Wednesday, December 24, 2003
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Wednesday, December 24, 2003 |
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The origins of the Christmas tree By MICHAEL BOYLAN Have you ever wondered why you have a Christmas tree? How did this custom start? Why do people want to have tree inside their home, dropping needles on the floor and giving their pets something to bat around, chew on or play with? The origin of the Christmas tree stretches back close to 1,400 years. A monk from England was teaching the word of God in Germany. Legend has it that he used a fir tree to symbolize the Holy Trinity of The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. People began refering to the tree as God’s tree and, over the next few centuries, the custom spread. The Christmas tree was also known as the Paradise Tree around the 11th century. The tree was decorated with red apples to symbolize the tree in Eden. People began keeping their own trees and decorating them in the early 15th century. One of the most famous decorators was Martin Luther, who adorned a small tree with candles, but the first Christmas tree as we know it was introduced in Alsace, France in 1521. The tradition of the Christmas tree spread throughout the world, mainly through German, English and, eventually, American traditions. Germans began decorating the trees with tinsel, which was originally flattened silver, and baked ornaments in the early 17th century. It was also customary for each fmaily member to have a small tree that they could decorate. Their presents would also end up under their tree on Christmas morning. Though some settlements had Christmas trees brouht over by German settlers as early as 1747, Hessian soldiers also brought the Christmas tree over to America during the Revolutionary War. Legend has it that they saw a tree decorated one night, started celebrating and were attacked by George Washington and his troops. They lost the battle and, eventually, America won the war. Later, German settlers would bring more of their Christmas tree customs to America in the parts of the country where they settled. Each group’s customs would eventually blend together as more of the country was developed and communication spread more easily. Christmas tree customs had spread to England before Queen Victoria and her Germany’s Prince Albert married, but because of her popularity with the people of England, the traditions really took off. The trees were decoarated with beads, paper baskets filled with tasty treats, tinsel and angels sitting atop of the tree. Ornaments, such as small toys, were being hung on the branches and gifts were placed beneath the tree. Over the years, Christmas trees got larger and larger and were decorated wtih more and more objects, including flags. It also became customary for some to decorate their trees with a certain theme. Artificial trees came along towards the end of the 19th century, as did Christmas lights, and many of these were sold at general stores. The United States and Japan were the first to really jump on the making Christmas lights bandwagon. Throughout the 20th century, the Christmas tree craze went back and forth from artificial to real trees. At times it was fashionable to have larger trees, while at other times, smaller trees with less decorations and built in lights became popular.
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