A Christmas tree dubbed the “most humble in the world” has offered at public sale for £2,600.
The 103-year-old tree, which is barely 31 inches tall with 25 branches and 12 faux berries, fetched nicely above inital estimations of £60-80.
Originally introduced in 1920, the bogus tree was gifted to Loughborough resident Dorothy Grant within the aftermath of the First World War.
It served as her Christmas tree from when she was eight-years-old till she died in 2014, on the age of 101.
It was then inherited by Ms Grant’s daughter Shirley Hall, 84, who lives close to Loughborough.
Hansons Auctioneers, in Banbury, Oxfordshire, described the public sale end result as “astonishing” and put the excessive promoting worth right down to the “magic of Christmas”.
“The humblest Christmas tree in the world has a new home and we’re delighted for both buyer and seller,” public sale home proprietor, Charles Hanson, mentioned.
“It would have been bought for pennies originally but it’s sold for thousands and that’s astonishing. I think it’s down to the power of nostalgia. Dorothy’s story resonated with people.”
Experts say comparable timber have been offered for as much as £420 up to now, however Ms Grant’s tree has “truly excelled”.
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Mr Hanson mentioned the tree could have been bought from the now-defunct excessive road chain Woolworths, which began promoting among the first mass-produced synthetic timber within the early Nineteen Twenties.
Artificial timber have been often created from dyed feathers till the primary bristle-style synthetic tree was made by Addis Housewares Company in 1930.
Mr Hanson mentioned the tree was “one of the earliest Christmas trees of its type we have seen”.
“The seller decided to part with it to honour her mother’s memory and to ensure it survives as a humble reminder of 1920s life – a boom-to-bust decade,” he mentioned.
“The Roaring Twenties saw major advances in science and technology. But the decade also brought the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.
“Sadly, battle, the aftermath of a pandemic and financial instability are nonetheless with us. But, then as now, Christmas pleasure won’t ever be dampened.”
Source: information.sky.com”