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I recently visited a major supplier of artificial Christmas trees on a buying trip to see first hand what they had to offer. Frankly, I was amazed at the vast selection of pre lit Christmas trees that had in every shape, size and color. I had no idea that there were so many kinds of artificial trees to choose from. It was a great trip and I learned what goes into making a quality pre-lit Christmas tree. Here is what I learned.

Technology has changed over the years and artificial trees have been the beneficiary of these advancements. Artificial trees of the past had twisted wire limbs with plastic strips of various colors. By varying the length of each wire limb, the manufacturer creates a perfectly shaped Christmas tree. Unfortunately, you can see the ugly wire at the end of each limb like you could on those silver trees you saw at Grandma's house. This technique is still used by manufacturers who produce low cost artificial lighted trees.

On the other hand, quality Christmas trees utilize new injection molding techniques that create amazing realistic looking trees. Gone are the exposed twisted metal limbs with tacky exposed wire ends. Gone are the perfect shapes which identified the fake tree from the real ones. From a distance you can't tell that they were not the real thing. It's incredible!

Artificial trees that I have seen in the past looked plastic because their shape was too perfect and the color of the tree did not vary. They looked like plastic cones with ornaments. The new trees have character, color variations and random limb patterns very close to the real thing. Some are adorned with pine cones as well as light flocking to simulate snow. You can even pick your favorite type of lighted artificial tree, lighted wreaths or pre-lit garland from the following tree categories:

' Windsor Fir
' Blue Grand Fir
' Balsam Fir
' Dakota Fir
' Oregon Fir
' Blue Noble Fir
' White Mixed Fir
' Douglas Fir
' Glacier Fir
' Sierra Fir
' Hawthorne Fir
' Tiffany Fir
' Everest Fir
' Giant Everest Fir

Artificial Christmas trees come in many heights to fit the space you have in your home or office.

Small ' Trees in the range of 4 feet to 6 feet in height.
Medium ' Trees in the range of 7 feet to 11 feet in height.
Large - Trees in the range of 12 feet to 30 feet in height.

Artificial Christmas trees come in many shapes to fit the space you have in your home or office.

Slim ' Space saving design with base diameter of approximately 4 feet.
Medium ' Traditional tree with base diameter of approximately 5 feet.
Full - Traditional tree with base diameter of approximately 6 feet or more.

Other advancements in artificial tree technology are the introduction of the Everlit Light Strings. These commercial grade lighting fixtures eliminate string failure should one or more lamp fail. That's right, no more checking the bulbs or having to try and fix lights on the tree after it is decorated!