Back When? 1910

The first record of trees being taken from the forest to be sold commercially dating back to 1851. There are two claims to the "first" genuine White House Christmas tree. President Franklin Pierce is said to have had the first indoor Christmas tree at the White House during the 1850s, and others say it was President Benjamin Harrison's who had the first indoor tree in 1888 or 1889. There is also a reference to President John Tyler hosting a children's party with gifts under a Christmas tree in the 1840s In 1853 Sears, Roebuck and Company began selling artificial Christmas trees. One with 33 limbs sold for $.50. One with 55 limbs cost $1.00. Late in the century, the first glass ornaments were introduced as Christmas tree decorations. In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt, believing Christmas tree harvesting was contributing to the destruction of National Forests, literally tried to outlaw them; actually banning Christmas trees from the White House. Fortunately, his sons, who didn’t agree with him, enlisted the help of Gifford Pinchot, generally regarded as the ‘father’ of American Conservation’, to convince the President that the practice was not harmful to the forests when trees were sustainably harvested. Pinchot recommended planting two trees for every one that was cut down. During the 1930s, our other President Roosevelt, Franklin D., popularized the concept of Christmas tree farming by growing Christmas trees at his Hyde Park, NY, estate. In 1966, the National Christmas Tree Association began the tradition of presenting a Christmas tree to the First Lady for display in the Blue Room of the White House. This Year’s White House Christmas Tree came from a tree farm in North Carolina. There are approximately 25-30 million eal Christmas Trees sold in the U.S. every year. There are close to 350 million real Christmas Trees currently growing on farms in the U.S.