Feather Trees
Feather Christmas trees were first created in Germany in the 1880's or 1890's and are regarded as one of the first types of artificial Christmas trees. These first artificial trees were, in part, a response to growing environmental concerns in the late 19th century concerning deforestation associated with the harvest of Christmas trees in Germany. The tradition of feather Christmas trees was brought to the United States by German immigrants in places such as Pennsylvania and Texas.
Feather Christmas trees became popular during the early 20th century, and were sold by department stores in the United States. Benefits touted for feather trees included the elimination of a trip to the tree lot and the lack of shed needles.