About those Christmas trees. . .

[Guest guest]

A couple of people have posted that they take down their trees and

decorations on New Year's Day, but don't know how the tradition started.

It's because in the days before artificial trees and swags, live trees in

tubs, and fire-retardant sprays and fluids, not to mention low-heat

miniature lights, Christmas trees and greenery were a fire hazard after

they had been cut and decorated for a period of time. And they shed their

needles all over the carpet, too!

In the " old days, " we put up the tree a week before Christmas and took it

down--on a sheet to catch the needles--on New Year's day, after the New

Year's Eve party/celebration made use of the festive decorations. Last

year, when I found out how cheap they are, we put up mini-lights on our

house and on two bushes (you could read a newspaper at midnight in our

front yard) and left them up all year. They came right on when I flipped

the switch in December, and they'll be right there until next year unless

the guy who paints our house takes them down.

Valeria D. Truitt, Instructor Medical Office Administration

Craven Community College Phone

800 College Court vtruitt@...

New Bern, NC 28562