A Christmas tree stand is an object designed to support a cut, natural or an artificial Christmas tree. Christmas tree stands appeared as early as 1876 and have had various designs over the years. Those stands designed for natural trees have a water-well, which, in many cases may not hold enough water to adequately supply the cut tree. Some specialty Christmas tree stands have value on the secondary antiques market.
Christmas tree stands have been around at least since 1876, when Arthur's Illustrated Home Magazine suggested connecting a Christmas tree stand into a stand for flowers. [1] In that same year, Hermann Albrecht of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania received U.S. Patent 183,100 and U.S. Patent 183,194 as two of the first Christmas tree stand patents issued in the United States. [2] In 1892, carpenter Edward Smith suggested a homemade Christmas tree stand, noting,
As Christmas is near at hand, I will tell how I made a pretty stand for a Christmas tree: I took a board 14x14 inches, and one inch thick around this I made a tiny paling fence — there is a post at each corner set firmly Into a 1/4-inch hole, and a gate at the middle of one side with little posts, the same as at the corner. The palings are about 1/8-inch thick, and 1/2 inch wide, and the cross pieces are just a little thicker. The best tacks I could find for tacking the palings to the cross-pieces were pins cut in two, using only the head ends. I then painted the fence white, and the board grass-green. In the center of this Is a hole into which to fasten the tree. [3]
In 1919, an American monthly magazine Popular Science touted a new type of Christmas-tree stand. [4] The stand featured a broad, cone-shaped base that included an inlet for water and the Christmas tree trunk. [4] Water placed in the galvanized iron shell would give considerable weight to the stand to steady the tree. Once the tree trunk was inserted into the water inlet, the tree would be kept fresh and green much longer than without the water supply. [4]
Christmas tree stands designed for natural Christmas trees often have a water-well in them; natural trees require water so that they do not dry out. [5] In fact, growers state that the secret to long-lived natural Christmas tree is a lot of water, so often they recommend a tree stand that has a large water reservoir. [6] Washington State University plant pathologist Gary Chastagner conducted research into various models of Christmas tree stands and found that just six of 22 different stands tested had adequate water capacity for Christmas trees larger than 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter. [7]
Not all Christmas tree stands are manufactured for the specific purpose, one example would be a makeshift Christmas tree stand made from an old two-gallon (~7.5 l) bucket or can. [8] Another example of a homemade-type Christmas tree stand is a converted cast iron garden urn. [9]
Christmas tree stands sometimes had a more specialized role when it came to aluminum Christmas trees. The common method of illumination for these artificial Christmas trees was a floor-based "color wheel" which was placed under the tree. [10] The color wheel featured varyingly colored segments on a clear plastic wheel, when switched on the wheel rotated and a light shone through the clear plastic casting an array of colors throughout the tree's metallic branches. [11] Sometimes this spectacle was enhanced by a rotating Christmas tree stand. [10]
Some Christmas tree stands were uniquely designed and have value in the secondary antiques market. One example is a 1950s decorative Christmas tree stand designed by National Outfit Manufacturers Association and made of lithographed tin and featuring a holiday design. A Christmas tree stand such of the lithographed tin design could fetch up to $250 on the open market. [12]
A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern Germany where German Protestant Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. It acquired popularity beyond the Lutheran areas of Germany and the Baltic governorates during the second half of the 19th century, at first among the upper classes.
Root beer is a sweet North American soft drink traditionally made using the root bark of the sassafras tree Sassafras albidum or the vine of Smilax ornata as the primary flavor. Root beer is typically but not exclusively non-alcoholic, caffeine-free, sweet, and carbonated. Like cola, it usually has a thick and foamy head. A well-known use is to add vanilla ice cream to make a root beer float.
A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the weeks preceding Christmas Day by many people in Western society and in Asia. The traditional greeting reads "wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year". There are innumerable variations on this greeting, many cards expressing more religious sentiment, or containing a poem, prayer, Christmas song lyrics or Biblical verse; others focus on the general holiday season with an all-inclusive "Season's greetings". The first modern Christmas card was by John Calcott Horsley.
