National Christmas Tree Facts

National Christmas Tree Facts
Real Christmas trees are an all-American product, grown in all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.
There are about 15,000 Christmas tree growers in the U.S. and over 100,000 people who work either part or full time in the Christmas tree industry.
It can take as many as 15 years to grow a Christmas tree to maturity, but the average growing time for all species is 7 years.
The top Christmas tree producing states are Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and California.
Before the 1950s, most family Christmas trees came from the forest. Today over 98% are plantation grown.
There are about 1 million acres of growing Christmas trees.

Christmas Trees haven't always been a Christmas Tradition. No one really knows who put up the first Christmas tree, but some historians believe that even the Egyptians and Romans used some form of an evergreen to decorate their homes in late December. It is generally agreed that the first use of a tree as part of the Christian Christmas celebration was started over 400 years ago by the Germans.

The Christmas tree was brought to America by the Hessian mercenaries that were paid to fight for the British during the Revolutionary War. In 1804, soldiers stationed at a fort near Chicago hauled trees to their barracks during Christmas.

In 1842, a German named Charles Minnegerode introduced the custom of decorated Christmas trees in Williamsburg, Virginia homes. His tree was described as being "splendidly decorated" with strings of popcorn, nuts, and lighted candles.

By 1900, one in five American families decorated trees during Christmas and by 1930, the tree had become a nearly universal part of the American Christmas.