Christmas customs and traditions are many and varied. One of the best-known, at least in the U.S., is the Christmas tree.
Evergreens
Evergreen trees, like mistletoe and other evergreen plants, have been used in pagan and Christian winter festivals for thousands of years. The Romans decorated their temples during the festival of Saturnalia with fir trees. When these trees began being used as Christmas trees is unknown, but probably one thousand years ago in Northern Europe.
They may have begun as “Paradise Trees,” trees decorated with apples to represent the Garden of Eden in German Mystery or Miracle plays. These plays told bible stories to those who couldn’t read the bible.
Both Tallinn, Estonia (in 1441) and Riga, Latvia (in 1510) claim the first documented use of a tree at Christmas. In both cases, the trees were erected by the “Brotherhood of Blackheads,” an association of local merchants, ship owners, and unmarried foreigners. The only other things known about these “trees” is they were set in the town square, the Brotherhood danced around them, then set them on fire.
Individual Christmas Trees
It’s believed that in about 1536, German preacher, Martin Luther, was the first person to have a Christmas tree in his house. According to the story, as he walked through the woods one night before Christmas, Luther looked up through the branches and marveled at the stars he saw shining in the sky. He told his children the sight reminded him of how Jesus left heaven’s stars to come to earth at Christmas. Wanting to recreate this picture, Luther brought in a tree and decorated it with candles to represent the stars.
King George III’s wife, Queen Charlotte, is believed to have had the first Christmas tree in England. She introduced the wealthy to this custom she’d known growing up in Germany. It became so popular that by the time she died in 1818, it had become a tradition with the nobles.
In the late 1700s or early 1800s, German immigrants introduced the Christmas tree to the U.S. However, even as late as the 1840s, Christmas trees weren’t widely accepted because Americans still saw them as pagan symbols.
Did You Know…
- New York woodsman, Mark Carr, is credited with opening the first U.S. Christmas tree lot in 1851.
- The first president to put an official Christmas tree in the White House is believed to be Franklin Pierce (1853-1857).
- In 1901, President Teddy Roosevelt banned Christmas trees in the White House, concerned about the environmental effects cutting trees would have. (His sons obviously didn’t agree because they took a small tree cut on the White House grounds, decorated it, and hid it in a closet until Christmas morning.)
- Approximately 25-30 million Christmas trees are harvested and sold in the U.S. each year.
- Christmas tree farms are found in all fifty states, but California, Oregon, Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina are the top Christmas-tree-producing states.
- There are more than 630 different kinds of Christmas trees, and most take an average of six to eight years to be fully grown. For every tree harvested, one to three seedlings are planted the following spring.
Decorations
The first Christmas trees in Germany were decorated with things that could be eaten, like apples and gingerbread. Baby Jesus initially topped them, though this eventually changed to the Wise Men’s star or the shepherds’ angel.
Candles decorated the tree, and a Christmas tree “carpet” was placed under it, not around it. This heavy fabric caught the tree’s needles and protected the floor or table from dripping wax. Tree “carpets” became tree “skirts” when inexpensive but less attractive tree holders became popular.
Did You Know…
- Lead and glass decorations first appeared in the 1860s and 1870s. In the U.S., Woolworth’s started selling glass ornaments in 1880.
- In 1882, Edward H. Johnson, Thomas Edison’s friend and partner, hand-wired red, white, and blue light bulbs together and wound them around his Christmas tree.
- In 1895, U.S. President Grover Cleveland had the first White House Christamas tree decorated with electric lights.
- On December 10, 2010, in Malmedy, Belgium, a Christmas tree with 194,672 lights—the most lights lit on a tree at the same time—was turned on.
Your Tradition
Whether your Christmas tree is real or artificial, large or small, decorated with white or colored lights, there’s no wrong way to enjoy this particular Christmas tradition.
For me, there’s nothing better than watching the Christmas tree’s lights dance in a dark room while drinking a mug of hot chocolate (or a glass of boiled custard) and listening to traditional Christmas carols.
Whatever your tradition, I wish you the same enjoyment.
Merry Christmas!