Same - Noble Fir. We used to cut our own but I'm getting lazy in my old age and just buy one. My wife and daughter love to decorate it.
When my son was growing up I'd buy a small live tree in a pot and decorate it for Christmas but haven't in a long time since he went off to college. The first live tree I got for Christmas here was a blue spruce and I planted in in the front yard after the holidays....it's was about 2 ft tall....it's probably 30 ft tall now.
That's funny - When I moved into my house 35 yrs ago I also bought a live Blue Spruce for a Christmas tree and planted it in front of my house. And yes - it is at least 30 ft tall today!
Growing up meant a day trudging through Thorton's Tree Farm looking for the perfect Noble Fir for the house, kids taking turns trying to saw it down before dad got in the dirt and grumbled as he cut it down. Then a trip around the farm on a few bays of hale and the tractor along with some lukewarm chocolate! Once home that meant it was time for mom and dad to fight as they tried to get the thing level and then over the lights going on as they never looked perfect. Real trees cost so much and are such a hassle but there is something about them that the fake ones just can't make up for. Being down in South Texas it's funny to see the real trees sitting outside Home Depot, Walmart or HEB with 'FRESH OREGON CHRISTMAS TREE' signs on them. We go for the fake variety with the pine scented air freshners, bought five years ago and already the wife is complaining that one of the branches is damaged and might have to get a new one next year, was hoping it would last a few more years!
You just recapped our experience when my kids were young. Just getting the tree up, leveled and lighted almost meant keeping a divorce attorney on speed dial. Does anyone remember these Classic tree stands?: These are from my earliest memories (and I am 70 years old). They are the cheapest, cheesiest pieces of crap made. A tree of any size would cause it to bend, twist and then tip over. They are only good for tiny tres. We sold them at Ace Hardware when I was working part time a year or two ago. Every time a customer asked for my opinion of them, I asked if they were happily married. If they said yes, I sold them a better stand. If they seemed ambivalent I just wished them a Merry Christmas with a smirk......
Real tree up until last Christmas. Got tired of the $125 tress here in the neighborhood. Bit the bullet and spent $325 on a tree on AMAZON. Absolutely love it. The convenience is fantastic. No water, no mess. Do miss the smell of a Noble fir in the house. Candles can’t quite replicate that. But it will be paid off by next year. Will never go back. Neighbors compliment us on how it looks thru the window.
We got 3 trees. Two fake ones. One at the top of the stairs when you walk in. One in the front room and then real one in the living room. My wife starts listening to Christmas music in the middle of October and watches cheesy hallmark Christmas movies constantly. FML
Grew up with a real tree every year except for one. There was a family that set up a trailer and tree lot every year just a few blocks away that we would always support, and today my parents continue to do so with the new generation of that family. As for me, when I started my own family in 2021, I got a decent fake tree and very much prefer it.
$10 for a tree permit and cut my own off the mountain. Some years do a full size tree, and some years do a short tree that sits atop the kitchen table. Went with a shorty this year.
YESSSSSS ... this stand is one of the more evil things ever created. We use to go to the annual Christmas Bazaar at the Expo Center and one year they were selling a tree stand that had the circular base but just a single spike connected in the middle and a loop to nail the tree to. Once you had the spike in the base and the nail in the tree you could easily level it. I swear it was one of my dad's prized possessions that he raved about every year when we saw the guy at the expo. He LOVED that tree stand and it lasted a long time until one year he put the tree by the house and hadn't removed the stand. I guess some Boy Scouts came by and thought they were taking the tree even though it wasn't at the street and the stand was lost! He tried for a couple years to find it again but then they went the fake route and have never looked back.
Those stands were the worse. Finally made my own and used it for 20 years. Artificial now as trees got so damn expensive.
If I was a lot younger (and a lot more motivated) I'd buy a truck load of trees wholesale from somewhere in Clackamas County and then haul them to San Francisco and sell them on a street corner. The profit margin, even today would be staggering. My sister in law lived in SF for 40 years and always insisted on a tree from Clackamas County (she grew up in Oregon City). And then she would complain about the price (minimum $100). This was when there was a glut of Xmas trees and some farmers were tilling them under and we were paying $20 up here. I can only imagine what they go for now down there now. But I'm sure there is still a tidy profit to be made.
