With the Holiday season already underway, it is time for families everywhere to set up their trees: both fake and real.

Content Editor Riley Wilson

When it comes to a real Christmas tree, tradition is always key.

The holiday season is a time meant to be spending with family, basking in love, laughter, and life. This season is a time where memories form, and what better memory to kick of the holiday season than going to pick out a Christmas tree.

Germany is first credited for starting the Christmas tree tradition somewhere in the 16th century when Christians used trees as decorations in the homes. It was not until later when a group of German settlers brought the Christmas tree to America. At first Americans thought it was strange, but now almost every American that celebrates Christmas has their home decorated with a tree.

While more than 60 percent of America is opting for fake trees, it is important to realize that setting up the tree is only half the fun. While it may look like only a dead tree in the middle of a living room, for those who picked out a real Christmas tree, the tree tells a story. A story of spending hours looking for the perfect tree and spending even longing trying to cut it down. A story of drinking warm beverages as snow falls from the sky. More importantly, the tree represents a memory that will last forever.

The smells of Christmas are cinnamon, gingerbread, peppermint and pine. For those who get a real tree, the tree makes the house smell all Christmas-like. So while spending money on a tree every year is not everyone’s favorite use of their money, at least the ones who buy the tree are saving money by not having to purchase items with a fake aroma to spice up the holiday fever.

Ditch the plastic and stick with tradition. The Germans did not decorate their house with plastic and neither should Americans. Sure, when buying a Christmas tree some are worried about price, but the memories made finding the perfect tree are priceless.

Content Editor Samantha Smith

A fake tree does not mean a fake Christmas

Everyone knows the feeling of waking up on Christmas morning to presents underneath a brightly decorated tree. However, this tree doesn’t have to come from a forest or tree farm. It can come from any department store. Artificial trees are the easy and inexpensive alternative to the traditional Christmas tree.

As an owner of the same artificial tree for 17 years, I know the advantages of the faux decoration. It is a durable edition to the average family’s Christmas decoration collection. Unlike a real tree, an artificial tree can last for years, and where the average cost of a real tree is less than an artificial tree by $32, according to a survey by Nielsen Research, you only need one to last you. By next Christmas, an artificial tree would have paid for itself.

Some worry about the appearance of an artificial tree versus a real tree, claiming that they look, “plastic.” However, there are some companies, such as Balsam Hill, specialize in making realistic, artificial trees. While they may be more expensive than the average, run-of-the-mill artificial tree, those looking for a cost effective Christmas while still maintaining the traditional look will be satisfied.

In addition, an artificial tree can be altered. For those difficult to place ornaments or perhaps if one was to create room for even more, the branches of an artificial tree can be adjusted and rearranged in a convenient manner. If one was to try that with the traditional tree, the organic appendages would snap and break, resulting in the destruction of the “perfect tree” they spent hours tromping through the freezing woods trying to find.

Times are changing. Traditional values are quickly disappearing and swapping out the old Douglas Fir in the forest for an 8 foot artificial tree from National Tree Company is a much more practical option for the holiday season.