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madamesilverspurs

(16,447 posts)

35. We had real trees.

Fri Nov 28, 2025, 02:23 PM

Friday

For a few years we had live trees, planted in the yard after the holidays. When we kids got old enough, we went up into the mountains and cut our trees. My brother was tasked with helping Dad put the lights on the tree; my job, thanks to my allergy to the trees, was to hand the ornaments to Mom. These days I have an artificial tree that I can handle without having to slather myself in calamine lotion. I even splurged on a pre-lit one; unfortunately, those lights go out, so my next tree won't be pre-lit. As for ornaments, my favorites are the ones from parents' first tree from 1943; they're simple glass balls with the original paper hangers (everything metal went to the war effort). Thanks to my aging shoulders that don't like to reach up, I've had to downgrade from a 7' tree to a 4' tree. But I still enjoy it, along with my old vinyl Christmas albums. The tree is artificial, but the sentiment and memories are very real.

Merry merry!

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debm55

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Highlight:

As a youngster, what kind of Christmas tree did you have. fake. or that silver metallic one with the light spinner [View all] debm55 Friday OP

I was never True Dough Friday #1

Thank you for sharing that information with us, True Dough. debm55 Friday #11

We had a fake silver one for a few years, then a fake green one BlueWaveNeverEnd Friday #2

BlueWaveNeverEnd. We had that one too, The trunk had holes with paint and you had to match the color coded branches. I debm55 Friday #14

silver, and we always put the branches back in their original paper sleeves bigtree Friday #3

HAHAHAHAHHAH. Thank you very much, bigtree. That is funny. debm55 Friday #15

live trees lapfog_1 Friday #4

That sounds beautiful, lapfog_1 and very earth friendly. debm55 Friday #16

How lovely! electric_blue68 Friday #37

Real ones when I was young House of Roberts Friday #5

Thank you very much, House of Roberts. Do you remember stepping on the real pine needles? The artificial was easier to debm55 Friday #17

We had a vinyl floor in the den so they were easy to sweep up. House of Roberts Friday #23

HAHAHAHHAA. Thank you House of Roberts. We had a rug where the needles would get caught. Mother had a Hoover. debm55 Friday #24

Real tree every Christmas when a youngster 🎄 anciano Friday #6

Thank you anciano for sharing--the needles, the smell. was great.from a real tree. debm55 Friday #18

Real ones as a kid. As an adult only fake green ones. Polly Hennessey Friday #7

Yes, and driving to relatives homes to see trees in the tree lots that no one wanted. It was sad. Thank you debm55 Friday #19

My mom loved the silver tree with the rotating color spindle that squeaked..we hated it and to this day.. Deuxcents Friday #8

thank you very much Deuxcents, My cousins had one. After awhile they stopped using the color spindle and just added blue debm55 Friday #21

Always real; fir or spruce, never pine. Pine needles are too long to hold ornaments properly. Ocelot II Friday #9

Thank you Ocelot II , Your tree sounds absolutly beautiful. I also loved the bubble lights. The tinsels with lead --who debm55 Friday #22

That same aunt & uncle with the bubble lights ALSO had the angel hair! electric_blue68 Friday #39

I hated the angel hair. If you weren't careful it would make cuts on you as it was spun glass. debm55 Friday #45

We probably had those glass ornaments. My favorite were the... electric_blue68 Friday #40

Yes, they passed down from family to family. Very beautiful. Thank you, electric_blue68 debm55 Friday #46

One of my aunts & uncles had those bubble lights! electric_blue68 Friday #38

Started out with real, went artificial, also had a small aluminum tree. 50 Shades Of Blue Friday #10

Thank you very much, 50 Shades Of Blue. I thought the tree looked better without the light spinner and with one color of debm55 Friday #25

I feel better now, LOL! Our had blue ornaments. 50 Shades Of Blue Friday #36

Blue ornamnets looked very nice on it. debm55 Friday #47

We always had a real tree. Diamond_Dog Friday #12

Sounds just like our Christmas tree procedures. Ocelot II Friday #28

Sure does sound similar, Ocelot! Diamond_Dog Friday #31

Thank you very much, Diamond_Dog for your wonderful post and sharing the delight of a child seeing the Christmas tree in debm55 Friday #48

artificial Eugene Friday #13

Thank you Eugene, we had the same tree with the colored coded branches to fit in the trunk. Worked fine until the as the debm55 Friday #49

Traditional cut tree. patphil Friday #20

Thank sounds beautiful. patphil. I loved those glass antique ornaments. Your tree of your youth sounds beautiful . Thank debm55 Friday #26

My mother was the first on the block to get an artificial tree & they didn't look all that great back then. CrispyQ Friday #27

Thank you CrispyQ, Arm still sore , but it will get better. We put our tree up the Sunday before Christmas and kept it debm55 Friday #50

