The History of Christmas Trees & Ornaments
Very few people now avoid the tradition of decorating the house at Christmas time. Even many non-Christians join in with the celebrations, a lot of which have transcended religion over the past few decades. Trees have also become a fixture of shared community spaces such as town squares and shopping malls. The tradition of decorating the home at Christmas has been established for centuries, and many of the methods used go back even further. Does this Spark an idea?
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Evergreen Trees
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Long before Christianity, evergreen trees had special meaning to people during winter. Many ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over doors and windows in a bid to ward off witches, demons and disease. Evergreen trees also formed a part of the winter solstice celebrations that gave thanks for the return of the sun god to full strength. The solstice took place on the 21st or 22nd of December. These evergreens also became a symbol of everlasting life.
Early Christmas Trees
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Germany is widely credited with beginning the tradition of the Christmas tree. During the 16th century, devout German Christians brought trees into their homes and decorated them with wood and candles. It is widely believed that the Protestant reformer Martin Luther was the first to add candles to a tree in a bid to replicate the beauty of the stars glistening in an evergreen forest.
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The Spread of Christmas Trees
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Christmas trees spread to Britain with the unpopular Hanoverian kings of England but did not really catch on among the public until Queen Victoria was seen preserving the tradition. Trees gradually spread across Europe at this time, but many 19th century Americans thought them odd. The first record of a tree in America comes in 1830 when German settlers in Pennsylvania were ordered to take their tree down as it was thought to be a return to paganism. In England, the fashion continued as Victoria's German husband Albert began decorating the tree at Windsor with candles, sweets, fruit and gingerbread. As wealthy families followed suit, more and more extravagant decorations became common.
American Trees
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After the death of Victoria, the use of Christmas trees fell into decline in Britain, but by the 1930s the tradition was back, inspired by the return to fashion of the literature of Charles Dickens. In America, the tradition had been growing from the end of the 19th century and began to take hold with the advent of artificial trees at the turn of the century. German immigrants were largely responsible for the American adoption of the tradition. By now trees were decorated with tinsel, glass baubles, wire ornaments and the first electric lights. The size and decoration of a tree became a status symbol.
Communal Trees
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As technology improved, large, decorated trees were erected in communal areas. Electric lights and hardy materials for making ornaments allow fully decorated trees to remain outside throughout the Christmas period. Examples include the tree at Rockefeller Center in New York or the huge trees displayed annually in Trafalgar Square, London. Changes in fashion dictate the ornaments used to decorate trees both at home and outside. Artificial trees now come in a variety of colors. Many ornaments are now made of plastic.
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- Photo Credit christmas tree image by M3Dia Solution from Fotolia.com
