Welcome to my 29 Days of Christmas! Here I celebrate all the things I love about the season!
Today it’s Christmas Trees.
Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, many ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.
During Saturnalia, Romans marked the occasion by decorating their homes and temples with evergreen boughs.
Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition—as we now know it—by the 16th century when sources record devout Christians bringing decorated trees into their homes.
The first records of Christmas trees being cut for display in the US comes from the 1820s in Pennsylvania’s German community, although trees may have been a tradition there even earlier. But, as late as the 1840s, Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans.
The early 20th century saw Americans decorating their trees mainly with homemade ornaments, while many German Americans continued to use apples, nuts and marzipan cookies. Stringed popcorn was added to trees' decoration after being dyed bright colors and interlaced with berries and nuts. Electricity brought about Christmas lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end. With this, Christmas trees began to appear in town squares across the country and having a Christmas tree in the home became an American tradition.