WEBVTT - 9 Christmas Tree Facts that are totally lit! 0:00:02.360 --> 0:00:05.800 I guess, well, what's that? So it's just about Christmas time, 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.280 and you know I have to repeat my favorite Louis 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:10.639 Armstrong in fact of all time. I know which one 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:13.119 is coming. This one's about the tree, right, of course, 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:15.200 it's about the tree. So you know, I heard this 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:17.760 fact forever ago about sat Mo and how he got 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.439 his first Christmas tree at age forty. But I love 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:22.479 the way his wife tells it, so I'm actually just 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:26.040 gonna quote her. We finally went to bed, and Louis 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:28.360 was still laying up in the bed watching the tree, 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:30.880 his eyes just like a baby's eyes would watch something. 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:34.080 So finally I said, well, I'll turn the lights out 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:36.760 now on the tree. He said, no, don't turn them out. 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:38.680 I just have to keep looking at it. You know, 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:41.680 that's the first tree I ever had. Well, I hadn't 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:44.000 realized that. You know, Louis was forty years old, and 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:45.760 it seemed to me that in forty years a person 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:48.360 would have at least one tree. I was all swollen 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:50.199 up inside when he told me that we were to 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:52.840 leave the next day for Kansas City. I figured, Christmas 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:55.480 is over, today's twenty six. Now I'll leave the tree. 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:58.400 Louis said no, don't leave the tree. Take the tree 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:00.440 with you. And he had me take the tree on 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:02.840 those one night ers. Before I even unpacked a bag, 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:05.000 I had to set that tree up, his Christmas tree. 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:07.760 So it's just this wonderful story. And she keeps the 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:09.720 tree going for like a month, just putting it up 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.360 night after night and taking it down the next morning, 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:14.800 and all these hotels, and when the tour is over, 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:17.800 I guess Louis actually wanted her to mail the tree home, 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:20.759 and she finally had to convince him that the tree 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:22.759 was going to dry up if she did that. I mean, 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:24.480 I know I've heard that before, but it really is 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:27.479 such a wonderful story. Yeah, it comes from James Lincoln 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:30.520 Colliers bio of Louis Armstrong, and I just love that 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:33.280 story so much and and that this tree gave him 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:36.000 so much joy, and it made me think maybe this 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:38.199 week we should do in nine things all about Christmas trees. 0:01:38.520 --> 0:02:01.800 So that's what we're doing. Let's dig in pay their 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.560 podcast listeners, welcome the part time genius. I'm Will Pearson 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:07.160 and as always I'm joined by my good friend Ticketer 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:10.080 and sitting behind the soundproof booth dressed like an elf 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:13.400 on a shelf and he's got this thing nail. That's 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.440 our friend, the producer, Tristan McNeil. Alright, Mango, So I 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:18.640 know your family isn't Christian, but you grew up with 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:22.000 Christmas trees though, right, yeah, so we always had trees 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:24.680 and presents and sang carols around the piano like it 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:27.160 was just tradition for us. And uh, you know, this 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:29.120 year I went to my parents place and they'd picked 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:32.560 out what has to be the fattest, most misshapen tree 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:34.480 I've ever seen. I actually, I'm gonna pull up this 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:38.200 picture for you. I'm not sure that that's actually a tree. 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:40.600 It looks like that tree ate another tree. I know, 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:43.040 it's always like a like when a python eats a 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:47.200 goat or something so misshapen, but uh, you know, I 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:49.480 my friends love the holidays. I think they got a 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:52.000 discount on that tree. Lizzie, on the other hand, we'll 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:55.960 spend hours just going store to store, just inspecting every 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.080 single tree and trying to get the perfect shaped tree. 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:01.960 And every year it is just the one fight we have. 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:06.119 It is miserable. Lessie. Isn't the only person out there 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:08.360 looking for the perfect tree? Have you actually ever heard 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:12.240 of Mr Christmas Tree, I haven't. Is he a tree salesman. 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:15.440 He's actually a tree scientist. So his name is Gary Chastagner. 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:18.400 And the thing that he's specializing again is trying to 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:21.520 get Christmas trees that shed less. So he's kind of 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.880 making the cockapoo of Christmas tree. That's exactly what he does. 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:26.560 I think it says that on his business card. What 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:28.960 this this actually comes from mental flaws, and it says 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:32.679 Mr Christmas Tree is currently leading a five year, one 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:35.840 point three million dollar research project and it's aimed at 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:39.480 helping Christmas trees retain their needles longer, and it's about 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:42.880 selective breeding. So he and his researchers collect these tree 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.680 samples from farms across the country and try to figure 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:48.520 out which ones are the heartiest and keep their needles 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:51.240 the longest, and then they'll cross breed those, of course, 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:53.520 and they keep doing this until they have the tree 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:56.720 that will last until spring. So it's basically a tree 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:00.760 made for Louis Armstrong. It would have been perfect. A well, 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:03.320 here's actually another fact for you. And his research isn't 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:06.520 just about finding a perfect tree. It also includes how 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.240 to water them. So according to his research, you need 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:11.920 about a quart of water for every inch of your 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:15.160 trees diameter, and you're supposed to water with that every 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:18.560 single day. But here's the catch. Most Christmas tree stands 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:21.680 can't actually hold that much water, and there aren't many 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.760 great solutions other than just watering your tree a lot. 