Two weeks ago my sister started setting up her Christmas tree,
a tradition she’s done every year and will continue to do. I watched as the ornaments
went on, and started to wonder, where the idea of decorating a tree came from.
It’s rather silly when you think about it, people would cut down trees, haul them into
their house and start putting decorative globes and electric bulbs all over them,
and then how odd it is that the presents are piled underneath. So as with all things that spark
my curiosity, I did some research. Sit back and enjoy this fun little tale of the Christmas Tree.
Before we can even talk about the tradition of decorating a tree, we must talk about
the symbolism of the evergreen trees during winter. In the ancient times, many cultures
of the mediterranean region, also including northern Europe and parts of Africa, like Egypt,
all had a special connection with evergreen trees. Evergreens, as their name implies,
stay green even during the harshest of winter. And during the solstice, these ancient cultures
decorated the doorways to their homes with bowes of evergreen to remind them that soon the sun God
will recover from its annual weakness and ailment, and will return its life-giving light in Spring.
Fast forward to Germany in the 1600’s and we find that devout Christians would cut down small trees
and bring them into their homes during winter, they decorated them with various things like ribbons,
apples and nuts. And some believe that during this time, protestant reformer,
Martin Luthor, was composing a sermon one night and gazed at the night stars between the trees.
To recapture this beauty, he would tie lighted candles to the branches of his Christmas Tree.
In the early 1800’s many western countries including the United States, had not yet
adopted the tradition of Christmas Trees. Many cultures did not like the pagan symbolism.
When Queen Victoria of England, married her husband Prince Albert, he continued his annual
German tradition of decorating a Christmas Tree. Queen Victoria was very much in love with him,
and despite the conflicting religious symbolism the tree represented, she allowed the tradition to continue.
In 1846, the royal family was sketched in the Illustrated London News, standing by their
Christmas Tree and…well…if you don’t already know, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were very popular trend setters.
Soon the Victorian people of Great Britain started decorating trees for Christmas,
and the tradition even made its way to the United States where American socialites were
desperate to keep up with the newest trends on the other side of the North Atlantic.
Of course, in typical American style, our Christmas Trees were larger and more bejeweled
than those of Europe. In the early 20th century we not only decorated our trees with fruits,
nuts and candles, but we also began stringing popcorn garlands around it,
sometimes painting the popcorn and nuts with various colors. And with the advent of electric lights,
we started attaching small bulbs to the trees to replace the candles.
The tradition of putting presents under the tree was an easy way to hide the tree’s support brackets and water bucket.
Well folks, that is the story of the Christmas Tree, a symbol of spring during the winter, and
a tradition dating back not only to Europe in the middle ages, but even to the ancient cultures of
Rome and Egypt…yet another reminder that despite our varying cultures or the eras that separate us,
there are many things in this world that we humans share,
such as the comfort of the sun’s return at the end of the solstice
and watching the landscape reawaken for the arrival of Spring. Happy Holidays everyone.