Originally, the family Christmas tree came directly from the forest. As shown in this scene, a man and his son have gone into an old burn or clearcut area where natural regeneration had started, and cut the family's Christmas tree along with some trees for friends and relatives - maybe a little firewood would have been cut at the same time.

Historians trace interesting stories that have evolved into our present day custom of using Christmas trees:

• In the middle ages, the feast of Adam and Eve was held on December 24th; a fir tree hung with red apples, called the Paradise tree, was its symbol

• It is generally agreed, however, that the use of an evergreen as part of the Christian Christmas celebration started over 400 years ago in Germany

• The first recorded Christmas tree retail lot was set up in 1851 by a Pennsylvanian who hauled two ox sleds loaded with trees from his land in the Catskills to the sidewalks of New York

Today more than 90% of the Christmas trees are plantation grown. Over 34 million American families will bring a natural Christmas tree into their homes to help create a warm, friendly setting for their Christmas celebration.

(Thanks to the Northwest Christmas Tree Association in Salem, Oregon, for background information in this story.)