Robin's Reflections on Personal Growth

Many homes all over the world decorate a tree in their homes during the Christmas season. For those who celebrate the Christmas holiday, this practice has become commonplace. However, how and where exactly did this holiday tradition come from? In the past, Christmas was not openly celebrated, as many believed it was a feast that had Pagan origins. In 1851, some parishioners in Ohio were actually condemned after decorating a Christmas tree.

The tradition of the Christmas tree actually precedes Christianity by several centuries. Many people from ancient civilizations worshiped the beauty of winter trees and believed that evergreens kept witches, evil spirits and illnesses away. In the middle ages, evergreens were called paradise trees and were decorated by the pagans with nuts, apples and paper flowers. Eventually, when December 25th was declared as Christmas day or the day when Jesus Christ was born, this tradition was adopted by Christians as part of the Christmas celebration.

Germany is actually credited with the birth of the Christmas tree tradition in 1521. During the 1700s, the first American Christmas tree was set up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was set up for the children who attended the German Moravian churches. Later on, Christians started setting up and decorating Christmas trees in their homes. They originally used wood to build pyramids, which they decorated with candles and evergreens.

As for the tradition of putting Christmas lights on Christmas trees, it is believed to have been started by Martin Luther. He is thought to be the one who first added lights or candles to the Christmas tree. He put up a tree in his home’s main room and then decorated the branches with candles so that he could simulate the beauty of the stars that he saw against the evergreens during his walk home one night to his family.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the tradition of the Christmas tree was no longer considered to be a pagan custom and more and more families in upper Rhineland started setting them up during the holiday season. At this time it became considered to be a Protestant custom. In 1846, Prince Albert, who was Queen Victoria’s husband, reportedly brought a Christmas tree for the royal family living in Windsor Castle.

However, Christmas trees were rarely seen in the US until the 19th century. In 1851, Mark Carr opened the very first Christmas tree shop in New York. A couple of years later, in 1856, President Franklin Pierce bought the White House’s first Christmas tree for the Sunday school kids. The lighting of the first national Christmas tree in the White House took place in 1923.

The most commonly used type of tree is the Fir tree as it does not lose its needles when drying out. In the past, it was common for people to cut down their Christmas trees in the woods. Now, it is more typical to harvest them from commercial tree farms or to use artificial trees instead. Today, millions of homes across the globe erect and light their Christmas tree as part of the season’s celebrations.