Taking Christmas up a Notch

Out of Carolina come Christmas trees that start at 40-feet tall and go up from there. The “presents” placed beneath the trees need to be gift-wrapped appliance boxes to have the right scale. These babies can’t be tied on top of your SUV — their branches have to be lashed down so they don’t wave into oncoming lanes on the road, and some are too big for 100-foot flat-bed trucks. The price runs from $1,000 a foot to $2,000 a foot. The story of how cities, companies, and some indulgent individuals get really big Christmas trees.