OT Christmas tree- real or fake?

[THE HCP]

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.

 

[riverman]

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.

Your neighbors are Peeping Toms? Ewwww!

 

[MickZagger]

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

 

[MickZagger]

I’d say two down territory and deflate them

 

[-Ace-]

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.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Going to my dad's house today to set up the Christmas tree. First one since my mom passed.

 

[jonnyboy]

$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.

 

[bigbailes]

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?:
View attachment 68568
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......

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.

 

[Hoopguru]

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?:
View attachment 68568
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......

Those stands were the worse. Finally made my own and used it for 20 years. Artificial now as trees got so damn expensive.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

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.

 

[THE HCP]

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.

My daughter and her roommates pitched in and got a 5’ tree for $125 on a lot two blocks from USF just last week.