something to it. (Maybe it has something to do with using extension cords for the electric lights? Or letting the electrical cord get near the water at the base of the tree? Because we do set the tree in a little container of water to keep it fresh.)
Again I've never heard of anyone's tree catching fire, but to this day it's still a worry in the back of my mind, wherever it came from.

I miss the smell of a real spruce, too, but I'm not too sad about it because the real trees didn't always smell either or the scent disappeared quickly. There was also one year when a cat had peed on the tree while it was outside, and when we brought it in and it started to melt....... That's a smell I do not miss!

Uff, that's a different kind of "Christmas tree smell", lol..... I used to pick needles off the tree (or collect some that had fallen off) and break them in half so that I could smell them when the scent in the room started to fade.

[azhong]

What I really miss about my fake tree is the real smell of balsam! I miss it so much that I actually use a scented spray around Christmas time so that my house still has the "real tree" smell.
..... I used to pick needles off the tree (or collect some that had fallen off) and break them in half so that I could smell them when the scent in the room started to fade.

I think Linguaphile hat sein Genie auf ein Gebiet, welches in der Geschichte keine Spuren hinterläßt: auf das flüchtige Reich der Gerüche. (a rewritten sentence from Das Parfum)

This discussion reminds me of the fake tree cell phone towers. We have some around here.

There are similar situations: the cement bamboo. Bamboo fences, houses, or bridges were common here in Taiwan before 1970s. A political reason in addition to Taiwan being poorer was that the government at the time didn't really intend to stay forever developing this small island, but just kept a dream of returning to their original home in China. The constructions made of bamboo, however, indeed have their unique aesthetics, which was then imitated later in designing cement bridges or garden fences. I didn't consider the design awkward until I heard different viewpoints basing on more comtemporary aesthetics.

Why would a real tree caught fire? Can't imagine how that'd happen, unless you were using real candles.

I do light safe candles, wax filled in glass containers, at times in winter, especially when a cold wave comes. I enjoy gazing at a flame swaying in the dark when the evening comes to be deep and almost silent. The candles give me warmness physically and peace mentally. But no, I don't sell matchboxes.

[Linguaphile]

I think Linguaphile hat sein Genie auf ein Gebiet, welches in der Geschichte keine Spuren hinterläßt: auf das flüchtige Reich der Gerüche. (a rewritten sentence from Das Parfum)

LOL, maybe! The smell of Christmas trees is really the only scent I can think of that makes me nostalgic like that though.

I do light safe candles, wax filled in glass containers, at times in winter, especially when a cold wave comes. I enjoy gazing at the swaying flame in the dark when the evening comes to be deep and almost silent. The candles give me warmness physically and peace mentally. But no, I don't sell matchboxes.

I do that sometimes too. The thing is that in the past (and even now, in some places), people put real candles on Christmas trees, like this:

For me, safe candles in a glass container, or in any kind of candle holder in a safe place, are still good - just not on the tree!

One of the pictures I posted above comes from this blog post, which has an interesting comparison of Christmas traditions from Switzerland and the UK, and seems very relevant to the discussion (apparently people have set their trees on fire with lightbulbs):

One tradition which is still widely practiced in Switzerland and Germany – and not at all, in the UK – is the habit of putting real candles in domestic Christmas trees. I love this – it feels so utterly ‘proper’ and festive to me! Yes, of course it’s a fire risk – but so is any lit candle or open fire. Our neighbours, in the small Swiss village where we lived, seemed to manage to avoid setting fire to their houses every year!
Hubby is very British about this – the whole idea seems to him like a huge fire hazard just waiting to burst into a ball of flames. I asked him to suggest a title for this post and his suggestion ‘Flaming Torch of Christmas Death!’ rather sums up his position on the issue! It’s not so black and white, to me – after all, people were managing to set fire to their living rooms with the small incandescent Christmas tree lightbulbs well into the 21st century.

[Naava]

Yeah, I know what you mean about some of them looking too fake! But it helps that here there are many different kinds of trees used so among the real Christmas trees that we are used to seeing there are different shades of green, some with more branches than others, etc. so the fake ones seem to blend in better.

I think most of us get an European spruce (which is the only spruce species that grows here), but there's also some Caucasian firs and black spruces available*. None of them look similar to the majority of fake trees though, so it's often easy to tell if the tree is real or not. Some people don't mind that, but my parents wanted to have a tree that would look like the one they've always had. It took quite long, but we did find one eventually!

* here's an example of trees one seller had to offer: black spruce, siberian fir, balsam fir, blue spruce, Serbian spruce, and European spruce (in this order).

This discussion reminds me of the fake tree cell phone towers. We have some around here. They are massively taller than any of the real trees nearby and look ridiculous. (I don't know, maybe they do look better than a plain tower would look, but they certainly don't fool anyone into think they are actual trees.)

There are similar situations, the cement bamboo.

I don't think I've ever seen anything like that. Our cell phone towers look like this:

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But I think the fire department also used to have announcements about being careful about it, so there must be something to it. (Maybe it has something to do with using extension cords for the electric lights? Or letting the electrical cord get near the water at the base of the tree? Because we do set the tree in a little container of water to keep it fresh.)

I doubt it's the water unless you use huge bowls or something. I mean, at least here they look like this:

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It's not easy to get any part of the lamps in there. I think the fires have come from malfunctioning lamps, like overheating or some weird extention cord innovations or stuff like that.

