The gift that changed christmas - although many environmentalists feel guilty about using Christmas trees, the National Community Christmas Tree, a living spruce from Norway can be enjoyed by all

And what of our first National Living Christmas Tree? It served the nation until the weight and heat of the Christmas lights and soil compaction around its roots necessitated its replacement in 1929. AMERICAN FORESTS donated another Norway spruce that year. In 1934, the ceremony was moved to Lafayette Park, where live Frazer firs were planted on either side of the statue of Andrew Jackson.

In 1939 a live red cedar from George Washington's original estate was planted on The Ellipse. And in 1941, two live Oriental spruce were planted on the White House south lawn where the ceremony was held through the war years. Just after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the ceremony had a special guest--Sir Winston Churchill. Wartime blackouts left the tree unlit from 1942 to 1944. In 1978 Mrs. William E. Myers, of York, Pennsylvania, donated a live Colorado spruce she had received as a Mother's Day gift 15 years earlier. That same tree is still lit at the White House every Christmas.

While some things about the annual lighting ceremony remain the same--people still gather and sing and the lights still twinkle--one thing has changed. No one need feel guilty about having and enjoying a Christmas tree!

Deborah Gangloff is the executive director of AMERICAN FORESTS. She would like to thank NPS archivist David Krause for his assistance with this article.

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