As the Christmas special says, Christmas time is here. And this being a blog concerned with wood, and by virtue of that , trees too, I thought I’d post some facts, and some personal thoughts, about the history of the Christmas tree. This is a festive post!
Christmas is a Judeo-Christian holiday, of course. But, like nearly everything in that tradition, it borrows heavily from other traditions too. This is certainly the case with the Christmas tree, although there are several apocryphal stories about it originating from Christian traditions.
Trees have been a part of religious traditions since civilization began (and probably before that!). As religious symbols, they’ve featured heavily in the cultures of Egyptian, Roman, Norse, and of course in ancient Celtic traditions before Christianity came to the British Isles. And as such, appropriating some of the imagery of those traditions into the idea of Christmas can probably looked upon as shrewd marketing by missionaries.
For instance, the placement of Christmas in December corresponds quite nicely the pagan Winter Solstice holiday, where trees feature heavily. And bringing the imagery of trees into Christmas meant that no one really had to give anything up when it came to celebrating the season, if they converted. There have been all kinds of stories about how Christmas trees became so entwined with the original Christmas story. There’s a lot of controversy around this, apparently.
But, maybe the most important thing of all of this for me is the physical presence of a real tree in the home. I grew up with the fake tree, since it was convenient not to have to lug a whole tree home every year. But, when I got married, the presence of a real tree was fundamental and non-negotiable in our house.
And rightly so. There is a lot to be said for a real tree - the feel of it, and the lovely pine aroma too. I like that my daughter will likely associate Christmas with the smell of pine. Maybe this is the most important part of the history of Christmas trees; the histories of Christmases we make with our families that shimmer in our memories for years afterward.
Recently, the snows came to beautiful Vancouver where we at BuildDirect are situated. As such, our sales team flashed into action. And in between talking with customers and making sure everyone gets what they ordered, they decided that the best way to expand the sales force is to get in a new member of the team in place. So, being creative types, they made one.
This is of course, nonsense.
What they did do of course was to go out on our east-facing balcony and make a good, old-fashioned snowman. Take a look:
I’m not sure if he’s got a name by now. But, we’re open to suggestions.
I’ve been reading about a local firm in Massachusetts which has brought together a love of woodworking with green building practices. And their main tool for this? A portable sawmill.
An upcoming feature on the This Old House program, Woodpecker Industries is the brainchild of Michael D. Moore and Noella M. Senecal. Their vision was to allow local builders to draw their resources locally, and to therefore add something of green building principles to their local area at the same time.
Here’s an article that talks a bit more about Woodpecker Industries and their upcoming appearance on This Old House.
The wood they cut is used for framing, custom wood flooring, and crates, and is cut on the building site with the use of a portable sawmill. This saves the cost of shipping from bigger lumber distribution sites, seeing as all the wood is local, and is cut to order locally too. It’s kind of a neat innovation that subverts the traditional way of getting building materials to a job site, which we at BuildDirect can appreciate.
When I think of a sawmill, I think more of a location than I do a piece of equipment. I guess I’ve watched a lot of movies where there are epic struggles at the old sawmill, dodging this way and that to avoid getting chopped up by the giant bandsaw. Maybe I watch too much TV. That’s another post on another blog.
Yet, there are many different varieties of portable sawmills in use today, all derived from equipment used since human beings first decided it would be a good idea to build things using wood. Portable sawmilling has a unique history that has evolved from two men with a big saw, to gasoline powered portable sawmills used on woodlots and major lumbering sites.
I guess the ultimate in green building using this kind of equipment would be a portable sawmill that runs on bio-diesel. But, one step at a time.
Last night, myself and our CEO Jeff Boothattended a special event for local bloggers in Vancouver - the Best of 604, which was organized and hosted by local blogging superheroine Rebecca Bollwitt. It seems that people really like us around these parts. And considering how vibrant our community is, and how talented, it’s nice to be acknowledged.
We won a runner-up prize for best business blog, under which this wood flooring blog falls. Thanks to everyone who voted, and congratulations to Raincity Studios who won first-prize in our category.
There are loads of reclaimed wood stories out there, and some of them are downright incredible. One of the most attractive aspects of reclaimed wood of course is how it enables good stewardship of natural resources. It minimizes waste. Another big aspect to this is how it also ties a new interior to an historical tradition. But, some of the most incredible stories are the one which show how resilient hardwood really is under some very harsh conditions, and how suitable it is for second use afterward.
Here’s a story about reclaimed wood which tells the tale of wood that was buried in the depths of time, as well as in the literal depths - it was underwater for centuries in some cases!
In the 1800s, before a modern network of shipping and railroads for transporting commodity goods like timber existed, a lot of these materials were transported exclusively using river systems and lakes to float the logs to where they needed to go. This is still a practice in many remote areas, of course. And many logs still find their way to the bottom of water systems. Some of the more dense logs, being as they are so heavy, are usually the ones that sink while on their journey downstream. In floating to the bottoms of rivers and lakes, the icy waters actually help to preserve the wood over long periods of time.
