In article ,
DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Monday, December 28, 2015 at 9:41:48 AM UTC-5, trader_4 wrote:
On Monday, December 28, 2015 at 5:59:28 AM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Mon, 28 Dec 2015 03:13:54 -0500, wrote:

A friend and I are debating when most people buy their xmas trees.

I saw that it's several days or more before Christmas eve, and the
proof of this is that is what I do. And that tree lots open up about
2 weeks in advance.

She says, No, the custom is Xmas eve and the great majority buy that
afternoon. And the proof is that is what she does.

What can you tell us about this?

Your friend is nuts. I've seen a couple of places sold out a few days
before Christmas. You should bring the tree in and let it acclimate
for 24 hours anyway.

We bought our tree in October. It sat in the box until the week after
Thanksgiving. Old tree was well over 25 years!

I'd say maybe they are both nuts. Typically trees around here start
being available a month before Xmas. And while I can't prove it, I'd
say it's probably a bell curve, few bought a month before, few bought
the day before Xmas, it probably peaks ~10 days or so before Xmas.

According to this site "The weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally
when most Christmas tree buying occurs."

http://forestry.about.com/od/christm.../xtree_buy.htm

According to this website "There's no definitive answer... Many people
plump for the second Saturday in December. Traditionally, Roman Catholics
waited until after noon on Christmas Eve to put up their tree."

http://www.theguardian.com/money/201...christmas-tree

Having grown up with many Roman Catholic families, including my own, I can
not vouch for the "after noon on Christmas Eve" tradition. Never heard of it,
never experienced it.

The British Christmas Tree Growers Association (BCTGA) suggests that
trees "should not be purchased earlier than 1 December".

According to the Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural
Resources "A fresh-cut, real Christmas tree is generally serviceable
from just after Thanksgiving to somewhat after Christmas, if it is
truly fresh when set up and then well cared for."

I wonder what Purdue considers to be 'after Christmas'. Traditionally
Christmas lasts until the feast of the epiphany on Jan 6. And since the
4 weeks prior to Christmas day are the season of advent, the Catholic
tradition has been to wait until after the last Sunday of advent to
decorate the tree. But now it just seems anytime after halloween will do.


It seems like the expert opinions are as varied as the public's
buying habits.

If people spend the bucks, they want to look at it for awhile before
and after Xmas, And like you say, by the 24th, many places are sold
out or have poor choices left. But you might get a discounted,
closeout, price.