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Ancient Egyptians used palms in their Winter Solstice festivals — and the Romans used firs — in anticipation of the lush
greenery of Spring with the return of the Sun. Bringing an evergreen tree into the house during winter solstice festivals was
a tradition among the Germans from at least 700 AD. According to legend, Martin Luther added candles to the tree decorations.
Like the Christmas tree, the Advent wreath and its candles are of German origin — although candles were common gifts during
Saturnalia and candles have a long tradition in pagan rituals.
"Miracle (Mystery) plays" depicting biblical stories performed during medieval times probably also contributed to the use of
Christmas trees. One of the most popular of these plays featured Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The only prop would be
an evergreen tree (the "Paradise Tree") to which was affixed a red apple. Most commonly the Paradise Play was performed on
December 24th, because this was the feast day of Adam and Eve on the old Christian calendar. Because "immoral behavior"
sometimes occurred during this play, it was forbidden by the Church in the fifteenth century, but many continued the practice
of having a Paradise Tree in their home on December 24th.
Victoria became Queen of England in 1837 at age 18. She proposed to the German Prince Albert and married him in 1840. Albert
provided the first Christmas tree, well decorated, to his family at Windsor Castle for the Christmas of 1841. Albert
distributed Christmas trees to schools and army barracks to foster his childhood love of the seasonal tree in his adopted
country. Newspaper illustrations in 1848 showing the royal family with a Christmas tree decorated with glass-blown ornaments,
candles and ribbons in Windsor Castle excited the popular imagination in Britain, a sentiment not shared by Americans.
German immigrants to eastern Pennsylvania ("Pennsylvania Dutch") were decorating Christmas trees in their homes at least as
early as the 1820s. (Christmas trees were limited to the Strasbourg area of Germany prior to 1750, and only became popular
throughout Germany in the 19th century.) In 1851 when some Pennsylvania Germans placed a Christmas tree outside their church,
others in the community told the minister to remove the pagan symbol. The first printed image of a Christmas tree in the
Unites States was in a 1836 Gift Book. Christmas trees did not gain popularity in the US until late in the 19th century. The
German song "O Tannenbaum" became translated into the American "O Christmas Tree" (and is the melody for the state songs of
Maryland, Iowa, Michigan and New Jersey).
The placing of tinsel on Christmas trees began in Germany — originally as beaten silver strips. According to legend a poor
woman's tree was covered with spiderwebs and this saddened the Christ Child so much that He turned the webs into silver. The
Germans also decorated their trees with fruits, pastries, candies, colored paper figures, tin angels and other ornaments. In
the United States F.W. Woodworth unexpectedly made a fortune in the 1880s selling German-made Christmas tree ornaments which
he had reluctantly stocked in his five-and-dime stores.
In 1882 Edward Johnson, a colleague of Thomas Edison, became the first person to light a Christmas tree with electric light —
using a string of 80 small bulbs. Because they are such a fire hazard, candles were traditionally only placed on a tree on
Christmas Eve. With electric lights trees could be illuminated safely for longer periods, but they were only affordable by
the wealthy until 1903 when the Ever-Ready Company offered the first string of ready-made lights. Lighting trees outdoors was
made practical by electricity. Decorating houses & landscapes with strings of multicolored lights at Christmastime became
popular early in the 20th century. Candles had traditionally been placed in windows to help Christmastime travelers to find
and identify houses — and to create holiday cheer.
The first American President to have a Christmas tree in the White House was Franklin Pierce in 1856. Theodore Roosevelt
interrupted the tradition in 1900 out of concern over national consumption of evergreen trees, but Woodrow Wilson presided
over the first national Christmas tree in 1913. About 20% of American homes had decorated Christmas trees at the beginning of
the 20th century and about 85% had decorated trees near that end of that century.
Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that attaches itself to trees, never touches the ground and can bear fruit in the winter. The
Druids regarded mistletoe as sacred. The Scandinavians associated it with the goddess of love. Ancient Babylonian legend
regarded mistletoe as a divine branch from heaven which was grafted to earthly trees. Mistletoe was a token of peace &
reconciliation — with a kiss symbolizing pardon. Kissing under mistletoe was a Roman custom. The unholy & pagan associations
with mistletoe (and the adulterous temptations) caused the church to ban its use and substitute holly wreaths, which could
represent Christ's crown of thorns (with the blood-red berries). (Puritans later condemned holly wreaths as a pagan symbol of
sun-worship — the shape symbolizing the sun.)
With its large red & white leaves (the colored upper leaves are often mistaken for flowers), the poinsettia has become the
Christmas "flower". Eighty-five percent of potted plants sold at Christmastime are poinsettias. Poinsettia leaves can turn
from green to brilliant red in the month of December. The flowers were brought to the United States by physician, statesman
and botanist Joel Roberts Poinsett upon his return as American Ambassador to Mexico in 1828. Poinsett cultivated the Aztec
plants in his South Carolina greenhouse. In Mexico the poinsettia is called "flower of the Holy Night".
