A Christmas tree is a type of tree brought indoors and decorated for Christmas, usually the Norway spruce.
While preaching to some German druids Saint Boniface (675-754) laid his axe to a tree which they worshipped to prove that God’s power is superior to their god, Thor's. The fallen oak crushed every shrub in its path apart from a small fir sapling. From then on the fir came to represent life and later it became the Christmas tree.
Our more modern Christmas tree seems to have originated in Germany. In the sixteenth century, German city merchants carried a fir tree decorated with paper flowers through the streets on Christmas Eve.
Martin Luther is supposed to have cut the first Christmas tree. The story may be apocryphal, but we know that one snowy winter evening, he was in a jolly mood, singing and talking about the incarnation. He looked up and on seeing the stars twinkling through the branches of the evergreen trees he sighed, "Oh, we poor men, that we should be so cold and indifferent to this great joy which has been given us." Wishing to describe this inspiring spectacle to his wife and children, Luther dug up a small fir tree and put it in the nursery. He then decorated its branches with lighted candles just as the starlit trees outside had appeared to him that cold, winter night.
Fir trees decorated with apples were first known in Strasbourg in 1605. An unidentified visitor to Strasbourg wrote “For Christmas they have fir trees in their rooms, all decorated with paper roses, sugar, gold and wafers.”
Other early Christmas tree ornaments included paper roses, nuts and sweets.
Some 17th- and 18th-century German families hung their Christmas tree upside-down. They believed by doing so, they imbued the tree with divine powers.
Hessian soldiers from Germany put up the first Christmas tree recorded in the USA. They were mercenaries hired from Prussia by King George III of England to fight in the Revolutionary War.
Queen Charlotte, the German wife of George III erected Britain’s first Christmas Tree at Windsor Castle on December 24, 1800 for a children's party. It was illuminated with wax candles and had sweets and small gifts hanging from the branches.
The Christmas tree soon became wildly fashionable in high society, but it took 40 years for them to catch on with other classes in the UK.
Candles on trees were only lit for a few minutes each day, with sand and water ready in case of fire.
The Christmas tree is widely associated with Queen Victoria’s German husband, Prince Albert. This is because he imported several spruce firs from his native Coburg for a royal Christmas that was featured in illustrated newspapers of the day.
Production of ornaments and baubles on a mass scale started in Germany in the 1880s when a group of German entrepreneurs toyed began making little glass toys and other forms for hanging on Christmas trees.
The first Christmas tree decorated with electrical lights on it was put up by Edward Johnson, President of the Edison Electric Company on December 22, 1882.
Four years after the White House was wired with electricity Grover Cleveland requested the first family’s tree be adorned with hundreds of multi-colored bulbs in 1895 making him the first president to have electric Christmas lights. At the time, many people mistrusted electricity and thought that dangerous vapors would seep into their homes through the lights and wires.
In 1900, it could cost as much as $300 (around $2000 today) to illuminate a Christmas tree with electric lights.
Teddy Roosevelt banned Christmas trees from the White House as he was an environmentalist.
Artificial Christmas trees are believed to have originated in Germany in the 19th century due to fears over deforestation. They were originally made from goose feathers colored green.
The first plastic artificial Christmas tree was manufactured in 1930 by a British based company that made toilet brushes, the Addis Housewares Company. The trees were made from the same animal-hair bristles used in the brushes, save they were dyed green.
In 1944 the Rockefeller Christmas Tree was not lit to conserve energy during wartime.
Since 1947 Norway has sent a Christmas tree to London to thank the British for their help in the Second World War. The tree is displayed in Trafalgar Square from the beginning of December until January 6th.
The tradition of placing a Christmas tree on the pavement outside 10 Downing Street began in 1982. The first tree was a free fir tree donated by the British Christmas Tree Growers' Association during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher.
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| Christmas tree with presents. By Elekes Andor |
THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE
While preaching to some German druids Saint Boniface (675-754) laid his axe to a tree which they worshipped to prove that God’s power is superior to their god, Thor's. The fallen oak crushed every shrub in its path apart from a small fir sapling. From then on the fir came to represent life and later it became the Christmas tree.