Flash forward to today. A trend with reclaimed wood operations has seen fit to salvage these logs, cut in the 1800s, yet planed and cut into flooring planks using modern methods today. And voila! A seasoned wood floor that adds character to interiors, where before the wood only added character to the bottom of a river bed or lake.
The innovation and imagination involved in an operation like this is truly impresssive to me. An important aspect of green building seems to be identifying sources of materials in places that are largely taken for granted or forgotten entirely. In this, I really think the creativity of building materials companies are the future for the industry, and play a big role in preserving the future in general.
Cheers,
Rob.
Logging image courtesy of miguelb. This shot was taken in Prince Rupert, Northern British Columbia.
Lately, a lot of building material suppliers have been forced to close their doors as a result of the down economy. As a result, the market is now flooded with liquidated material. No doubt, this presents a great opportunity for those looking for inexpensive flooring.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that the vast majority of this product is sold without warranty simply because the vendor will no longer be around to take care of any claims. Essentially, today’s savings must be weighed against the potential for tomorrow’s headaches.
For many, ’tis the season for dragging a tree across your living room floor, placing it in a metal base, and watering it to keep it from drying out. Maybe that’s not a very festive way of putting it. But the point is, when you’ve got a real Christmas tree, it has an impact on the rest of your life too, including your floors.
Here’s an article which submits a few Christmas tree tips when you’ve got a real tree and wood flooring too. And for good measure, there are a few tips too about controlling moisture and foot traffic that comes with having friends and family over.
Here are a few suggested the article makes:
Put a plastic sheet down beneath the base, so that when you water the tree, your floors won’t suffer from any spillage
Watch for increased ‘pet activity’, by which I mean pee. Think about it. You’ve put a tree in your living room.
To control spills, and moisture from the boots of visitors, dry mop spills as soon as they happen.
I love Christmas, and all of the things that go with it. But, sometimes when I think about it in a certain way, it seems absolutely absurd to put a tree in my living room. Sometimes, I think it’s just a weird thing to want to do. Still, as long as we’re doing it, it makes sense to get the best practices on it, like anything else.
Fairly recently, I wrote a post and embedded a video for the Save Miguel campaign. Basically, that campaign is in place to raise awareness for how the maintanence of cork oak bark harvesting, which is where ‘corks’ for wine bottles (and flooring, actually) comes from, helps to preserve the eco-system in Portugal. With the rise of alternate materials for wine ‘corks’, this delicate balance helped along by a 300-year old industry is now somewhat tenuous.
The problem remains to be the question of demand. Now that there are alternatives to cork for wine stoppers, local farmers are having to consider alternate crops in order to make ends meet.
But there remains to be compelling evidence that cork oak harvesting, as opposed to cash crops, really does have less impact on the environment, and is even beneficial to it. For instance, no land has to be cleared to harvest cork. No animals are left to find other areas to find food and shelter, either. And cork oaks are major sources of CO2 absorption too. Clearing the land of them to make way for cash crops would curtail these benefits.
Here’s another article about the wine cork industry and the environment, this time from Britain’s the Daily Mail online which discusses the issues involved. In the meantime, getting back to the Save Miguel campaign, we are encouraged to buy wines that use real cork in order to support the centuries-old cork industry, of which cork flooring is by-product after the wine corks are made.
I came across a great online community of flooring installers and enthusiasts called The Floor Pro Community . It’s a great site to get your questions answered by the folks who actually install the stuff. I’ve signed on myself so will be asking questions and giving my two cents here and there. I invite you to do the same.
Comments (0) Posted by Tom on Monday, December 1st, 2008
Welcome To
Choosing Hardwood Flooring
Thanks for visiting
Choosing Hardwood Flooring .
Spend sometime to look around and check
out some of our posts. We would love to hear
feedback from you, so feel free to leave comments and questions..
If you like it here, don't forget
to bookmark it (press Ctrl+D).
Christmas is a Judeo-Christian holiday, of course. But, like nearly everything in that tradition, it borrows heavily from other traditions too. This is certainly the case with the Christmas tree, although there are several apocryphal stories about it originating from Christian traditions.
The wood they cut is used for framing, custom wood flooring, and crates, and is cut on the building site with the use of a portable sawmill. This saves the cost of shipping from bigger lumber distribution sites, seeing as all the wood is local, and is cut to order locally too. It’s kind of a neat innovation that subverts the traditional way of getting building materials to a job site, which we at BuildDirect can appreciate.
In the 1800s, before a modern network of shipping and railroads for transporting commodity goods like timber existed, a lot of these materials were transported exclusively using river systems and lakes to float the logs to where they needed to go. This is still a practice in many remote areas, of course. And many logs still find their way to the bottom of water systems. Some of the more dense logs, being as they are so heavy, are usually the ones that sink while on their journey downstream. In floating to the bottoms of rivers and lakes, the icy waters actually help to preserve the wood over long periods of time.
But there remains to be compelling evidence that cork oak harvesting, as opposed to cash crops, really does have less impact on the environment, and is even beneficial to it. For instance, no land has to be cleared to harvest cork. No animals are left to find other areas to find food and shelter, either. And 
