The History of the Christmas Tree

The history of the Christmas tree has its roots in ancient times. Plants and trees that stayed green throughout the long winters held a powerful meaning. Holly, mistletoe and evergreen trees seemed to thrive magically in the otherwise dead and barren landscape, and that meaning lingers in today's modern Christian practices.

Ancient Times: Europeans would cut pine boughs and hang them from the rafters of homes to ward off evil or death. Druids decorated their holy places with pine branches as well, believing them to be a symbol of everlasting life. Vikings attributed the pine tree's strength and power to their sun god, Baldur.

Christianity: The common association of pine trees with magic and the triumph of life over death continued for centuries, throughout the introduction of Christianity. As Christians began to merge ancient pagan beliefs with more modern Christian ones, the evergreen trees easily assimilated into the Christian symbolism of eternal life and a powerful deity.

Christmas Trees in Germany: The earliest records of evergreen trees used as a Christmas tradition are found in Germany, dating back to the sixteenth century. Martin Luther, a religious reformer of that time, is credited with adding candles to a Christmas pine tree. While Christmas trees slowly spread throughout Europe as a tradition, they were not common in the New World until much later.

Christmas Trees in the US: The first official Christmas tree in the United States was displayed in 1830 in a German community in Pennsylvania, although private German homes held them for many years before. Outside of German immigrant homes, Christmas trees were not found in American homes or businesses. Generally, most Americans viewed the tree as a pagan symbol until the mid-1800s.

Queen Victoria and the Tree: It took the actions of a British queen to change the history of the Christmas tree and bring it into the mainstream. In 1846, a sketch appeared in a London paper of Queen Victoria and her German husband, Albert, standing around a Christmas tree with their family. Eager to follow court trends, British subjects rushed to have their own Christmas trees. The popularity of the tree spread throughout England and to the east coast of the United States over the next several decades.

Christmas Trees As Tradition: By the 1890s, Christmas trees were a firmly established tradition in American homes and were generally bigger than the European variety, often reaching from floor to ceiling. Electricity brought into homes in the early twentieth century allowed for electric Christmas tree lights rather than more dangerous candles. Artificial trees made an appearance in Germany in the late nineteenth century. They were made of dyed feathers on branches, while brush companies made the first mass-produced artificial trees in the early 1900s.