An artificial Christmas tree is a pine and spruce made for special use as a Christmas tree. The earliest artificial Christmas trees are wood, tree-shaped pyramids or feather trees, both developed by Germans. Most modern trees are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) but many other tree species have been and available, including the aluminum Christmas tree and fiber optic fiber Christmas tree.
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Histori
The first artificial Christmas tree was developed in Germany during the 19th century, although there have been several earlier examples. These "trees" are made using goose-green feathers. German fur trees are a response by Germany to continue deforestation in Germany. Developed in the 1880s, feather trees became increasingly popular in the early 20th century. The German feathered trees eventually headed to the United States where they became rather popular as well. In fact, the use of natural Christmas trees in the United States has been exposed by artificial tree species. The first trees are wood, a candle-shaped tree-lined pyramid, they were developed in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, by the German Moravian Church in 1747.
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Artificial tree type
Fur
The Feather Christmas tree, originally from Germany, became popular in the United States as well. The feathered trees were originally made of green goose feathers attached to the twigs of wire. These wire branches were then wrapped around a central nail that acted as a trunk of varying Christmas Feather trees, from small 2-inch trees to large trees sold in department stores in the 1920s. Often, tree branches are tipped with red berries that act as candle holders. Its branches are widely placed to keep the candle from lighting a fire, allowing plenty of room for ornamentation. Other benefits that are touted for feather trees include the elimination of trips to many trees and the lack of needle shed.
Bristle brush
In 1930, the British-based Addis Housewares Company created the first artificial Christmas tree made from bristles. The company uses the same machine used to produce toilet brushes. The trees are made of the same animal hairs that are used in brushes, unless they are colored green. For a time, brush trees are very popular, with large quantities exported from England, where trees are also becoming popular. This brush tree offers advantages compared to previous feather trees. They can receive heavier ornamentation, and it is hardly flammable.
Aluminum
Aluminum Christmas tree is a kind of artificial tree made mostly from aluminum. The trees were produced in the United States, first in Chicago in 1958, and later in Manitowoc, Wisconsin where the majority of the trees were produced. The aluminum trees were made in the 1970s, and had a high popularity from their beginnings until around 1965. That year A Charlie Brown Christmas aired for the first time, and a negative portrayal of the aluminum Christmas tree was credited for a drop in sales next.
Plastic
Most artificial Christmas trees are made of PVC plastic. PVC tree fireproof but not fire resistant. Many of these trees are made in China; from January to August 2005, $ 69 million artificial trees from China entered the United States.
Prelude trees have become increasingly popular in the United States and Germany as well, as it adds to the convenience of not having to install its own lights. The types of lights that are popular today include incandescent bulbs (also called "mini lights") and LED lights (where each bulb has its own socket, preventing the whole rope from coming out if one bulb is burned out). Prelit trees are subject to mandatory regulations for electrical product safety standards and must meet safety standards approved by nationally recognized testing laboratories such as UL (Underwriters Labs), CSA (Canadian Standards Association), ETL (Intertek), GS, BS and RoHS. Artificial Christmas trees may be "frozen" or "shimmering" and are designed for outdoor use with UV additives. Plastic trees can come in many different colors, and one type comes with built-in speakers and an MP3 player.
Companies such as Mountain King, Barcana and National Tree Company have marketed an increasingly realistic PVC tree made to resemble Douglas firs, Ponderosa pines or other Christmas tree species. During the 1990s, trees not only began to look more realistic but some also smelled more realistic. Many of these more modern models come with used lights and hinged branches that must be pegged into position. Recently, companies like Balsam Hill have begun using plastic (PE) formed from natural tree branches in an effort to create a more realistic artificial Christmas tree. However, not all artificial Christmas tree makers are fighting for naturalism. Companies like Treetopia have received attention to market trees with non-traditional colors and styles, such as rainbow-colored trees or upside-down trees.
More
Trends in artificial tree consumption continue to evolve and a number of designers and other types of artificial Christmas trees have appeared on the market. The fiber-optic tree comes in two main varieties, one resembling a traditional Christmas tree. Another type of fiber optic natal tree is a tree where the whole tree is made of fiber optic cable, a tree consisting entirely of light. David Gutshall, from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, received a patent for the last fiber-optic tree species in 1998.
One Dallas-based company offers a "holographic mylar" tree in many colors. Tree-shaped objects made of materials such as cardboard, glass, ceramics, or other materials can be found used as table decorations. Reversed artificial Christmas trees were originally introduced as marketing ruses; they allow consumers to get closer to the ornaments for sale at retail stores as well as open floor space for more products. There are three kinds of upside-down trees, which are rushing to the ceiling, standing alone trees with bases, and half a tree bolted to the wall.
