Hi Joni,

It’s hard to be certain what type of tree the artist had in mind, so I reached out to Mike Hogan, who writes for the Columbus Dispatch and is an OSU Extension Educator for Agriculture & Natural Resources in Franklin County.

“You know, it is really difficult to tell as it looks to be a drawing or print and not an actual photo. Based on its general size and appearance, I am guessing that it is a Balsam, which was very typical from 1940’s through the 1960’s. (It looks exactly like the Christmas trees of my youth in the 1960’s in New York City!) The general shape and appearance is different from Balsam trees available today simply because these trees were not sheared like they are today. Back then it was common to harvest wild trees as well, something that isn’t done by the industry today.”

I hope this helps,