The History of Christmas Trees | Waterfront Properties
While most of us simply call it a “Christmas Tree,” the green thing in your living room, the one surrounded by all those pretty presents, is actually called an “Evergreen Fir.”
Evergreen Firs have traditionally been used to celebrate winter festivals (pagan and Christian) for thousands of years. People traditionally used Evergreen Fir branches to decorate their homes during the Winter solstice, as it made them think of the spring to come. The Romans used Fir Trees to decorate their temples at the festival of Saturnalia. And Christians use it as a sign of everlasting life with God.
Although history is not completely clear on the actual origin of the modern Christmas tree, Germany is generally credited with starting the tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if the wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.
Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree
The first tree at Rockefeller Center was placed in 1931. It was a small unadorned tree placed by construction workers at the center of the construction site. Two years later, another tree was placed there, this time with lights. These days, the giant Rockefeller Center tree is laden with over 25,000 Christmas lights.
Christmas Tree Lights
Electric tree lights first because widely known in the USA in 1895 when President Grover Cleveland has the tree in the White House decorated with lights as his young daughters liked them! The tradition of the National Christmas Tree on the White House lawn started in 1923 with President Calvin Coolidge.
What About Tinsel?
Tinsel was also created in Germany, where it was originally made from thin strips of beaten silver. But when plastic and man-made tinsel was invented, it became very popular as it was much cheaper than real silver and also lighter to go on the tree!
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