Sometimes real ones until my dad bought an aluminum tree with the colored light wheel SheltieLover Friday #29

Thank you very much, SheltieLover. That's funny. I use to have a tree with a different theme in my house. I have 8 rooms debm55 Friday #52

That alum tree was an embarrassment to my mom, much like the leg lamp SheltieLover Friday #55

HAHAHAHAHAH, that is funny, Thank you SheltieLover. debm55 Saturday #88

Real live ones mostly (and I continued to insist even when the silver monstrosity appeared--sans spinner) hlthe2b Friday #30

I agree with you hithe2b. I have the artificial table top tree. and get a pine or balsam wreath for the living room. debm55 Friday #64

My parents had real trees until my brother and I were teenagers. My wife and I have always had live or real trees. NNadir Friday #32

"Just when I think I couldn't possibly love her more, I do." 3catwoman3 Friday #61

Thank you NNadir, you are a very sweet person. You and your wife are very lucky to have the love of each other. debm55 Friday #65

Taken to a justaprogressive Friday #33

Thank you very much, justaprogressive. Beautiful large tree. debm55 Friday #66

As a kid, always real. Always a floor tree, except when Dad broke his hip in '61. rsdsharp Friday #34

Thank you very much for sharing with us, rsdsharp. It was a hassle to have all the trees in my home. But as a youth , debm55 Friday #67

We had real trees. madamesilverspurs Friday #35

Very well said, madamesilverspurs. Thank you for sharing your feelings with us. debm55 Friday #68

Always live cut trees. Fir or ?spruce.... electric_blue68 Friday #41

Thank you for sharing your wonderful memories with us, electric_blue68. I enjoyed reading them debm55 Friday #69

My parents came from the country that had the first recorded Christmas tree Wicked Blue Friday #42

Thank you very much for sharing with us, Wicked Blue. debm55 Friday #70

We had a real tree LogDog75 Friday #43

Thank you very much, LogDog75. The sense of smell is most connect to memories. Thank you for sharing those memories. debm55 Friday #72

We had real trees until ... Dorothy V Friday #44

HAHHAHHAAHA. love you Dorothy V debm55 Friday #57

We always had a real tree, loved the smell and decorating them... wcmagumba Friday #51

Thank you very much, wcmagumba. The smell of a real tree is wonderful and the delight in decorating is magical to a debm55 Friday #56

After I left home, my folks decided they wanted a more orderly tree. They bought an atificial tree (a very good one)... marble falls Friday #53

Thank you very much, marble falls. What a wonderful post. They are treasures of years past. debm55 Friday #54

Thankfully we had an artificial tree growing up Niagara Friday #58

Thank you very much for your compassion for putting the real tree up even though it would make you sick. You are an debm55 Saturday #79

Real. My mother would never have a fake tree in her house. MIButterfly Friday #59

Thank you very much MIButterfly. Cats are like that. debm55 Saturday #80

Always a real tree. buzzycrumbhunger Friday #60

Thank you very much, buzzycrumbhunger. Sounds like your ex was an ass. I had the Charlie Brown Christmas tree too-bent, debm55 Saturday #90

Always real when I was a kid. 3catwoman3 Friday #62

Thank you so much 3catwoman3. Your tree sounds wonderful. I do the same with moving the ornaments around so they are the debm55 Saturday #89

It's not quite true that only God can make a tree PikaBlue Friday #63

HAHHAAHHAHHA. Thank you very much. PikaBlue, for sharing your sharing your funny Christmas memory. debm55 Saturday #87

LIVE Chanukah Bush elleng Friday #71

Sounds wonderful, elleng. debm55 Saturday #86

Silver Tip planted on a table Brother Buzz Friday #73

Thank you, Brother Buzz for sharing your Christmas tree memories with us. debm55 Saturday #85

When I was little we got real ones MustLoveBeagles Friday #74

Thank you very much for sharing with us, MustLoveBeagles. debm55 Saturday #84

We had a fake tree for my entire childhood. Aristus Friday #75

Thank you so much for sharing your memories with us. Aristus. debm55 Saturday #83

We always had live ones. Mad_Dem_X Saturday #76

HAHAHA. Thank you Mad_Dem_X. Cutting down your own tree sounds like so much fun.I have never done it , but I wish I had. debm55 Saturday #77

LOL! That reminds me of one of the last times my mother and I went out to get a Christmas tree. MIButterfly Saturday #82

real. AllaN01Bear Saturday #78

Thank you very much, AllaN01Bear. for sharing your memories. debm55 Saturday #81

I remember dad tying down the Christmas tree on top Emile Saturday #91

HAHAHAHAHAH. Thank you very much for the memories, Emile debm55 Saturday #92