Blog: Tree Talk

In the fifties and early sixties I remember seeing tree lots that not only sold green evergreens. They also would dip some of the trees in paint. The entire tree. They had a large vat and pastel paint was either pink, white or light powder blue.

Am I dreaming? What was this process called? Why did it stop? Is their any info available about such a process.

Any info you have is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

David

At first I was tempted to suggest he dreamed the whole thing or maybe was remembering a Simpsons episode or something. But I asked some growers and did a little internet research.

What he’s probably remembering is 'flocking'. You could have any color and the 'flock' was sprayed onto the tree; kind of a pasty, powdery colored product that had to dry before handling. They still do flocking today, but use different materials that are not made of paper pulp anymore and the predominant color is white to simulate snow. Flocking popularity is a very regional thing.

According to this site, and several others, -- flocking became extremely popular in the 1950s and 1960s –– and came in white, pink or blue (just like he mentioned.) They even sold a home flocking device that could be attached to your vacuum cleaner. Wow, people actually turned their Christmas Tree pink with their vacuum cleaner? I wonder if a sequence like that was left on the cutting room floor of the movie A Christmas Story?

The main blog contributor is Rick Dungey, who works as Public Relations Manager for the National Christmas Tree Association. Other people on the NCTA staff and members of NCTA will also contribute posts. Rick has answered media and consumer inquiries for NCTA for more than 9 years. You are welcome to send responses or questions to the blog, but be aware that not all posts will be made public and all will be reviewed prior to posting.

We look forward to your input – if you have a question or comment to share, send it to info@realchristmastrees.org

Please note: we use a fairly sensitive e-mail spam filter. Please try to use an obvious phrase in the subject line, such as "Christmas Tree Question" or "Blog Topic."