The Tradition of the Christmas Tree

Evergreens were used to decorate homes during winter long before Christmas became a holiday. Evergreens were believed to keep witches, ghosts, evil spirits and illnesses away from homes where they were displayed.

Germany is credited with the traditional Christmas Tree celebration of decorating trees and bringing them into their homes. It is believed that Martin Luther, the 16th century Protestant reformer was the first to add lighted candles to the tree. He wanted to recapture the sparkling stars on a dark night and how the stars illuminated his walk home, so he brought a tree into his home and placed it in the center of the room. He then wired the tree branches with lighted candles.

By 1890, Christmas ornaments were arriving in America from Germany and the Christmas tree became popular in the U.S. In the early 20th century most Americans were using homemade ornaments on their trees. While Europeans liked their trees to be small, Americans liked their trees to reach from floor to ceiling. Popular homemade ornaments included popcorn strings decorated by being dyed bright colors and laced with berries and nuts. Electricity changed the tree to include electric lights and trees began to glow in town squares and in homes all across America, making the Christmas Tree, an American tradition.

Many cities claim to be the first city to have a Christmas tree in America including:

Windsor Locks, Connecticut claims that a Hessian soldier put up a Christmas tree in 1777 while he was imprisoned at the Noden-Reed House, making it the first Christmas tree in New England.

Easton, Pennsylvania also claims that German settlers put up a Christmas tree in 1816.

There is a diary entry made by Matthew Zahm, of Lancaster Pennsylvania, which says a Christmas tree was put up in 1832.

A German immigrant living in Boston, Charles Follen, claimed the custom of decorating the Christmas tree. Another German immigrant from Wooster, Ohio is said to have made popular the practice of decorating the Christmas tree by cutting down spruce trees from a wooded area by his town, and having a tinsmith construct a star, he placed the tree in his house, decorating it with paper ornaments and candy canes. He was recognized by the National Confectioners' Association as being the first to put candy canes on a Christmas tree. Those first candy canes were all white and had no red stripes.

The Christmas tree today is a very important part of the celebration of Christmas. The tree symbolizes life.

Gathering the family around to decorate the tree is one of the most popular Christmas holiday traditions that just about everyone enjoys doing! Bringing out the all the different ornaments that have been collected throughout the years bring back memorable moments from the past.

Getting the family together, enjoying a hot chocolate or eggnog and listening to some Christmas carols – maybe even a fire crackling in the fireplace – creates a perfect atmosphere for setting a great family tradition for Christmas tree decorating night or day.

The Christmas Holiday

Christmas is a yearly holiday when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus and many families exchange Christmas gifts. It is celebrated on December 25th.

There are many holiday traditions including Christmas dinner, sending Christmas cards, visiting Santa, baking Christmas cookies and making homemade Christmas candies. Homes are decorated inside and out with colorful lights and holiday decorations. People usually try to spread goodwill, compassion and peace during the Christmas holiday season.

Some countries celebrate on Christmas Eve, others on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Tradition in our home dictated that the tree stay up until “Little Christmas”, January 6th. One church, the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates Christmas on January 6th. Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas on January 7th. The date is just a tradition and is not considered to be Jesus’ actual birth date.

The word "Christmas" actually comes from two words: Christ's mass. Many of the seasons decorations lead back to Christ's birth such as Nativity scenes or managers, star ornaments and the giving of gifts.

Christmas day during the Middle ages was more of a festival. King William I of England chose Christmas Day to be crowned king in 800.

During the Reformation, Protestants condemned the celebration of Christmas as mere trappings, while Catholics promoted the festival as a religious event.

Colonial America saw the Puritans disapproving of the trappings of the Christmas celebration and it was outlawed in Boston from 1659 to 1681. However, Christian residents of Virginia and New York celebrated the holiday.

Charles Dickens' book "A Christmas Carol", published in 1843, did much to revive the holiday that was to instill goodwill and compassion. Washington Irving also wrote short stories about Christmas and the “Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem by Clement Clarke.

There was great controversy in the 20th century over the nature of Christmas (was it a religious holiday or was it a secular holiday). The issue was brought to trial several times to decide because of the view that a federal holiday was a violation of separation of church and state. On December 6th, 1999, the verdict for Ganulin vs. United States declared that "the establishment of Christmas Day as “a legal public holiday does not violate the Establishment Clause because it has a secular purpose.” This decision was later upheld on December 19, 2000 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Many Christians believe the holiday has become too secular and it is common to hear cries of “getting back to the true meaning of Christmas”, around the holidays.