Totally Fascinating Facts You Never Knew About The Christmas Tree

For much of history, evergreen pine trees were seen as pagan symbols that marked and celebrated the Winter Solstice.

As far back as the 1600s, the Catholic Church condemned the use of trees in connection with Christmas, worried that the trees themselves were getting more attention than "the holy word." Even 200 years later, American Puritan leaders persisted in slandering the use of trees, railing against their "pagan mockery."

Nonetheless, the tradition continued as congregants deeply enjoyed having the evergreen in their homes during the winter months — and eventually the Church relented.

Though it seems strange, in 17th- and 18th-century Germany, Christmas trees were actually hung from the ceiling.

Though the tradition was mostly popular among the lower classes, this display allowed for a nicely decorated tree to be admired — but prevented small children from stealing the decorations themselves.

In addition to logistics, the upside-down tree also held a spiritual meaning: pointing the root toward heaven was supposed to imbue the tree with divine powers.

During the turn of the century, the only way to have a fresh Christmas tree was by chopping one down yourself.

Not only that, you had to find your way to an actual evergreen forest and then lug said tree all the way back home via carriage or early-model car.

That is, until one entrepreneurial logger from the Catskill Mountains loaded a ton of trees from his land and transported them down to NYC's famous holiday market.

The trees were a huge success, and they gave birth to the tradition of Christmas tree farms and the markets seen in city centers each year.

The Christmas tree was originally popularized by England’s Prince Albert, who's credited with bringing the Christmas tree from his native Germany to the royal family.

After taking a photo of their newfound tradition with his wife, Queen Victoria, the image was then edited by Godey's Lady's Book's Sarah Joseph Hale.

In an attempt to create a more appealing, universal photo, Sarah edited out some of the image's specifics: Albert's mustache, the Queen's sash.

When this photo was published in America, the royal family resembled your average middle-class, American, Christmas celebration.

Suddenly, families around America were clamoring to create their own Christmas tree tradition.

Some of the earliest American Christmas trees were extra-large. In fact, The New York Times describes a “monster Christmas tree despoiled of its pendent treasures of candy, dolls, and toys of all descriptions."

Though the trees themselves weren't laden with extremely heavy gifts, like a new bike, the tradition was to put as many goodies inside the tree as possible.

During the late 1800s, popular gifts often included fruit, cakes, and candy that children would pluck directly from the tree and pop into their mouths.

Over the years, the Rockefeller firs have come from Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, even Canada. But actually getting the trees to NYC is an epic journey.

After it's chopped down, most trees are driven through the streets of Manhattan on a custom-built trailer, while some are floated on a barge down the Hudson River.

But one spruce was so large that it had to be flown into NYC on the world's largest cargo plane.

This giant Christmas tree hails from Rio de Janeiro and was recently certified by the Guinness World Records — coming in at a whopping 278 feet.

Folks from around the globe flock to the famous fir, which contains 3.1 million micro bulbs, 2,150 strobe effects, and 100 LED reflectors, enabling the record-beating tree to change color and display different designs.

There are evergreen trees and pines, but the Fraser fir is widely considered to be the most gorgeous Christmas tree.

Oregon and North Carolina produce the majority of these trees, with 5 million harvested annually. That's over 100 million dollars' worth of trees per season.

Tree farming is an extremely lucrative industry and a huge boon to the economy. Across the nation, there are over 15,000 Christmas tree farms that employ roughly 100,000 folks per year.

According to the National Christmas Tree Association, it can take as many as 15 years to grow a tree of typical height (six/seven feet), though the average growing time is seven years.

For every Christmas tree harvested, one to three seedlings are planted the following spring.

Additionally, there are close to 350 million Christmas trees currently growing on evergreen farms in the U.S. alone, all planted by farmers.

Like all plants, conifers remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow and produce oxygen as a byproduct. In fact, one acre of Christmas trees produces enough oxygen for 18 people.

In addition, their basic production characteristics make the trees beneficial to the environment, people and animals. With a broad network of roots holding the soil, and a continuous cover of grass between rows, the trees prevent surface erosion by water and wind — keeping the land as fertile as possible.

Christmas trees have been a large and interesting part of yearly holiday traditions for centuries.

Which of these fascinating pieces of tree history surprised you most? Let us know in the comments.

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