Christmas by the Pound

Several people have commented to me this year about the high cost of Christmas trees. This is puzzling.

You wouldn’t complain about paying $50 dollars for an elaborate bouquet of flowers from a florist — but for an eight-foot tree that will stand in your house for a month? Inconceivable!

Maybe it’s easier if we break it down into something we all understand: cost per pound.

My Christmas tree is a cut-your-own from Bob’s Trees (“Millions of Branches to Serve You”) that cost $45. I’m guesstimating here, but let’s say it weighed forty pounds. That breaks down to just $1.12 a pound. If you ask me, $1.12 a pound for an agricultural product that took ten years to grow is a bargain.

Go ahead and do your own calculations — but I don’t think you’ll find the price of your tree to be outrageous, regardless of the numbers you plug in.

I hate to suggest that we can quantify everything strictly by price. It’s hard to factor value into this equation — and that varies from person to person. To me, having that tree is the more important than receiving even a single gift.

But if you think $1.12 per pound is too much, maybe you would be happier with an artificial tree that you can use over and over. No fuss, no mess, and — as I’m sure our anscestors might suggest — no soul.

7 thoughts on “Christmas by the Pound

    1. It’s mysterious. Not that $40 – $50 is chump change; times are tough and there are people making hard choices about spending this year.

      Anyway, it was good to go out and actually hand my money to the guy who grew the tree — which may make up for me shopping for books at evil Amazon.

  1. Alas my soul has parted thus,
    a folding tree without the fuss,
    my love for pine and needle nights
    demurs to one with push-on lights.
    I scant regret my choice of tree
    my dog has one less thing to pee (on)….
    Apologies to the bard.. 😉

  2. Sunday the 18th- Price Chopper by Wilton Mall- 7 foot tree 20 bucks..See waiting until the last minute can be a good thing..sometimes..

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