Fun Facts About Christmas Trees! The exciting history of the Christmas tree dates back at least two millennia. The tradition of decorating Christmas trees dates back to more than 2000 years ago. Not the Christians, but pagans were the first ones who used to decorate trees and worshipped them as a symbol of fertility. The Christmas tree and decoration expert, Deemar Cass, said, “Christians weren’t the first to admire and decorate Christmas trees.”
Fun Facts About Christmas Trees
The people of Latvia were the first ones who started decorating the trees during the 1500s and 1600s, and later this tradition was adopted by Germans. According to the researchers, the person who brought this tradition to England was Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, in the 1840s. With such a lengthy history of Christmas trees, several remarkable fun facts about Christmas trees come along with it.
CHRISTMAS TREES GROWN ON FARM
Do you know that 98% of the Christmas trees are grown on farms? According to research by the University of Illinois, only a tiny share of two percent of trees cut from the wild rest are grown at farms. The National Christmas Tree Association reported that around 350 million Christmas trees are grown on farms each year in the US.
CHRISTMAS TREES CAN HOST BUGS
Not all trees can withstand bugs and fungi, and they start to decay. But when you bring home a Christmas tree, you might be bringing several unwanted critters toting along unknowingly. According to Cass, “Christmas trees are a home to a lot of insects and microorganisms so once you bring one home, make sure you shake it thoroughly before bringing it inside.” a weird fact about Christmas trees, though!
FIRST-PERSON TO DECORATE CHRISTMAS TREE WITH LIGHTS
Martin Luther, a Protestant reformer of the sixteenth century, was the first person who added candles to the tree. As History.com tells us that, one day, while walking home at night, Martin Luther saw the brilliance of twinkling stars between the trees. To make his family visualize the same view as he did, he lit candles and wired them on the Christmas tree branches erected in the main room. This trend became popular in the whole world when fairy lights were introduced. Isn’t it interesting to learn such astonishing facts about Christmas trees?
ARTIFICIAL CHRISTMAS TREES
According to the University of Illinois, the first country that developed artificial Christmas trees was Germany. During the nineteenth century, goose feathers were dyed and attached to wire branches. These feather branches are then rolled around a rod that serves as a trunk. These artificial trees then became popular in the US and other countries.
TRADITION OF HANGING CHRISTMAS TREES UPSIDE DOWN
A lot of you would have never even heard of it. But yes, this weird fact about Christmas trees is actual. In eastern and central Europe, the tradition of hanging Christmas trees upside down from the ceiling is an old one. Cass says that no one knows why this tradition of hanging the trees upside down, and it’s confusing.
RECYCLING OF CHRISTMAS TREES
There are more than 4000 Christmas tree recycling programs. The trees are used to make soil erosion barriers and sand. You’ll be amazed to hear this interesting fact about Christmas trees that these trees are placed in ponds to give fish shelter.
TIME A TREE TAKES TO REACH TYPICAL HEIGHT
Not a year or two, a Christmas tree takes more than fifteen years to reach the typical height of 6-7 feet. The tree’s average time is seven years, but sometimes it takes only four years to reach this height.
CHRISTMAS TREE CHANDELIER
In Poland, Christmas trees are hung upside down from the ceiling like a chandelier.
SPIDER WEB DECORATION
The Ukrainians decorate their Christmas tree after the myth of a widow who had nothing to decorate the Christmas tree with. So, she cried, and the spiders heard her crying; they decorated the whole tree with their web. Some people believe that the web turned out to be gold and silver in the morning, while some say the decoration is made with some precious metal. Wow! An amazing fact about Christmas trees.
DECORATING CHERRY TREE INSTEAD OF CHRISTMAS TREES
Before the people decorated ferns and pines during the early days, some Europeans decorated hawthorn trees or cherry trees as Christmas trees. People decorated them because of the appeal of their blooming flowers. If you cut off a branch and set it in a pot, it will grow and bloom with flowers till Christmas.
WORLD’S LARGEST PARASITE
You must be thinking that how is this possible, right? But today, you will learn about the “Australian Christmas tree.” this isn’t a fir tree that you usually see but an aggressive hemi parasite. This is a poisonous tree that can stab a victim 360 feet far. This is the most significant parasite in the world that blooms yellow flowers but doesn’t look like a conifer. A creepy fact about the Christmas tree, though!
COST OF THE LARGEST ARTIFICIAL TREE
in Guinness World Records, the giant artificial tree made out of metal and wood was made by Sri-Lanka. The height of the tree was 236-foot that is recorded as the highest artificial tree. The tree’s cost was $80,000, and people thought it was a waste of money, and this money should have gone to charity. Well, they were right because, in 2017, the tree was demolished. After all, the folks realized that it looked more like a rocket than a fir tree.
SETTING UP YOUR TREE BEFORE CHRISTMAS EVE IS A BAD OMEN
German believes that if you set up your tree before Christmas Eve, it will bring bad luck. Germans believe that if you don’t want to bring this bad luck to you, you should erect it not before Christmas Eve.
CHRISTMAS TREE IN BLUE ROOM
Since 1961, the official Christmas tree of the White House has sat in the circular blue room. The first lady has been in charge of decorating and selecting the theme.
CHRISTMAS TREE MADE OUT OF SAND
A city in Florida makes its annual Christmas tree out of 700 tons of sand. West Palm
Beach, Florida, boasts that it makes the giant Christmas tree out of the sand.
I hope that you have enjoyed these extraordinary facts about Christmas trees.
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