A 103-year-old artificial Christmas tree in Britain, the first to be mass-produced, has sold at auction for more than $4,000.
Henson Auctioneers said the 7-foot-tall Christmas tree, described as the “world’s stupidest Christmas tree,” sold for a total of $4,296.13.
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The tree was brought to Dorothy Grant’s family home in 1920, when she was 8, and became a holiday fixture until her death at the age of 101.
The tree, which has 25 branches, 12 berries and six small candles, is believed to be one of the first mass-produced artificial Christmas trees and may have been purchased by Grant’s mother from Woolworths in London.
“Simply put, Dorothy loved this tree,” Charles Henson, owner of Henson Auctioneers, said in a press release. “It has been a permanent element of family celebrations for several decades. Just the fact that he brought them so much joy is humbling. It reminds us of the need for extravagance and excess to capture the spirit of Christmas. No, that was enough, Dorota. Tree.
The tree was given to Grant’s daughter, Shirley Hall, 84, who lives near Loughborough, England.
“The seller has chosen to keep it to honor his mother’s memory and to ensure it survives as a modest reminder of life in the 1920s – a decade of violent depression. World War I and the Spanish Flu.” Despite the devastation caused by the pandemic, optimism has returned,” Hanson said.