Culture
The tradition of installing and decorating a Christmas tree is nothing new. It is a symbol of holiday icons and has become a focal point in the homes of those who participate in Christmas celebrations. It is a ritual activity that many have fond memories and there is nostalgia having an original tree. However, there are changes from classical to modern and this change occurs when many other artifacts become plasticized. The Christmas culture intersects with plastic culture, and an artificial Christmas tree was born. Its popularity has grown since its discovery, creating new demand. "The report mentions a 34 percent decline in sales of live trees in the past decade, and a 30 percent increase last year alone in the sale of counterfeit trees, to 9.6 million." The demand for plastics starts with the economy: how cheap plastic objects are compared to their non-plastic counterparts. "... an uncertain economic time ensures more Americans will see the Christmas tree as an investment... an artificial Christmas tree costs 70 percent less than buying ten real Christmas trees over the same time period." All of this is blended with our comfort culture that enjoys the convenience of new technology, an artificial Christmas tree has evolved into a holiday item as it is today.
In 1992, in the United States, about 46 percent of homes displaying Christmas trees featured artificial trees. Twelve years later, a poll by ABC News/ Washington Post in 2004 revealed that 58 percent of Americans use artificial trees instead of natural trees. Real-versus artificial tree debates have been popular in the mass media until the beginning of the 21st century. Debate is often the topic of news articles during the Christmas holiday season. The beginning of the 21st century coverage of the debate focused on the decline in sales of natural Christmas trees, and increased sales of artificial trees during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The rise in popularity of artificial trees has not escaped the attention of the Christmas tree farming industry in the United States. In 2004, the US Christmas tree industry hired the Smith-Harroff advertising agency to pioneer an advertising campaign aimed at rejuvenating the sale of lagging natural trees. A 1975 poll by Michigan State University shows the reason why consumers are starting to prefer artificial Christmas trees. The reasons include security, one-off purchase, and environmental responsibility but the biggest reason respondents give polls is that there is no messy needle cleaning.
Production
Most artificial Christmas trees are produced in the Pearl River Delta region of China. Between January and September 2011, more than 79.7 million dollars of artificial Christmas trees were exported to the United States. The number of artificial Christmas trees imported into the United States increased by 139 million in the same nine-month period in 2012. The artificial tree promoters highlight it as a comfortable, reusable, and more qualified tree than the old artificial tree. Supporters also noted that some apartment buildings have banned natural trees due to fire problems.
There is also a strong market for artificial Christmas trees in Poland. It is estimated that 20 percent of all Christmas trees sold in Poland are made, and many are made domestically by each family. One of the producers from Kozieg? ÃÆ'³wki states that every other house is an artificial tree producer. Trees are made from special films that are mostly imported from China or Thailand. The whole family took part in the production and the trees were sold all over Poland with some exported to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The main artificial Christmas tree producer in Poland is in Pi?
Environmental issues
Known issues
The debate about the environmental impact of artificial trees is ongoing. Generally, natural tree growers argue that artificial trees are more harmful to the environment than their natural counterparts. On the other side of the debate, trade groups like the American Christmas Tree Association, continue to argue that artificial trees are more harmful to the environment and maintain that the PVCs used on Christmas trees have excellent recyclable properties. A researcher at Kansas State University calls the idea that environmentally friendly artificial trees are "urban myths".
Lead contamination
In the past, lead was often used as a stabilizer in PVC, but is now banned by Chinese law. Most PVC materials for making an artificial Christmas tree now use tin as a stabilizer. PVC was used in some of China's toys that were recalled in 2007. A 2004 study found that while artificial trees generally pose few health risks from lead contamination, there is a "worst case scenario" where major health risks for young people are present. The lead author of the 2004 study, Dr. Richard Maas, noted in 2005: "We found that if we left one of these trees for a week, and we wiped under a tree, we would find a lot of lead dust in many cases under a tree."
In 2007, US Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) asked the Consumer Product Safety Commission to investigate the level of lead in Chinese imported trees. Tin-free Christmas trees do exist; for example, a US based company uses barium instead of leading as a stabilizer in its PVC tree. A 2008 US Environmental Protection Agency report found that PVC on an artificial Christmas tree that aged above began to decline. The report stipulates that of the 50 million artificial trees in the United States, about 20 million are 9 years or older, the point at which dangerous levels of lead contamination is achieved.
See also
- "Christmas Tree-made Tree Attack"
- Christmas tree production
- Sri Lankan Christmas tree, the highest artificial Christmas tree
References
Further reading
- Wohleber, Curt. "Fake Fir", American Heritage , Winter 2007, accessed December 18, 2008.
External links
- American Christmas Tree Association, industrial trading group
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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