Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, your branches green delight us…Every year many of us put up a tree to celebrate Christmas, be it a real one that we painstakingly choose or an artificial one that spends most of the year in the attic, waiting for its chance to shine.
Christmas Tree Traditions
The tradition of erecting a tree goes back many years, Pagans would bring in evergreen branches to dot around the home – marking the winter solstice. The Romans also embraced greenery, using fir trees to adorn temples. Christians joined in too, the simple beauty of an evergreen branch signified the eternal life of the lord.
It’s thought that the people of Northern Europe ushered in the tradition of fir trees, and other early examples include hawthorn plants. Poor families couldn’t afford the luxury of procuring an evergreen plant or such extravagance, instead they would make “fake” trees from wood, paper, apples and candles (the combination of wood, paper and candles does sound a little worrying)!
The first “real” Christmas tree originated in Germany, and were decorated with goodies such as gingerbread and apples. Soon after ornate decorations were created by glass blowers, and they too were hung on the tree. The tree topper has also changed over the years, once upon a time a figure of baby Jesus was placed on top, then a star and nowadays we often see an angel up on high.
We can thank Prince Albert (the German husband of Queen Victoria) for introducing the tradition of the Christmas tree, back in 1841. The notion of putting up a tree did appear before then, but no-one seemed to be interested until Albert brought one into the royal household. The idea soon become popular with “ordinary” folk and the trend soon spread.
Decorations have varied over the years, in the Victorian era candles would often be placed on the tree (to resemble stars). Candles are still used today, but we are all a little bit more aware of health and safety issues!
We also need to thank Germany for creating tinsel, it was originally fashioned from tiny slivers of silver, and was too pricy for many. As time passed tinsel was manufactured more cheaply using other materials, this made it more accessible and suddenly everyone wanted shiny, glittery tinsel to decorate their tree.
[See image gallery at www.hereinthishouse.com]There are other stories of how tinsel came to be on the tree, these folklore tails include that tinsel is made from angel hair (the hair gets caught on branches when angels secretly decorate the tree), others think it’s made from spider webs, that magically turn to gold and silver on Christmas eve!
In many homes it’s also traditional to dress a tree with lights, we can credit the inventor of the lightbulb, Thomas Edison with starting this trend back in 1880. He hung a few of his new “lights” around the office. But it wasn’t until 1882 that the idea of combining lights and a tree was born, when Edison’s colleague Edward Johnson decided to hang coloured lights on his tree and across the ceiling! Over the years the idea caught on and Edison began to offer electric lights to those who wanted to add a touch of sparkle to their tree and home. Unfortunately, the lights were too expensive for many and it wasn’t until 1903 that lights became affordable enough for the average Joe to purchase.
Nowadays we dress our Christmas trees in all manner of decorations, some prefer an eclectic mix of colours and designs, opting for bright baubles, tinsel, and multi-coloured fairy lights. Others prefer to go for a theme, perhaps related to colours such as red and white or red, green and gold, or perhaps something more contemporary such as blues or pinks. Alternatively, you might choose to opt for a winter theme incorporating sparkling white and warm cream or a rustic look.
The Jim Shore Christmas Collection features an array of beautiful hanging ornaments that would complement any Christmas tree.
There are hanging Disney ornaments based upon the loveable characters, nativity hanging ornaments that depict the scene we know and love from the Christmas story, and hanging Santa ornaments that feature Santa’s from all corners of the globe. There are other varieties too, check out what’s available.
Christmas is such as special time, it’s worth taking the time to put up and decorate a stunning tree, it will really get you in the festive spirit.