One of the popular traditions in America culture as well as around the world is the Christmas tree. I look forward to the Christmas season every year. Most years with the exception of this year I'll set it out either the day before Thanksgiving or on Thanksgiving Day. It's a tradition that I treasure dating back from when I was a little boy. I enjoy placing the garland and the ornaments on the tree. I also place a lighted star on top. I like Christmas lights and how they glow in the dark. Those are very memorable traditions for me. Christmas trees have been popular in American society since the nineteenth century, when when German immigrants brought the Christmas tree tradition with them to America. Legend even has it that it was a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve that played a turning point in the Revolutionary War for the colonialists in 1776. Let's take a peak into the origins of the Christmas tree which is such a staple tradition in the world.
The fir tree has a long association in Christianity. It began in Germany almost 1000 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. St. Boniface was said to cut down the oak trees and in its place a young fir tree sprung up from the roots of the oak tree. St. Boniface took this as a sign of the Christian faith. Fir trees weren't brought indoors at Christmas time until the 16th century.
The very first evidence of a decorated Christmas tree without lights appearned in Alsace, in Germany around 1521. We give credit for the modern-day Christmas trees originating in Germany. The Christmas tree tradition was rooted in Germany. The custom of decorating Christmas trees was well-established in Germany, France and Austria. Legend has it that Martin Luther (the Reformer) began the tradition of decorating Christmas trees to celebrate Christmas. On one crisp Christmas Eve around 1500, he was walking through the snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of a small group of evergreen trees. The branches, which were snow-dusted, shimmered in the moonlight. When Luther arrived home he set up a little fir tree and decorated it with candles, which he lighted in honor of Christ's birth. Until around 1700, the use of Christmas trees appears to have been confined to the Rhineland. From 1700 on, when lights were an accepted part of the decorations, the Christmas tree became a tradition in Germany. That tradition crossed the Atlantic with the Hessian soldiers.
However, the tradition of tree decoration was around long before Martin Luther in Germany. The Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a festival 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 the mysterious winter solstice rituals. The Druids used holly and mistletoe as symbols of eternal life and placed evergreen branches over doors to keep away evil spirits. Later 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. The Egyptians were part of a long line of cultures that treasured and worshipped evergreens. When the winter solstice arrived, (the shortest day of the year) they bought green date plam tree leaves into their homes to symbolize life's triumph over death.
The Christmas tree tradition most likely came to the United States with the Hessian troops during the American Revolution, as well as with German immigrants to Pennsylvania and Ohio. What role the Hessian troops played in the Christmas tree tradition in America I don't know. I read in a book that they played a minor role. A legend has it that a Christmas tree on a cold Christmas Eve in Trenton, New Jersey played a part in turning the tide for the Colonial forces in 1776. Hessian mercaneries were so reminded of home by a candlelit evergreen tree that they abandoned their guardposts to eat, drink, and be merry. That night Washington and his forces attacked them and defeated them. In today's world, if our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were to attack the terrorist forces while they were celebrating their own holiday tradition, our soldiers probably would be court-martialied and reprimanded.
In America, the Christmas tree didn't became a part of the American tradition until sometime later in the 1800's. The Puritans in Colonial America were opposed to Christmas trees or anything that had a resemblance to pagan elements. The Puritans banned Christmas in New England. Even in 1851, a Cleveland minister nearly lost his job for having a Christmas tree on display at his church. Schools were open on Christmas Day in Boston until 1870 and those students that stayed home were expelled. As a result, the custom spread slowly. It was around the 1830's when the first Christmas tree was on display which was by the German settlers of Pennsylvania. By as late as the 1840's, they were seen as pagan symbols and weren't accepted by most Americans. The Christmas tree was an oddity to most Americans at that time. The Christmas tree market was born in 1851 when Catskill farmer Mark Carr hauled 20 sleds of evergreens into New York City and the mall. By 1900, 1 in 5 American families had a Christmas tree and 20 years later, the custom was universal. Christmas tree farms sprang up during the Depression. There are six species of Christmas tree that are popular sellers: Scotch pines, Douglas firs, noble fir, white pine, balsam fir, and white spruce.
In the 1890's Christmas tree ornaments arrived from Germany from Germany and Christmas tree popularity was on the rise around the United States. In the early 20th century, Americans were decorating trees primarily with homemade ornaments. The German-American sect used apples, nuts, and marzipan cookies. Popcorn joined in after being dyed bright colors and interlaced with berries and nuts. With the advent of electricity, Christmas trees used lights and the tree became a common custom in American society. The trees were dazzling when the Christmas lights shone in the dark.
Here are a few trivial points about Christmas trees in closing. The Christmas tree tradition in the White House began with Franklin Pierce, the nations' 14th president. Theodore Roosevelt banned Christmas trees from the White House due to environmental reasons. In 1923, Calvin Coolidge started the National Christmas Tree lighting tradition which has taken place every year since that time. In 1931 the Rockefeller Center in New York started setting out the Christmas tree in 1931. The next year they set out one with lights and it has been an ongoing custom at Rockefeller Plaza. In 1948 the tallest tree set up at the plaza was 100 feet tall, which was hailed from Connecticut. Today the Rockefeller tree is laden with 25,000 Christmas lights. Lastly, in 1979 the national Christmas tree was not lighted except the ornament at the top. It was done in honor of the American hostages in Iran.
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