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:27.119 In fact, in two thousand and seven, he even tried 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:30.520 hooking up Christmas trees to I V trips, but even 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:32.880 that wasn't enough for the thirsty trees. This is how 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:36.080 dedicated this guy that is wild. Well, here's a quick 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:38.680 one I had no idea about. If your tree dies 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:41.000 on you, you know, or you're just through with it 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:43.880 after the holiday season, you can obviously mulch it, but 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.280 that isn't your only option. You can also donate your 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:49.600 Christmas tree to a zoo. So why zo? Well, I 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:51.200 I don't know if you just drop it off at 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:53.680 any zoo, But according to the San Francisco Gate, the 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:56.560 Oakland Zoo takes Christmas tree donations because they feed the 0:04:56.560 --> 0:05:00.680 trees as a quote wintertime treat to their animal. So 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:02.480 the photo with the article is so great, it's just 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:04.839 got like a bunch of drafts nibbling on the top 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:08.440 of trees, and I'm sure it leaves them with minty 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:10.840 fresh breath. That that three of your parents who showed me, 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:13.120 I feel like that could last them a few weeks. Yeah, 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:15.800 that's true. So when you have next all right, was 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.239 reading this interesting article in the Independent. It was called 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.599 how the Nazis Stole Christmas, And one of the interesting 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:24.040 bits was that the Nazis tried to take the Christ 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:27.200 out of Christmas, and so here's how the author describes it. 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:30.760 The regime's exploitation of Christmas began almost as soon as 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:34.520 the Nazis took power in nineteen thirty three. Party ideologists 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.880 wrote scores of papers claiming that the festival's Christian element 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:41.240 was a manipulative attempt by the Church to capitalize on 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.840 what we're really old Germanic traditions. So they worked to 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:47.120 rebrand it, and instead of stars on the top of 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:50.880 the tree, they used swastikas naturally, and instead of Santa 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:56.120 Claus they replaced them with the Germanic and Norse god Odin. Yeah, 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.960 that's so strange, but the artwork of it was supposedly 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:01.440 really funny, and so here's how the author described it. 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:05.240 Propaganda posters in the exhibitions show the Christmas or souls. 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:08.359 This man Odin as a hippie like individual on a 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:12.360 white horse charger, sporting a thick gray beard slough chat 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.680 and a sack full of gifts. Hippe like Odin doesn't 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:20.599 sound very Nazi. You know. I feel like Christmas is 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:23.720 just another thing the Nazis got wrong. So that makes sense. So, 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:26.680 you know, I was looking into the story of artificial 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.040 trees and this is just an aside. But according to 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:32.040 the New York Times, they said that unless you're reusing 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:34.840 your artificial tree for more than twenty years, it's actually 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:37.080 more environmentally friendly just to cut down a tree every 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.840 single year. Wow. So that's true. Yeah, so I I 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:44.440 guess they're quoting this environmental consulting firm from Montreal, and 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:48.360 they took into account it's as greenhouse gas emissions, use 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:51.520 of resources, and human health impacts, which I guess I 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:54.680 never would have guest. But here's my fact. Do you 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:56.800 know that the first artificial trees were actually made of 0:06:56.880 --> 0:07:00.320 green dyed goose feathers. I did not know that. This 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:02.200 comes from a book on the History of Christmas by 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:05.800 Bruce David Forbes. But the goose feather trees came from 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:09.039 Germany and reached the US in nine hundred and according 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:12.320 to Forbes quote, customers like the one time expense instead 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:15.160 of an annual outlay at escalating costs, and the artificial 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:18.560 trees boasted no pine needles and less fire hazards. That 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:20.920 actually reminds me that weird fact of how miniature golf 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:24.280 greens used to use dyed goat hair for the artificial ground. 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.280 That's right, so weird. So where do you want to 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:28.920 go from here? All right? Well, how about the fact 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:31.520 that Christmas trees used to be a whole lot tinier. 