Our more modern Christmas tree seems to have originated in Germany. In the sixteenth century, German city merchants carried a fir tree decorated with paper flowers through the streets on Christmas Eve.
Martin Luther is supposed to have cut the first Christmas tree. The story may be apocryphal, but we know that one snowy winter evening, he was in a jolly mood, singing and talking about the incarnation. He looked up and on seeing the stars twinkling through the branches of the evergreen trees he sighed, "Oh, we poor men, that we should be so cold and indifferent to this great joy which has been given us." Wishing to describe this inspiring spectacle to his wife and children, Luther dug up a small fir tree and put it in the nursery. He then decorated its branches with lighted candles just as the starlit trees outside had appeared to him that cold, winter night.
Fir trees decorated with apples were first known in Strasbourg in 1605. An unidentified visitor to Strasbourg wrote “For Christmas they have fir trees in their rooms, all decorated with paper roses, sugar, gold and wafers.”
Other early Christmas tree ornaments included paper roses, nuts and sweets.
Some 17th- and 18th-century German families hung their Christmas tree upside-down. They believed by doing so, they imbued the tree with divine powers.
Hessian soldiers from Germany put up the first Christmas tree recorded in the USA. They were mercenaries hired from Prussia by King George III of England to fight in the Revolutionary War.
Queen Charlotte, the German wife of George III erected Britain’s first Christmas Tree at Windsor Castle on December 24, 1800 for a children's party. It was illuminated with wax candles and had sweets and small gifts hanging from the branches.
The Christmas tree soon became wildly fashionable in high society, but it took 40 years for them to catch on with other classes in the UK.
Candles on trees were only lit for a few minutes each day, with sand and water ready in case of fire.
Production of ornaments and baubles on a mass scale started in Germany in the 1880s when a group of German entrepreneurs toyed began making little glass toys and other forms for hanging on Christmas trees.
The first Christmas tree decorated with electrical lights on it was put up by Edward Johnson, President of the Edison Electric Company on December 22, 1882.
Four years after the White House was wired with electricity Grover Cleveland requested the first family’s tree be adorned with hundreds of multi-colored bulbs in 1895 making him the first president to have electric Christmas lights. At the time, many people mistrusted electricity and thought that dangerous vapors would seep into their homes through the lights and wires.
In 1900, it could cost as much as $300 (around $2000 today) to illuminate a Christmas tree with electric lights.
Teddy Roosevelt banned Christmas trees from the White House as he was an environmentalist.
 |
| White House Christmas tree |
Artificial Christmas trees are believed to have originated in Germany in the 19th century due to fears over deforestation. They were originally made from goose feathers colored green.
The first plastic artificial Christmas tree was manufactured in 1930 by a British based company that made toilet brushes, the Addis Housewares Company. The trees were made from the same animal-hair bristles used in the brushes, save they were dyed green.
In 1944 the Rockefeller Christmas Tree was not lit to conserve energy during wartime.
Since 1947 Norway has sent a Christmas tree to London to thank the British for their help in the Second World War. The tree is displayed in Trafalgar Square from the beginning of December until January 6th.
 |
| The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree in 2008. By Laura Bittner - originally posted to Flickr |
The tradition of placing a Christmas tree on the pavement outside 10 Downing Street began in 1982. The first tree was a free fir tree donated by the British Christmas Tree Growers' Association during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher.
In 2014, Christians in South Korea put up a giant Christmas tree which was visible from the North Korean border. The North Koreans claimed it was a tool for psychological warfare and demanded it be taken down. The defence ministry claimed the tree was dismantled for safety concerns.
CHRISTMAS TREE RECORDS
The world's tallest cut Christmas tree was a 221ft Douglas fir erected and decorated at Northgate Shopping Center, Seattle, Washington, USA, in December 1950.
The Mount Ingino Christmas Tree is a lighting illumination in the shape of a Christmas tree that is installed annually on the slopes of Mount Ingino outside the city of Gubbio, in the Umbria region in Italy. It's made out of 1,000 lights and five miles of cable laid out on the side of the mountain. The “tree” measures 2,460 feet high by 1,476 feet wide. In 1991 the Guinness Book of Records named it "The World's Largest Christmas Tree.”
