A History of the Christmas Tree
Terry Yuschok
Congregation member
December 18, 2016
The History of the Christmas Tree
Theresa A. Yuschok
O, Tannebaum
Lyrics by Ernst Aushutz, 1824
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!
In beauty green will always grow
Through summer sun and winter snow.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
You are the tree most loved!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
You are the tree most loved!
How often you give us delight
In brightly shining Christmas light!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
You are the tree most loved!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
Your beauty green will teach me
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
Your beauty green will teach me
That hope and love will ever be
The way to joy and peace for me.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
Your beauty green will teach me.
VIRIDITAS : Divine Force of Nature, The Greening Power of God
Hildegard of Bingen 1098-1179
Evergreen
In the coldest and darkest time of the year,
we yearn for a reminder of the spring.
In Ancient Egypt, the evergreen date palm was a sacred tree, and a palm branch was the symbol of the god Heh, the personification of Eternity.
Roman Festival of Saturnalia December 17 - 25
Saturn, God of Agriculture
Time of lawlessness and revelry
Intoxication
Gift-giving
Sexual indulgence
Feasting
Singing naked in the streets
Eat human-shaped biscuits
Bring trees and greenery inside.
4th Century Catholic Church adopted Saturnalia for Christmas time.
St. Boniface 722 AD
Patron Saint of Germany, Brewers and Tailors
English Benedictine monk travelled to Germany.
He cut down the Thunder-Oak of Thor which was worshipped with child and animal sacrifices. A Fir appeared at the root.
"The Fir Tree shall be the sign of your new worship."
Triangle shape of fir represents Trinity.
Northern Europe 1000's
- Upside down Christmas tree
- Cherry or hawthorn wood
- Available today.
Medieval Mystery Plays
Paradise Trees designed from a pyramid of boxes with live branches.
December 24th was "Adam and Eve Day"
Indoor trees were decorated with apples and wafers - symbols of sin and redemption.
First New Year's Tree
Tallin, Estonia 1441 vs Riga, Latvia 1510
Townsquare tree
Dancing and singing
Set the tree on fire!
"Yule log"
Martin Luther overcome with the ineffable beauty of the stars through a tree, brought a tree inside to share with his family. He lit candles like the stars.
Tree Decorations
Germany in 1600s
Ornaments
- Edibles - gingerbread, apples, wafers
- Gold foil
- Thin silver strips
- Glass blowing
Tree toppers
- Baby Jesus
- Angel
- Star of Bethlehem
The Christmas Spider
- Legend of a poor family who couldn't afford to decorate a tree. A spider wove cobwebs and in the morning the strands were silver and gold.
- "Pavuchky" tiny spider
- A spider on your tree is good luck!
1841 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
- "The Queen and the Christmas Tree in Windsor Castle" 1841
- This drawing in London Times and Philadelphia Godey's Lady's Book increased the number of Christmas trees in homes.
Candles to Electric Lights
- 1885 Chicago hospital burned due to candles on a tree.
- 1895 Ralph Morris invented the first electric Christmas lights.
- (Edward Johnson , Edison's assistant, came up with idea of electric Christmas lights 1882, mass produced 1890)
- 1908 Insurance companies lobbied to ban candles on trees
City Christmas Trees
1913 Chicago in Grant Park
1933 NYC Rockefeller Center
2004 500# Swarovski Crystal Star
2007 Solar panels and LED lights
1947 London Trafalger Square, gift from Norway
with gratitude for WWII
National Christmas Tree Lighting
www.thenationaltree.org
1923 Pres. Calvin Coolidge The National Christmas Tree
1954 Hargrove installs bulbs
1963 LBJ postponed until Dec 22
- 30 days mourning for JFK.
1978 Colorado Blue Spruce
1983 Amy Bentham, 7yo, "Make a wish"
2015 Nat'l Park Service 100yrs
Types of Christmas Trees
Types of Christmas Trees - by needles
Top Choices:
Christmas Tree Sales in USA
- 98% of Christmas Trees are grown on farms in USA.
- 1851 First Christmas tree retail lot in USA in NYC
- 1901 Christmas Tree Farm, Trenton, NJ
- Oregon, NC, Michigan, PA, WI, WA, NY, VA are top producers.
- 24.5 Million farm grown trees were purchased in USA 2012 ($1 Billion)
- Poem Christmas Trees, Robert Frost was offered $30 for 1000 trees.
Artificial Trees
- 1800's green goosefeathers with wire branches
- 1930 USA Addis Brush company, same machinery as toilet brushes
- 1957 aluminum trees
- Today, mostly PVC plastic, 80% made in China
- 10.9 million artificial trees purchased in USA in 2012
Famous Christmas Trees
in books and movies
What are your favorites?
The Little Fir Tree
by Hans Christian Anderson
"My days are all over and past," said the poor tree, "Why didn't I enjoy them while I could?"
A Christmas Tree
by Charles Dickens
"This, in commemoration of the law of love and kindness, mercy and compassion. This in remembrance of me."
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - 1943
by Betty Smith, written in Chapel Hill, NC
"There was a cruel custom in the neighborhood. It was about the trees unsold when midnight of Christmas Eve approached ..." (page 202)
"The room smelled cold and clean and aromatic. Every day, during the week the tree stood there, Francie put on her sweater and zitful cap and went in and sat under the tree. She sat there and enjoyed the smell and the dark greenness of it.
Oh, the mystery of a great tree, a prisoner in a tin wash bucket in a tenement front room!" (pages 208-209)
A Charlie Brown Christmas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Merry ...
by Shel Silverstein
No one's hangin' stockin's up,
No one's bskin' pie,
No one's lookin' up to see
A new star in the sky,
No one's talkin' brotherhood,
No one's givin' gifts,
And no one loves a Christmas tree
On March the twenty-fifth.
O, Tannebaum!
What does the beauty green teach us?
Be Evergreen!