Where did the tradition of the Christmas tree come from?
Meridiana of Avila writes that in the 16th century, Germans and English held annual parades through their respective nations to celebrate the holidays. The English, she reports, “filled their parks with evergreens and lighted large fires in honor of the birth of Christ.” The Germans, on the other hand, placed evergreen trees in their homes or on tables to show their hope in the coming spring.
What happened behind palace doors during the holidays, however, didn’t become public fodder until the London Illustrated News published a special 16-page Christmas supplement to its December 23, 1848, edition. Amid Dickensian scenes of carolers and women slaving over Christmas pudding was a woodcut entitled “Christmas Tree at Windsor Castle.” The illustration depicted Victoria, Albert, five of their children and a governess gathered around a table-top evergreen adorned with sweets and ornaments, illuminated by candles and topped by an angel. Unwrapped presents—dolls, mounted cavalrymen and a figurine in a horse-drawn chariot—encircle its base. The tree itself, with six uniformly spaced tiers of boughs, looked too meticulous to be real. It was a depiction of a picture-perfect family Christmas, worthy of a holiday card.
Where did the tradition of the Christmas tree come from? According to legend, one of the first trees was lit in secret by patriarch Jacob and his sons, who were both devout Christians. They brought gifts of light into the house, and one of their favourite pastimes was to climb into their father’s tree and light it. Once inside, they sang carols and danced around the tree, causing it to glow evergreen.
How did the Germans get their start getting into the holiday? According to legend, a German shepherd named Albert helped his master remove invasive species from the countryside around 1800. When his master brought home a spider or a spider’s web, he would carefully remove the spider’s web and replace it with a new one, bringing the tree back into bloom.
What started as a small-scale operation by German immigrants to the United States in the 1800s, would eventually become a nationwide holiday. According to the Library of Congress, the Christmas tree was first recorded in America in the early 20th century.
After World War I, many Americans, including John D. Rockefeller Jr., argued that the growing popularity of the tree demonstrated that the German-American community was a vibrant one. He funded a campaign to re-brand the holiday as the “Blue Angel Tree” after a character in the popular television show Blue Velvet.
Where did the tradition of the Christmas tree come from?
The custom of the Christmas tree originated in Germany in the 16th century. It was the custom of the wealthy or influential family to have a Christmas tree at the Spring Festival in honor of their son or daughter in marriage. The family and society moved away from the traditional German family structure and into what is now Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine.
What happened behind palace doors during the holidays?
In Russia in the 17th century it was common for the young men and women to set up a small fir tree and dedicate it to their gods, animals, and/or loved ones. It was also customary to have a Christmas tree at the Winter Olympics, where athletes competed to see who could set up the freest tree.
In Ukraine in the early 1800s it was also customary to have a tree at the Winter Olympics. The Games were held in ancient amphitheaters and were attended by many of the country’s upper classes.
After the Olympics ended in 1900, it was customary to take a holiday trip to the Winter Palace in Bakhchyna, Ukraine, where wealthy families gathered to celebrate the holidays.
It is not surprising that, like many other ancient cultures, Ukraine was largely influenced by Greek and Roman customs.
Where did the tradition of the Christmas tree come from?
It probably began about 1000 years ago in Northern Europe. People used to gather around fires that were lit in winter to get ready for the Christmas season. Sometimes the tree would be a fir tree, sometimes a young fir tree. The fir tree would have branches that would have been used as Christmas trees.
Young trees were brought into homes in the middle of winter and became a very popular American tradition beginning in the 1830s. They were also popular in Germany, Austria, Poland, and the Netherlands. In Denmark a tree was a mast or curtain hung from the ceiling in a tree shop. In Norway a tree was a mast or curtain hung from the ceiling in a church. In Sweden a tree was a tree in the family home during the holidays. In Denmark a tree was a tree in the family barn during the holidays. In Norway a tree was a tree in the house during the holidays.
Can you tell the difference between a real tree and a artificial one?
Most people who buy Christmas trees get artificial trees that are meant to look like trees. They are also called “trees of light” or “miracles” because they were used to light the Christmas tree fields.
… In America, the Christmas tree was originally a woodcut that was made into a tree trunk and then hung from a crane.
The Romans did decorate their houses with evergreens and firs to bring color and light into their dull winters. But, they also used the trees to decorate their homes during the solstice, which fell on December 25. It was a pagan holiday, and did not meet the Christian standards of the year 2000.
What caused the Romans to abandon the green tree?
It is possible that the Romans abandoned the green tree because of their dislike of the pagan practice of decorating their homes with evergreens. Alternatively, the Romans may have been driven by religious beliefs, as their emperor Hadrian did celebrate December 25.
