The shape of Christmas trees.

[putrid]

I've been 'collecting' old photos from Ebay. (Wont post the pics because I respect the rights of the folks who sell them.) My original intent was to get an idea of how the trees were decorated. The ornaments, garlands and tree toppers. However the shape of the trees is what's got my attention. It seems the older the photo the more odd the shape of the tree. Some even look more like bushes. Most of the larger ones are leaf shaped. Long upward bending branches at the base. Straighter in the middle tapering off to a single brach at the top. And most are uneven in branch spacing and lengths. All of them looking more like the ones you'd see in nature than the perfect cones of today.

Links to some pics

A real old one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Photo-Tinsel-on-Pretty-Christmas-Tree_W0QQitemZ350210975449QQcmdZViewItemQQptZArt_P hoto_Images?hash=item518a3366d9&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A30

1937

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Snapshot-Photo-of-Christmas-Morning-282416_W0QQitemZ350201699296QQcmdZViewItemQQptZArt _Photo_Images?hash=item5189a5dbe0&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A3%7C294%3A30

A link to this seller's store with all the old Christmas pics.

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Darrins-Photoclique__christmas_W0QQ_sidZ2216221QQ_trksidZp 4634Q2ec0Q2em14?_pgn=1

Worth checking out.

[EnlightenedGrinch]

Hey, I really like that 1937 tree!
Plenty of room for mucho presents for me under that one !!:chappy:
That first tree is downright SCARY !!

[digbugsgirl]

Way back when, a lot of people would just go out in the woods and chop down a tree. Some still do, but it was more of the norm then. Perfect looking trees don't normally come out of nature. There's always going to be a branch or two that stick out.

[putrid]

The only Christmas I remember at my grandparents old house the tree was on a table. My grandma gave my brother and I a pair of scissors and we cut out Santa faces from magazines to put on it.

LOL EnlightenedGrinch. I've seen one pic where the tree was so dried up all the branches drooped straight down. And they still lit the candles on it. If you go threw that sellers store there's one shot of a really dry tree fully lit with C9's and a star topper. A bright and shiny fire hazard.

[chris]

Love the pics putrid, takes me back when i was young. Maybe this year me and my family will venture out in the woods. My wifes parents still go out to find a tree every Christmas.:happyfatsanta:

[EnlightenedGrinch]

When I lived in St. Pete, Fla. there was a funeral home that would display and decorate a dead, needle-less tree in their foyer.

[putrid]

Kinda morbid and a sick sense of humor. I Like it. LOL My inlaws always had a real tree. Usually cedar. They finally had to go with a fake one for health reasons.

[Sickie Ickie]

That's why we did it in our family. My bro was allergic.

I have to admit though that it is nice not to have to hunt, tie, carry and drag a real tree in the house and then have to deal with needles and throwing it out afterwards.

[putrid]

This has got me thinking. I've tried to make a fake tree look more realistic by replacing the poll with a wooden one I drilled. I'm wondering if I could make a different one and mix the branches. Both in size and placement. The hardest part would be the tree top itself. I would have to build this from scratch.
Big problem now is the neighbor's kid had a grad party and somehow thought it was a good idea to use my wood pile for a bon fire. Can't really be to upset over it. If they had asked I would have said yes. But i could have set aside some of the wood for the projects the pile was intended for. The good news is now i don't have to burn it and deal with the mess.
This is just an idea. Not committed to doing anything yet. If it is a go it'll replace the aluminum tree that was in the computer room. It was cool for about a week or two. I kinda like the green ones better.

Also got to thinking. I know the tree at my grandparent's house was on a table. I'm wondering if it's the antique Italian window table I have now. That'd be totally cool. Have to ask my mom and see if she remembers.

[MerryBells]

Putrid, when I saw the tree pictures at those links I thought of my Granny's old pictures. Every real tree in those pictures had a different shape, and none of them was the traditional cone shape. One of the trees was almost round. But with the bead garlands and all on them, they all looked good.

[bethene]

thanks for the pics , brought back memories, they looks like trees I had growing up, I used to love the tinsel on the trees, oh, sweet memories!