EVER WONDER by Jacque Scott: Christmas Trees

Christmas Trees

It is Christmas time, the most beloved of all seasons and holidays.  As a child I remember countless hours spent lying beneath the Christmas tree in my home just watching the lights dance on the tinsel.  I have to admit that I still get the urge to do that  from time to time.  It is all so magical.  Today let’s see is we can find out some of the origins of the traditional Christmas tree.

The fir tree has long standing ties with Christianity.  In Germany, about 1,000 years ago, St Boniface converted the German people to Christianity.  He came across a group of pagans who were worshiping an oak tree and became very angry.  He cut down the oak tree, and a young fir tree grew from the roots.  St Boniface took this as a sign of the Christian faith.  But it was not until the 16th century that fir trees were brought inside at Christmas time.

Germany also gave us many of our customs, songs and glass ornaments.  Queen Victoria traveled to the town of Coburg in Germany to visit relatives and fell in love with Prince Albert.  They married and moved back to England.  He brought the custom of a Christmas tree back to his family and decorated it with fancy blown glass ornaments.  Soon everyone in England had trees with glass ornaments.

In 1890, F. W. Woolworth brought the glass ornament tradition to the United States.  Germany made the finest glass ornaments from the 1870’s to the 1930’s, and at the turn of the century there were over one hundred glass small blowing workshops in Europe.  Only two factories remain in Germany today that can produce the exquisite ornaments made at the turn of the century.

At the height of turn of the century ornament making, almost all of the ornaments were made in Lauscha, a small town in the Thuringian mountains.  However after WWI, glass ornament production declined.  Quantity became more important than quality.

In the 1960’s, aluminum trees became the fad, and ornaments were all bought in the same shape and color.  Many people threw away the wonderful old glass ornaments from Germany.  Christopher Radko brought back the old art of making fine glass ornaments in the 1980’s.

King Tut never saw a Christmas tree, but he would have loved the tradition.  Egyptians were part of a culture that treasured and worshipped evergreens.  When the winter solstice arrived, they brought green date palms leaves into their homes to symbolize life’s triumph over death.

The Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a fest called Saturnalia, named after the God Saturnus, the god of agriculture.  They decorated their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts. They gave coins for prosperity, pastries for happiness, and lamps to light one’s journey through life.

Even the Druids, the woods priests in early Britain, used evergreens during their winter solstice rituals.  They also used holly and mistletoe as symbols of eternal life and placed evergreen branches over doorways to keep away evil spirits.

Late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope for the coming spring.  Our modern Christmas evolved from early tradition.

There is a legend that says that Martin Luther started the tradition of decorating trees to celebrate Christmas.  One chilly Christmas Eve, around 1500, he was walking through a snowy woods and was struck by the beauty of a group of evergreens.  The snow-dusted branches shimmered in the moonlight.

When he got home, he set up a little tree inside so he could share the story with his children.  Legend says that he decorated the tree with candles to honor the birth of Christ.

The Christmas tree tradition most likely came to the United States with the Hessians during the American Revolution or with German immigrants to Pennsylvania and Ohio.  But the tradition spread slowly, because the Puritans banned Christmas in New England.  In 1870, schools in Boston were open on Christmas Day and actually expelled students who stayed home.

By 1900, one in five American families had a Christmas tree.  The Christmas tree market is big business, and cultivated trees are preferred, because they are more symmetrical than wild ones.

Christmas tree farms sprang up during the depression.

Today, Scotch Pine is the leading seller with 40% of the market and Douglas Fir comes in with 35%.

I just may be found lying there under the Christmas tree again this year.with those twinkly lights casting their spell.   God bless you and Merry Christmas.

Similar Posts