The most expensively decorated Christmas tree, in an Abu Dhabi hotel in 2010, was worth $11 million (£8 million). It was adorned with a total of 181 diamonds, emeralds, pearls, sapphires and other precious stones.
China was the leading foreign source of artificial Christmas trees shipped to the United States ($79.7 million worth) between January and September 2011.
The largest ever display of fairy lights was 518,838 lights on a tree in Australia in 2015.
The Canadian province of Nova Scotia is the world's greatest exporter of Christmas trees.
To combat the theft of campus evergreen trees in public parks around Christmas time, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln landscaping staff spray their trees with fox urine. It freezes on them and is odorless outdoors, but thaws if taken indoors on a would-be Christmas tree, and the smell is "eye-watering."
In Ukraine spiders or spider webs are common Christmas tree decorations. Spiders are seen as signs of goodness and prosperity during the festive season.
The chichilaki is a Georgian traditional Christmas tree made from dried hazelnut or walnut branches that are shaved to form a small coniferous tree.
In New Zealand a tree called the 'Pohutakawa' that has red flowers is sometimes used as a Christmas Tree.
In India, Banana or Mango trees are sometimes decorated as Christmas Trees.
In Germany they put pickle ornament on their Christmas trees. The first person to find the pickle ornament gets an extra gift.
Did you know your Christmas tree is edible? The pine needles are a great source of vitamin C and can make the perfect marinade for fish. In 2012, a London restaurant was offering a Christmas tree menu for £150 a head.
Christmas trees are eaten by various zoo animals, including elephants, giraffes and rhinos. According to Berlin Zoo, elephants eat five trees at a single sitting.
The largest ever display of fairy lights was 518,838 lights on a tree in Australia in 2015.
CHRISTMAS FUN FACTS
The Canadian province of Nova Scotia is the world's greatest exporter of Christmas trees.
To combat the theft of campus evergreen trees in public parks around Christmas time, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln landscaping staff spray their trees with fox urine. It freezes on them and is odorless outdoors, but thaws if taken indoors on a would-be Christmas tree, and the smell is "eye-watering."
In Ukraine spiders or spider webs are common Christmas tree decorations. Spiders are seen as signs of goodness and prosperity during the festive season.
The chichilaki is a Georgian traditional Christmas tree made from dried hazelnut or walnut branches that are shaved to form a small coniferous tree.
 |
| Chichilaki with ornaments. By Irma Laghadze - Chichilaki, |
In New Zealand a tree called the 'Pohutakawa' that has red flowers is sometimes used as a Christmas Tree.
In India, Banana or Mango trees are sometimes decorated as Christmas Trees.
In Germany they put pickle ornament on their Christmas trees. The first person to find the pickle ornament gets an extra gift.
Did you know your Christmas tree is edible? The pine needles are a great source of vitamin C and can make the perfect marinade for fish. In 2012, a London restaurant was offering a Christmas tree menu for £150 a head.
Christmas trees are eaten by various zoo animals, including elephants, giraffes and rhinos. According to Berlin Zoo, elephants eat five trees at a single sitting.
There are close to 15,000 farms growing Christmas Trees in the U.S., and over 100,000 people are employed full or part-time in the industry.
Taylor Swift was raised on a Christmas tree farm. It was run by her parents at their Pine Ridge Farm home in Reading, Pennsylvania.
It takes the average Christmas Tree seven to ten years to mature.
The average age of a Christmas tree when it’s sold is 15.
Christmas trees need a minimum of one quart of water per inch of diameter at their base.
Sources Eat Out magazine, International Business Times, The Rakyat Post, Purplelion.com, QI: The Third Book of General Ignorance English.manoramaonline.com, Mentalfloss.com
Taylor Swift was raised on a Christmas tree farm. It was run by her parents at their Pine Ridge Farm home in Reading, Pennsylvania.
It takes the average Christmas Tree seven to ten years to mature.
The average age of a Christmas tree when it’s sold is 15.
Christmas trees need a minimum of one quart of water per inch of diameter at their base.
Sources Eat Out magazine, International Business Times, The Rakyat Post, Purplelion.com, QI: The Third Book of General Ignorance English.manoramaonline.com, Mentalfloss.com
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