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Real or Artificial Christmas Tree?

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Ben:
Poll for those that celebrate the holiday and have a tree. I just read an article on the big uptick of people getting real trees this Christmas, due (like everything else the MSM reports on) to the covid . Apparently as of last year, 80% of Americans now use artificial trees. That was a shocking number to me. I might have pegged it at 50% tops before reading the article.

Of course I'm old, and culture could have something to do with it. Where my dad grew up in Germany, they were surrounded by pine forests, so they would take the horse and buggy outside town to cut one down in the forest. Not something they could do when they moved to America, but we had real trees when I was a kid, with the trip of misadventures to the "A Christmas Story" tree lot. It would have just been considered unheard of to get an artificial tree.

I've always felt there was something "wrong" with an artificial tree. Of course this is strictly opinion. My sister grew up in the same house as me but has an artificial tree. She does it for ease, others might do it for environmental reasons or whatever. To each their own. For me, the real tree is importantly nostalgic, and an annual reminder of family Christmas when I was young. Those are probably my most pleasant memories growing up.

Anyways, that 80% number still threw me for a loop, so I was curious which way APS members that celebrate Christmas go.

makattak:
I have always had an artificial tree. We have to replace about once a decade but its serves well. (Also after Christmas sales means the price is less than a real one.)

No pine needles, sap or any other concern and the children enjoy helping build the tree.

When it's time to replace, we will consider live, but artificial works great for us.

RocketMan:
We've always had real trees in my family, both when growing up and after I married.  Artificial trees just don't seem right.

zxcvbob:
We don't put up a tree now because it's just too much hassle and the house is too cluttered already.  Sometimes Mrs Z. puts up a tiny, skinny artificial tree (tabletop size) but that's so small it doesn't count :)  When Daughter was home, she and I would go to a Christmas tree farm about 20 or 30 miles away and cut our own tree.  There were much closer farms, but this one was owned by someone I knew from work, it was cheaper, and the drive out there was part of the ritual.

In very early January, I would cut up the dried-out tree and stuff it into the wood stove and burn it.  It burned like gasoline without the flashback, and flames would shoot out the top of the stovepipe.  I really wanted to burn it out in the front yard (safe enough because all the snow) but didn't think that would go over too well in town.

Fly320s:
I grew up with artificial trees, but now that I live in NH and there are plenty of tree farms around, we get a real tree.  We have a favorite tree farm we use and we make it a two or three hour adventure with the kids.  We cut it down and drag it back to the car and the kids get to have hot cider and a donut or other treat.  I usually get a photo of me with my "kill." 

The tree farm supplies a saw, but I might take my Milwaukee cordless sawzall this year just for fun.

We have a new puppy this year, so getting and decorating a tree might not be such a good idea.

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