In order to get some answers to Christmas tree-related questions, we got in touch with an actual Christmas expert! James Cooper is a true fan of Christmas and has been talking about it on many radio and media channels. For more questions related to Christmas, feel free to visit his very informative website whychristmas.com and social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

James believes that the Christmas tree should look as you would like. He wrote: “To me, a perfect Christmas tree is one that YOU like! It’s your tree, decorate it how you want. Like millions of flashing lights?! Go for it (although watch the electric and the power bill)! If you prefer a nice ’tasteful’ tree, also very nice.”

If you haven’t decided on your Christmas tree vibe yet, well, time is ticking. Obviously, no rush, you do you. But maybe some inspiration will come from James. He shared what his perfect Christmas tree is like.“I have a Nativitree - everything on the tree is something to do with the Christmas story. I’m a Christian so this is a fun way for me to display the Christmas story in my house. Ornaments on it include a fluffy sheep, donkey, and camel, as well as stars and three little wise men. One decoration is a red bauble from a Los Angeles-based Baseball team, that was given to me by a friend a few years ago. What’s a baseball ornament got to do with the Christmas story? Well, it’s got the word 'Angels' on it!” the Christmas expert wrote.

Christmas has so many traditions. They vary from country to country and even from family to family. Some practices may come from generations before, while others are quite new, e.g. Elf on the Shelf, and some are - simply put - bizarre.

Christmas expert James shared some of the weirdest Christmas traditions surrounding Christmas trees.“Well, the first public Christmas Trees were set on fire! It dates back to the late 1400s/early 1500s. There’s an argument between the cities of Tallinn in Estonia (in 1441) and Riga, Latvia in 1510 as to who had the first big public tree - both make that claim! The trees were put up by the 'Brotherhood of Blackheads,' an association of unmarried merchants, ship owners, and foreigners in Livonia - what is now Estonia and Latvia (so trees would have started near Lithuania, the home of Bored Panda!). We don’t know much about the trees apart from that they were set up in the town squares, danced around, and then set on fire!”

While Eastern Europeans chose to dance around burning trees, people in Spain would put a log under the tree.

“In the Catalonia region of Spain, you might find something rather unusual under your tree - the 'Tió de Nadal' (the Christmas log) otherwise known as the 'Caga tió' (pooping log!). It's a small hollow log propped up on two legs with a smiling face painted on one end (a log version of Thomas the Tank Engine) and it wears a red hat. From the 8th of December Catalan families give the log goodies to 'eat' and a blanket to keep it warm. On Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, you sing a special song and hit the log with sticks to help its 'digestion' and the log drops sweets, nuts, and dried fruits. When garlic or an onion falls out of the log, all of the treats are finished for the year!” shared James.

Christmas trees have evolved through time. So it is only natural that they continue to change in popularity, shape, size, decorations, etc.

James shared: “Christmas trees didn’t become ‘popular’ in the UK and USA until the late 1840s/1850s - even though they’d been used in much of Europe for a couple of hundred years by that point. (There’s no mention of a tree in ‘A Christmas Carol’ published in 1843!) The breakthrough came when a drawing of the tree belonging to the British Royal family was published in a London Newspaper in 1848. The drawing was then published in the USA in 1850 - but they removed the Queen's crown and Prince Albert's mustache to make it look ‘American’ (and an early form of photoshop)!”

If you feel like learning more about all Christmas tree-related topics or just Christmas in general, go ahead and read about them on James' website here.