O Christmas Tree

Here are ten facts you may not know about Christmas trees.

1.  It takes 7 to 10 years for a Christmas tree to mature.

2.  California, Oregon, Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina are the top Christmas tree producing states.

3.  Scotch Pine, Douglas Fir, Noble Fir, Fraser Fir and White Pine are the bestselling evergreens.

4.  While Franklin Pierce was the first President to have a Christmas tree in the White House (1856), Teddy Roosevelt banned the giant evergreen for environmental reasons (1901-1909).  Calvin Coolidge was the first president to decorate the national tree with Christmas lights (1923).

5.  The Christmas tree industry employs 100,000 people each year.

6.  The province of Nova Scotia gives the city of Boston a Christmas tree each year to say thank you for the help and supplies they gave them after the Halifax Explosion on December 6, 1917, in which hundreds of people were killed, wounded or blinded.

7.  Since 1947, Oslo, Norway has given a Christmas tree to the citizens of Westminster, England in appreciation of their help during World War II.

8.  New Christmas trees take a quart of water a day.

9.  An acre of evergreens contributes enough oxygen for 18 people to breathe.

10.  "The Christmas Ship" brought Chicagoans Christmas trees from Michigan between 1887 and 1933.

 

Image of Boston Common Christmas tree courtesy www.celebrateboston.com.