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:34.040 In fact, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the main 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.840 present delivery system was gifts and the stockings, and instead 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:40.040 of the tree being on the floor on a table, 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:43.120 it was actually pretty common to hang the tree from 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:46.080 a ceiling or from the rafts. It kind of sounds 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:48.120 like I'm just making this up, this is true. In fact, 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:50.480 one article I found said that families would even hang 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:53.760 the tree upside down to point the route toward heaven 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:59.000 and supposedly fill the tree with divine power. Like that 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:01.640 just would be so creepy, like a hanging tree. And 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:03.480 then the fact that like everyone was doing this at 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:06.240 the time. It's nuts you have a different take on this. 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:08.840 I kind of want to try this next year. Well, 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:10.720 I know we've got a fumer facts to go about 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:28.880 before that. Let's take a quick break. Welcome back to 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:31.440 Part time Genius. We were talking about hanging Christmas trees. 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:34.440 So will what fact are you gonna go onto next? 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:36.840 I think one of the things I found most fascinating 0:08:36.880 --> 0:08:39.480 this week was learning that after we started bringing bigger 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:43.040 trees indoors and not hanging them from the raft, they 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:45.640 still didn't quite look like the trees that we have today. 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:48.080 Why is that, Well, I'm sure you've heard about how 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:50.440 people used to put lit candles on trees, like in 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:53.640 the era before light. Well, to make that happen, you 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:56.000 need a lot of space between the branches, you know, 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:57.920 so the candles aren't lighting the needles that are on 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:00.600 top of those. So the ideal you of a century 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:03.480 go was really like a whole lot more sparse and patchy. 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:05.920 And then you'd use that extra room in there, not 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:08.520 just to light the candles, but you'd hide these extra 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:10.520 treats for your kids, which I can imagine that was, 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:12.439 you know, pretty fun for them to find like little 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:14.760 gifts in there. And and then when, of course, you know, 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:18.160 the electric lights came along, all of that space disappeared. 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:20.520 And that's when we started getting these more full trees 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.120 and the gifts started moving down to the floor. I 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:26.080 can't imagine Christmas tree shopping with my wife back then, 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:29.959 just like not having a patchy enough tree got to 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:33.440 be more patchy. But weirdly enough, the first electric Christmas 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:36.480 lights actually go way back to the eighteen eighties. That's 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:39.760 apparently when Thomas Edison's vice president at his company, they 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:42.400 rigged up the tree with lights. And so then g 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.320 E came out with lights in nineteen o one, and 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:47.520 this is all from that same book on Christmas. And 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:50.000 in nineteen oh three, ever Ready came out with the 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:52.960 first string of eight lights, and it just of course 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.079 kind of took off from there. But I really had 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:57.000 no idea that it all started that early. I know, 0:09:57.120 --> 0:10:00.720 in that's crazy to think about. So, uh, speaking of 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.040 Christmas tree lights, I've actually got a fact. I think 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:04.480 you're gonna love and I think it's a great way 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:06.680 to go out. So in two thousand and ten, the 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.000 Colombian government was trying to figure out how to reach 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:11.600 guerilla separatists and and kind of try to get them 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:14.240 to put down their weapons and come home. So this 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:16.480 ad executive actually came up with this idea and he 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:18.640 shared it with the government and they decided to try 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.080 it out. And they basically put up all these motion 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.680 sensor Christmas lights, just strings of lights up on trees 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:28.160 and strategic places. Right, So they picked nine pathways through 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:31.079 the jungle and they did this in that area and basically, 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:33.640 whenever the sensor tripped, the lights would go up and 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.600 this message would illuminate that said, if Christmas can come 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:40.000 to the jungle, you can come home, demobilize at Christmas. 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:42.680 Everything is possible. Of course, that's an interesting idea, but 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:46.000 it did it work. Yes, so it was surprisingly effective. 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:49.040 About three fifty people or so, this was about five 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.760 percent of the guerrillas came home that year and put 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:55.280 down their arms and rejoined civilization. And uh, it's convinced 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:57.319 the government to do this almost every year since. So 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.760 they use slightly different tactics, but every year more and 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.080 more people are coming home to their moms. I mean, 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.360 I think that's pretty great. I have to admit it. 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:07.679 I think I'm going to give you the final prize 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:11.440 of the years. Congratulations. Well I also love the fact 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:12.720 that you can hook up a tree to an I 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:15.200 v SO in the Christmas fare. Why don't we share 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:18.640 it with you? Me gave Tristan, even Julian. All right, 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:21.000 well I'm for that now. Listeners were all for the holidays, 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:23.079 but we'll be back next year with a whole new 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:25.600 season of shows. Thank you for the kind reviews and 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:27.600 all the facts and the letters you send, and we 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:29.679 love hearing from you, and thanks so much for listening.