(By the way, I didn't know you use a skirt like that to hide the leg! It explains why the fake tree legs aren't that pretty. Funny!)

I do light safe candles, wax filled in glass containers, at times in winter, especially when a cold wave comes.

So do I. We also lit real candles for Christmas dinner. It looks very nice!

But like Linguaphile said, people used to put real candles on Christmas trees, and that was a real fire hazard. Not to mention how the most common and most traditional material for Finnish Christmas decorations was straw!

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I think there are still some who prefer real candles, but most people use electric ones nowadays.


Recently, the cords with dozens of small lamps have gained popularity. I've even seen some fake trees that come with them integrated into the branches. Imo that sounds like a good idea at first but what do you do when the lamps have burnt out?

[azhong]

But like Linguaphile said, people used to put real candles on Christmas trees, and that was a real fire hazard. Not to mention how the most common and most traditional material for Finnish Christmas decorations was straw!

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These works are really beautiful. They are hand-made, aren't they? I guess I saw Jesus (the one in red), and an angel (with wings). And stars in various shapes, I guess? Very delicate.
Is that animal a horse? Because Jesus was born in a stable, I guess. But why is the house with two "horn"s? Oops, that must be an elk then. XD -- Perhaps it's also not Jesus but Santa Claus, the one in red? XD XD
What plant is the straw from? It must be a common-seen plant in Finland. So, I guess it was, and perhaps still is now a pre-festival preparation for every family in Finland to tie these decorations for Christmas? It must be a good family activity and a method to kill the almost all-night days in December there, I guess? I value these decorations high that they are also environmentally protective.

In Taiwan, we plant rice, and a traditional application of the rice straws is to tie a straw man, for a practical purpose of scaring birds. But now straw men are rare to see.

[Linguaphile]

I doubt it's the water unless you use huge bowls or something. I mean, at least here they look like this:

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Oh but we do use huge bowls!


This is exactly what our Christmas tree stand looked like back when we had a real tree. When I was googling for the image, I found lots of pictures of this type; some were at online stores and marked as "best seller" (so I know people are still using them, even though they hide them under tree skirts so I can't know what they're using), but others were marked as "vintage 1950's tree stand" (so you see they've been around a while). Their advantages: you can easily see how much water is in them (if you look under the tree skirt) and it's simple to add more water. Their disadvantages: pets think they look like water bowls to drink from (and they do), and when you cover them with a tree skirt and put the extension cord under the tree skirt as well to hide it, the cord can easily get wet. But I do think you are right that the fire hazard is mainly from the bulbs or improperly-used extension cords, and people use cooler bulbs now (LEDS and such) and some lights are battery-operated, so it's less of a problem.

But like Linguaphile said, people used to put real candles on Christmas trees, and that was a real fire hazard. Not to mention how the most common and most traditional material for Finnish Christmas decorations was straw!

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Yay! I have some of the exact same straw ornaments for my tree! I have a goat, an angel, several snowflakes, a pinecone (is it meant to be a pinecone? they're in the top left corner of the box in your second photo) and a twisty thing (bottom right corner of the box in your second photo). If there were ever hearts or Santas/elves in my set though, they've been lost.
Mine are store-bought, but some people also make them and sell them at craft fairs, especially the angels and snowflakes. They are considered "Swedish", but a lot of Christmas decorations do tend to have Swedish (or assumed to be Swedish) influence here.

These works are really beautiful. They are hand-made, aren't they? I guess I saw Jesus (the one in red), and an angel (with wings). And stars in various shapes, I guess? Very delicate.
Is that animal a horse? Because Jesus was born in a stable, I guess. But why is the house with two "horn"s? Oops, that must be an elk then. XD -- Perhaps it's also not Jesus but Santa Claus, the one in red? XD XD
What plant is the straw from? It must be a common-seen plant in Finland.

The animal is a goat (see here), and the person is either Santa Claus or an elf. But let's wait to see what Naava says, too. Here, they are made from wheat straw. I've always assumed it's the same in northern Europe but I don't know that for sure.
Sometimes the "ear" of the wheat is incorporated into the ornament, like in the angel's skirt here:

[azhong]

Wow, that's really an artwork, the angel in a wheat skirt! Compared with such a design, those of Christmas tree cellphone towers and cement bamboos are really not so excellent then.

And thank you for introducing the ornaments, Linguaphile. You are really talented at correcting a person's errors politely. The thought came to my mind when I read the paragraph which stood as if you were just sharing the ornaments you have. Thinking about myself, when trying to provide my help/corrections, I am often too direct and make people embarrassesed. I really hope I also have your ability. A stereotype I received is that the Westerners speak more directly, but you are obviously not.

What do goats stand for in Christmas in Swedish culture, if there are meanings other than providing people milk and meat? Goats must very common for earlier Swedish people, I guess?

A story I once read in my childhood should be related to elves and it comes to my mind vaguely now. I guess it's a tale out of somewhere in Europe. An old, poor shoemaker has so many shoes to make with his wife. A flock of elves sneak in to help saw the shoes during the night. The shoemaker discovers it later and makes smaller shoes for these barefoot elves. The elves put on their gifts happily when they surprisingly saw them, danced hilariously before they leave, and never show up again from then on. The shoemaker and his wife are also happy when they hide in the darkness watching these elves having fun. It's a heartwarming story with a spirit suited to Christmas, isn't it?

[Naava]

I just wanted to add a comment to redirect anyone who is/has been reading our discussion here to the Random Culture Thread, where I've finally posted my reply.