Christmas trees have been a well-known image of the holiday spirit for thousands of years. Sourcing from early German ages, the Christmas tree was first a symbol of the Bible. Originally, round fruits were placed on the tree to represent the difference of good and evil from one of the first books in the Bible. Still today, many families still place a star on top of their tree or an angel. This stems from the known Nativity scene of Jesus’s birth on Christmas night. Christmas trees have come a long way since then. Parents take pride in the decorating of their home, and children enjoy putting ornaments upon the symbol of Christmas. Putting the tree up is just the beginning of the naive Christmas magic that everyone feels during the holiday season.

Now the question lies: real trees or artificial? Some enjoy traveling out to a tree farm and actually cutting down a snowy evergreen themselves, while others prefer to take out the familiar plastic green fir. Rory Donahue, senior says, “My family can only have a fake tree, because I’m allergic to the real ones.” On another side, senior Kelsey Ruff says, “I wish we did a real tree, but it’s hard for my family to find time to go out and buy a new tree every year, so we stick with a fake tree.” Many fake trees come with lights already on them, often eliminating the stress of putting lights in a sticky, and thorny tree. On the other hand, real trees offer a sense of authenticity for the Christmas season. The price ranges with length of use, since fake trees are brought back year after year, they are generally more expensive. While real trees are on the less pricey side, they have to be purchased every year.

Collin Smith, senior treks out to Timber Creek Tree Farm in Long Grove, Iowa every year with his family to find the perfect tree. “It’s become a tradition for us; real trees are more genuine for Christmas, and the smell is unbeatable,” he says. Whether you choose to go with the plastic green tree, or indulge in the wintery smell with a real one every year, the familiar green tree will always be the largest symbol of Christmas for years to come.