Beveled glass is usually made by taking thick glass and creating an angled surface cut (bevel) around the entire periphery. Bevels act as prisms in sunlight creating an interesting color refraction which both highlights the glass work and provides a spectrum of colors which would ordinarily be absent in clear float glass.
A stapler is a mechanical device that joins pages of paper or similar material by driving a thin metal staple through the sheets and folding the ends. Staplers are widely used in government, business, offices, work places, homes and schools.
A pork chop, like other meat chops, is a loin cut taken perpendicular to the spine of the pig and is usually a rib or part of a vertebra. Pork chops are unprocessed and leaner than other cuts. Chops are commonly served as an individual portion, and can be accompanied with applesauce, vegetables, and other sides. Pork is one of the most commonly consumed meats in the world. In the United States, pork chops are the most commonly consumed meat cut from the pork loin and account for 10% of total pork consumption.
A steam whistle is a device used to produce sound in the form of a whistle using live steam, which creates, projects, and amplifies its sound by acting as a vibrating system.
Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called pargeting. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering or rendering, has been used in building construction for centuries. For the art history of three-dimensional plaster, see stucco.
American Inventor was a reality television series based on a competition to be named America's best inventor. It was conceived by Simon Cowell and the producers of American Idol, and premiered on ABC in March, 2006. It was organized as a competition between inventors nationally, resulting in one overall winner.
A toilet brush is a tool for cleaning a toilet bowl.
Light tubes are structures that transmit or distribute natural or artificial light for the purpose of illumination and are examples of optical waveguides.
Christmas tree production occurs worldwide on Christmas tree farms, in artificial tree factories and from native strands of pine and fir trees. Christmas trees, pine and fir trees purposely grown for use as a Christmas tree, are grown on plantations in many western nations, including Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. In Australia, the industry is relatively new, and nations such as the United States, Germany and Canada are among world leaders in annual production.
Christmas tree cultivation is an agricultural, forestry, and horticultural occupation which involves growing pine, spruce, and fir trees specifically for use as Christmas trees.
While the first Christmas tree farm may have appeared as early as 1901, Christmas tree production in the United States was largely limited to what could be harvested from natural forests until the 1950s. Among the important Christmas tree producing areas in the U.S. are Wisconsin, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and the Pacific Northwest. In 2002 Christmas tree production in the United States totaled 20.8 million trees and the U.S. was one of the world's leading producers of natural Christmas trees. That same year, Pennsylvania was the top producer in the United States.
Baker Street Mill is a grade II listed smock mill at Baker Street, Orsett, Essex, England which has been part adapted to residential use on its lower two floors only.
An aluminum Christmas tree is a type of artificial Christmas tree that was popular in the United States from 1958 until about the mid-1960s. As its name suggests, the tree is made of aluminum, featuring foil needles and illumination from below via a rotating color wheel.
An artificial Christmas tree is an artificial pine or fir tree manufactured for the specific purpose of use as a Christmas tree. The earliest artificial Christmas trees were wooden, tree-shaped pyramids or feather trees, both developed by Germans. Most modern trees are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) but many other types of trees have been and are available, including aluminum Christmas trees and fiber-optic illuminated Christmas trees.
Attack of the Mutant Artificial Trees is a free online video game developed as part of a marketing campaign by the National Christmas Tree Association in 2004. The game was meant to support the natural Christmas tree industry and received criticism from artificial tree producers. It has been described as similar to Whac-A-Mole.
A feather Christmas tree is a type of artificial Christmas tree that is generally considered one of the first artificial trees used as a Christmas tree. They originated in Germany in the late 19th century and became popular in the United States during the early 20th century.
A Singing Christmas Tree, sometimes called a Living Christmas Tree, is an artificial Christmas tree filled with singers used as part of nativity plays.