Christmas Tree Traditions
| by Marilyn Pokorney | November 17, 2005
Modern day Christmas trees originated in the 19th centuryBritain by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. During theVictorian era trees were the focus of celebration and weredecorated with toys, cakes, bonbons and other sweet treats.
Young women in the households made decorations from paper,silk, feathers, and lace to hold the treats.
After 1865 glass trinkets, wire ornaments were began inGermany.
By the 1880's Woolworth's sold commercially produced Xmastree ornaments.
In the early years real silver tinsel was used for Christmasdecorating and the modern version was began in the 1950's.Spiders are sometime given credit for building webs in treeswhich sparkled in the morning dew and sunlight whichinspired the invention of tinsel.
In America fake trees gained popularity early in thetwentieth century but not in Britain until the 1950's. Whileplastic and aluminum were the trees of choice in America,the UK had a penchant for feather trees in the 1920's whichquickly disappeared by the 1930's.
Originally in Victorian times candles were used for lightson trees. The invention of electricity brought fairy lightsto America in the mid 1880's. By the 1920's candles wererarely used.
President Franklin Pierce brought the first Christmas treein the White House during the mid-1850's. President CalvinCoolidge started the National Christmas Tree LightingCeremony on the White House lawn in 1923.
The fairy at the top of the Christmas tree was originally alittle figure of the baby Jesus.
Christmas tree farms originated during the depression.Nurserymen found that they could make a profit by cuttingevergreens for Christmas trees when they couldn't sell themfor landscaping.
But all Christmas trees were not started as a symbol ofChristianity.
The Egyptians, Romans, Druids, and other cultures regardedthe tree as a symbol of life. They brought green branchesinto their homes on the Winter Solstice as a symbol oflife's triumph over death.
Druid priests decorated oak trees with golden apples fortheir winter solstice agricultural festivities.
In the middle ages, evergreen trees were decorated with redapples on December 24 as the symbol of the Feast of Adam andEve.
Even today, Christmas trees are unique to individualcountries.
In Brazil where Christmas occurs during the summer, pinetrees are decorated with little pieces of cotton torepresent falling snow.
In Greenland Christmas trees have to be imported because notrees live this far north.
In South Africa, Christmas is a summer holiday. Instead oftrees, windows are often draped with sparkling cotton, wool,and tinsel.
And in the Ukraine a Christmas tree is not complete unlessit has a spider and web for good luck.
For more on Christmas Tree and other winter and holidaytreats visit: http://www.apluswriting.net/christmas/xmastree.htm
REQUIREMENTS FOR REPRINT: You have permission to publishthis article free of charge in your e-zine, newsletter,ebook, print publication or on your website ONLY if itremains unchanged and you include the copyright and authorinformation (Resource Box) at the end. You may not usethis article in any unsolicited commercial email (spam).
You may retrieve this article by:
Autoresponder: xmastree@getresponse.com
Website: http://www.apluswriting.net/articles/xmastree.txt
Copyright: 2005 Marilyn Pokorney
Please leave the resource box intact with an active link,and send a courtesy copy of the publication in which thearticle appears to: marilynp@nctc.net
Young women in the households made decorations from paper,silk, feathers, and lace to hold the treats.
After 1865 glass trinkets, wire ornaments were began inGermany.
By the 1880's Woolworth's sold commercially produced Xmastree ornaments.
In the early years real silver tinsel was used for Christmasdecorating and the modern version was began in the 1950's.Spiders are sometime given credit for building webs in treeswhich sparkled in the morning dew and sunlight whichinspired the invention of tinsel.
In America fake trees gained popularity early in thetwentieth century but not in Britain until the 1950's. Whileplastic and aluminum were the trees of choice in America,the UK had a penchant for feather trees in the 1920's whichquickly disappeared by the 1930's.
Originally in Victorian times candles were used for lightson trees. The invention of electricity brought fairy lightsto America in the mid 1880's. By the 1920's candles wererarely used.
President Franklin Pierce brought the first Christmas treein the White House during the mid-1850's. President CalvinCoolidge started the National Christmas Tree LightingCeremony on the White House lawn in 1923.
The fairy at the top of the Christmas tree was originally alittle figure of the baby Jesus.
Christmas tree farms originated during the depression.Nurserymen found that they could make a profit by cuttingevergreens for Christmas trees when they couldn't sell themfor landscaping.
But all Christmas trees were not started as a symbol ofChristianity.
The Egyptians, Romans, Druids, and other cultures regardedthe tree as a symbol of life. They brought green branchesinto their homes on the Winter Solstice as a symbol oflife's triumph over death.
Druid priests decorated oak trees with golden apples fortheir winter solstice agricultural festivities.
In the middle ages, evergreen trees were decorated with redapples on December 24 as the symbol of the Feast of Adam andEve.
Even today, Christmas trees are unique to individualcountries.
In Brazil where Christmas occurs during the summer, pinetrees are decorated with little pieces of cotton torepresent falling snow.
In Greenland Christmas trees have to be imported because notrees live this far north.
In South Africa, Christmas is a summer holiday. Instead oftrees, windows are often draped with sparkling cotton, wool,and tinsel.
And in the Ukraine a Christmas tree is not complete unlessit has a spider and web for good luck.
For more on Christmas Tree and other winter and holidaytreats visit: http://www.apluswriting.net/christmas/xmastree.htm
REQUIREMENTS FOR REPRINT: You have permission to publishthis article free of charge in your e-zine, newsletter,ebook, print publication or on your website ONLY if itremains unchanged and you include the copyright and authorinformation (Resource Box) at the end. You may not usethis article in any unsolicited commercial email (spam).
You may retrieve this article by:
Autoresponder: xmastree@getresponse.com
Website: http://www.apluswriting.net/articles/xmastree.txt
Copyright: 2005 Marilyn Pokorney
Please leave the resource box intact with an active link,and send a courtesy copy of the publication in which thearticle appears to: marilynp@nctc.net
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