A 'humble' Christmas tree bought 103 years ago and decorated every year by its owner is going under the hammer at an Oxfordshire auction house.
The modest and unassuming tree was likely bought from Woolworths for around 6p by the family of eight-year-old Dorothy Grant in 1920.
The 31-inch high tree, featuring 25 branches, 12 berries and six mini candle holders, was at the centre of family celebrations.
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The humble tree is grounded in a small wooden base, which is painted red with a simple decorative emblem.
As a child Ms Grant decorated the artificial tree with cotton wool to resemble snow, and she went on to proudly display it for another 94 Christmases.
After Ms Grant died aged 101 in January 2014, the precious festive heirloom was passed onto her daughter Shirley Hall.
The 84-year-old, who lives near Loughborough, Leicestershire, is now selling the tree so someone else can enjoy it this Christmas.
It is expected to sell for between £60 and £80 but could fetch far more when it goes under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers’ Oxfordshire Fine Art and Antiques Auction, Banbury, on Friday (December 15).
Bargain Hunt star Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said: “It has to be the humblest Christmas tree in the world. But as simple as it was, Ms Grant loved it.
“It represented the magic of Christmas and became a staple part of family celebrations for decades.
“The fact that it brought such joy to Ms Grant is humbling in itself.
“It reminds us that extravagance and excess are not required to capture the spirit of Christmas.
“For Ms Grant it was enough to have a tree.
“It may appear sparse to us today but to her it was special. She enjoyed decorating it with cotton wool to make it look as if it was sprinkled with snow.”
The cute tree formed the centrepiece of festive decorations at Ms Grant’s family home in Forest Road, Loughborough.
Mr Hanson added: “We understand Dorothy’s mother, who was born in 1891, bought the tree in 1920, which would make it 103 years old.
“It’s likely she purchased it from Woolworths.
“The popular department store started selling some of the first mass-produced artificial trees around that time and Woolworths opened a store in Leicester in 1915.
“Some of the first artificial Christmas trees utilised machinery which had been designed to manufacture toilet brushes.
“This is one of the earliest Christmas trees of its type we have seen.”
A similar tree purchased in Scotland in 1937, sold for £150 in 2019 while another one fetched £420 in 2017.
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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.
Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.
Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1
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