Rome Removes Giant Papier-Mache Christmas Tree

Controversial Roman Christmas tree (photo from La Repubblica)

Rome, reeling from the Euro crisis and the country's sovereign debt crisis, responded swiftly to a controversy about a Christmas tree. According to an Agence France-Presse story appearing in Yahoo, the Italian capital's city council decided to remove a massive white papier-mache holiday tree after the item had one day in the public eye. The tree, located in the Eternal City's equivalent of Times Square, resembled an inverted ice cream cone. Apparently, its design, characterized by the Roman daily La Repubblica as "postmodern," was considered in poor taste. (La Repubblica has 13 photos of the tree, and they're worth checking out.)

The episode reminds me of arguments over the virtues of "real" versus artificial Christmas trees I've had over the years. For a long time, I was in the traditionalist camp. I grew up in a town where my two brothers once went into the nearby countryside, chopped down a tree, and brought it back on a sled. It was unthinkable, until a few years ago, to have an artificial Christmas tree in my home. However, I finally relented and we purchased a fake tree.

It's standing in our living room now, in the throes of being decorated. I've learned to appreciate and even like the artificial tree. It's not as elegant or as self-consciously avant-garde as the Roman version. Then again, I think the Romans, a notoriously opinionated lot, would rather have something like our tree.