As with many Christmas traditions, the history of the
Christmas tree as we know it today goes back to pagan times. Some Northern
Europeans believed the sun was a god and annually went through a period of ill
health in winter. On the Winter Solstice, they displayed evergreen boughs to
remind them of the greenery that would grow again when the sun god regained his
strength and spring arrived. The ancient Egyptians participated in a similar
ritual using palm fronds to mark the return of Ra, a god who wore the sun as a
crown. Ancient Romans used fir trees to decorate their temples during
Saturnalia.
Exactly when the Christmas tree came into existence is an
ongoing debate. The Eastern European cities of Tallinn and Riga both claim the
first Christmas tree—Tallinn in 1441 and Riga in 1510 (now modern Estonia and
Latvia). Each city claims they erected a tree in the town square over Christmas
and danced around it then set it on fire. Around the same time, medieval
Germans were incorporating evergreens into their Christmas rituals in the form
of the Paradise Tree, an apple adorned fir that represented the Tree of Knowledge
in the Garden of Eden. But Christmas trees didn't appear in the home until
Martin Luther experienced a yuletide vision in 1536 where he saw thousands of
sparkling stars in the night sky twinkling through the tree branches in a pine
forest. He rushed home to create the vision inside his house.
The Christmas tree was brought to the colonies (specifically what is now Pennsylvania) by German settlers
and may have played a part in the Revolutionary War. Legend says that as George
Washington was crossing the Delaware River on December 25, 1776, Hessian
mercenaries fighting for the British were busy decorating trees and getting
drunk. They were in no condition to fight the ensuing battle and lost.
Christmas trees did not become commonly acceptable among
fashionable society until 1848 when the Illustrated
London News published a sketch of Queen Victoria's Christmas Tree at
Windsor Castle. The image was reprinted in Philadelphia's Godey's Lady's Book with the queen's crown and Prince Albert's
moustache removed to make it look more American.
Thomas Edison's assistant, Edward Johnson, was the person
responsible for creating electric Christmas tree lights in 1882. On December
24, 1923, President Calvin Coolidge lit the National Christmas Tree, a 48 ft.
balsam fir decorated with 2,500 colored bulbs.
I found a Christmas tree in Hawaii made up of poinsettia
plants. In Japan, you'll find origami swans, paper fans, and wind chimes
hanging from branches. In Spain, a tree trunk is filled with goodies such as
candy, nuts, and dates with children taking turns hitting it with a stick to
dislodge the treats [which sounds very much like the Mexican piñata]. In
Brazil, December 25/Christmas is in summer where some people cover pine trees
with little pieces of white cotton representing falling snow.
Traditions vary, but around the world Christmas trees are a
universal symbol of joy.
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