Origins of Christmas Tree
Traditions:
Christmas Trees and Ornaments. The fir tree has a long association with
Christianity, it began in Germany almost 1,000 years ago when St
Boniface, who converted the German people to Christianity, was said to
have come across a group of pagans worshipping an oak tree.
In anger, St Boniface is said to have cut down the oak tree and to
his amazement a young fir tree sprung up from the roots of the oak tree.
St Boniface took this as a sign of the Christian faith. But it was not
until the 16th century that fir trees were brought indoors at Christmas
time.
"It is from Germany that we today get many of our customs, songs,
images of Santa, pine trees and
European hand blow glass ornaments.
How these traditions traveled to England is interesting. Queen
Victoria often visited relatives in Germany in the town of Coburg and
while there she fell in love with a young Prince Albert. After they got
married they returned to England to raise their family.
The tree that Price Albert provided his family was admired by all in
England. This tree was decorated in the finest of hand blown glass
ornaments. Since everyone liked the Queen they copied her Christmas
customs including the Christmas tree and ornaments.
A F.W. Woolworth brought the glass ornament tradition to the United
States in 1890. From 1870's to 1930's, Germans made the finest molds for
making ornaments with nearly 5,000 different molds at the time.
At the turn of the century there were over one hundred small cottage
glass blowing workshops in Europe. Today only two respected German
factory teams are capable of producing ornaments to the precise
specifications of the Christopher Radko collection.
During the hayday of turn of the century ornament making, almost all
ornaments were made in Lauscha, a small town nested in the Thuringian
mountains.
After the war, however, glass ornament production declined. Many of
the craftsmen left for West Germany. Quantity rather than quality, was
the Communist management philosophy. Some old molds fell into disrepair
and many others were left to collect dust or were lost.
In the 1960's it was fashionable to have an Aluminum tree and all the
same shape and color ornaments. Many threw away the old ornaments from
Germany.
It was in the 1980's that Christopher Radko brought back the old art
of making the glass ornaments for all to enjoy."
Christmas Tree Traditions has Ancient
Origins
King Tut never saw a Christmas tree, but he would have understood the
tradition which traces back long before the first Christmas, says David
Robson, Extension Educator, Horticulture with the Springfield Extension
Center.
The Egyptians were part of a long line of cultures that treasured and
worshipped evergreens. When the winter solstice arrive, they brought
green date palm leaves into their homes to symbolize life's triumph over
death.
The Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a fest called
Saturnalia in honor of 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.
Centuries ago in Great Britain, woods priests called Druids used
evergreens during mysterious winter solstice rituals. The Druids used
holly and mistletoe as symbols of eternal life, and place evergreen
branches over doors 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
in the forthcoming spring. Our modern Christmas tree evolved from these
early traditions.
Legend has it that Martin Luther began the tradition of decorating
trees to celebrate Christmas. One crisp Christmas Eve, about the year
1500, he was walking through snow-covered woods and was struck by the
beauty of a group of small evergreens.
Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moonlight. When he
got home, he set up a little fir tree indoors so he could share this
story with his children. He decorated it with candles, which he lighted
in honor of Christ's birth.
The Christmas tree tradition most likely came to the United States
with Hessian troops during the American Revolution, or with German
immigrants to Pennsylvania and Ohio, adds Robson.
But the custom spread slowly. The Puritans banned Christmas in New
England. Even as late as 1851, a Cleveland minister nearly lost his job
because he allowed a tree in his church. Schools in Boston stayed open
on Christmas Day through 1870, and sometimes expelled students who
stayed home.
The Christmas tree market was born in 1851 when Catskill farmer Mark
Carr hauled two ox sleds of evergreens into New York City and sold them
all. By 1900, one in five American families had a Christmas tree, and 20
years later, the custom was nearly universal.
Christmas tree farms sprang up during the depression. Nurserymen
couldn't sell their evergreens for landscaping, so they cut them for
Christmas trees. Cultivated trees were preferred because they have a
more symmetrical shape then wild ones.
Six species account for about 90 percent of the nation's Christmas
tree trade. Scotch pine ranks first, comprising about 40 percent of the
market, followed by Douglas fir which accounts for about 35 percent. The
other big sellers are noble fir, white pine, balsam fir and white
spruce.
Premission was granted for Internet use by --- Written by: David
Robson, Extension Educator, Horticulture; Springfield Extension Center
Christmas Tree History
Did a celebration around a Christmas tree on a bitter cold Christmas
Eve at Trenton, New Jersey, turn the tide for Colonial forces in 1776?
According to legend, Hessian mercenaries were so reminded of home by a
candlelit evergreen tree that they abandoned their guardposts to eat,
drink and be merry. Washington attached that night and defeated them.
The Christmas tree has gone through a long process of development
rich in many legends, says David Robson, Extension Educator,
Horticulture, with the Springfield Extension Center.
Some historians trace the lighted Christmas tree to Martin Luther. He
attached lighted candles to a small evergreen tree, trying to simulate
the reflections of the starlit heaven -- the heaven that looked down
over Bethlehem on the first Christmas Eve.
Until about 1700, the use of Christmas trees appears to have been
confined to the Rhine River District. From 1700 on, when lights were
accepted as part of the decorations, the Christmas tree was well on its
way to becoming a tradition in Germany. Then the tradition crossed the
Atlantic with the Hessian soldiers.
Some people trace the origin of the Christmas tree to an earlier
period. Even before the Christian era, trees and boughs were used for
ceremonials. Egyptians, in celebrating the winter solstice -- the
shortest day of the year -- brought green date palms into their homes as
a symbol of "life triumphant over death".
When the Romans observed the feast of saturn, part of the ceremony
was the raising of an evergreen bough. The early Scandinavians were said
to have paid homage to the fir tree.
To the Druids, sprigs of evergreen holly in the house meant eternal
life; while to the Norsemen, they symbolized the revival of the sun god
Balder. To those inclined toward superstition, branches of evergreens
placed over the door kept out witches, ghosts, evil spirits and the
like.
This use does not mean that our Christmas tree custom evolved solely
from paganism, any more than did some of the present-day use of sighed
in various religious rituals.
Trees and branches can be made purposeful as well as symbolic. The
Christmas tree is a symbol of a living Christmas spirit and brings into
our lives a pleasant aroma of the forest. The fact that balsam fir
twigs, more than any other evergreen twigs, resemble crosses may have
had much to do with the early popularity of balsam fir used as Christmas
trees.
Written by: David Robson Extension Educator, Horticulture Springfield
Extension Center |