December 16, 2024 • 17 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, The History Guy recalls the forgotten history of Christmas trees.
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Speaker 1 (00:14):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories.
Up next. Our next story comes to us from a
man who's simply known as the History Guy. His videos
are watched by hundreds of thousands of people of all
ages over on YouTube. The History Guy has also heard
here on our American Stories. Let's take a listen to
the History Guy as he recalls the forgotten history of
(00:37):
Christmas trees.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Traditions involving evergreen plants in midwinter is ancient as civilization.
The winter solstice, the point where one of the ears
polls has its maximum tilt away from the sun, occurs
in December in the northern Hemisphere, very close to Christmas,
usually December twentieth or twenty first. The solstice represents the
longest night in the shortest day of the year, and
days thereafter we'll go longer until the summer solstice. Many
(01:02):
ancient religions saw the significance to them. Winter came because
the Sun God had grown ill or weak, and the
solstice was a cause for celebration as it represented the
day when the Sun God began to recover. Evergreen plants
were used because they represented the triumph of life over death.
In ancient Egypt, on the solstice, people decorated their homes
with green palm proms and a celebration of Ra, the
(01:25):
god of the San. Ancient Romans celebrated Saturnalia Rocus festival
in honor of Saturn, the god of wealth and agriculture,
in mid December, and the festival of gift giving and
libation included decorating the home with evergreen boughs. Celtic druids
and ancient Bretain decorated evergreen trees at the onset of
winter to ensure eight fruitful coming year. Germanic people's venerated
(01:45):
sacred trees and oaks and associated the evergreen tree with
a god Balder, who was associated with the San. In
ancient Germanic and Scabinavian traditions, trees were seen as a
protection from the wild Hunt, a chaotic time when a
mythical figure led a hunt of souls that could spell doom.
In Scandinavian folklore, the hunt was led by the god
Woden and occurred during the midwinter festival called Yule, whose
(02:07):
traditions affected many later Christmas traditions, but it's not clear how,
if at all, these pre Christian traditions affected the modern
tradition of Christmas trees. A more likely predecessor is mystery plays,
plays that depicted biblical stories that were the origin of
passion plays. Mystery plays started to be introduced into sacred
services in Europe around the fifth century. The place would
(02:28):
be associated with dates, and in many countries the liturgical
calendar celebrated Saints Adam and Eve on December twenty four.
The mystery place on Christmas Eve therefore often featured the
so called tree of knowledge of good and evil, also
called the Tree of Life from which Eve took the
apple given to Adam. The tree was decorated with red
apples and white wafers. The decoration of a Christmas bow
(02:50):
by the Catholic religious order of Cistercians, noted in a
fifteenth century reference to an evergreen bow decorated with red
oranges and candles, is seen by some as the earliest
reference to a Christmas tree, But the tradition of Christmas
trees might actually not be related to pre Christian pagan traditions,
or even to Christian mystery plays. According to a December eighteenth,
(03:13):
twenty twenty edition of National Geographic the Cities of Riga, Latvia,
and Tallann Estonia have an ongoing argument over which city
was the first to host a real Christmas tree, and
that debate has to do with a mysterious medieval order
called the Brotherhood of the Blackheads, established in what was
then called Livonia in the mid thirteenth century. The Brotherhood
(03:34):
was an association of local, unmarried merchants, ship owners and
foreigners urgently created help fight an indigenous uprising against Christianity
called the Saint George's Night Uprising again fifteen forty three.
While the order had a military history in chivalric tradition,
it was largely an association of merchants and tradespeople. In
the middle fifteenth century, they apparently took up the practice
(03:55):
of raising and decorating a real or ersatz tree with
fruits and nuts in their guilt. They would then haul
the tree to the middle of town, dance around it,
and set fire to it. Laviia claims the first such
event occurred in Riga in fifteen ten, and Estonia claims
the first was in Tallent in fourteen forty four, but
the evidence is sketchy to support either claim. While the
(04:15):
debate is seen to affect tourism travel for Christmas celebration.
The odd thing is that these supposed the first Christmas
trees might not have had anything to do with Christmas.
As A historian for the National Library of Lafia, quoted
in The New York Times in twenty sixteen, notes that
these events were likely rooted in rituals and traditions unique
to the Blackheads, when bi annual celebrations served as a
means of inducting new members. Thus, the Christmas tree tradition
(04:39):
might actually have been secular. The first firmly dated representation
of a Christmas tree is in fifteen seventy six in
alsas which is today part of France, but it's on
the border with German anifolds many German traditions. The Christmas
market in the Alsatian city of Strasburg is among the
oldest in Europe, dating as far back is fifteen seventy
(05:01):
and at least in modern times, is famous for its
Christmas tree. The practice of decorating a tree in the
home as we know it today is generally seen as
having evolved in Germany in the sixteenth century. The tradition
may have been associated with Protestantism, as the trees and
the homes might have been a Protestant response to the
Catholic tradition of Christmas cribs or Nativity scenes. Most directly,
(05:23):
the story of decorating a Christmas tree has been associated
with the sixteenth century religious reformer Martin Luther. According to
the story, Luther was walking home one winter evening and
was struck by the beauty of brilliant stars against the
evergreen trees of the German forests. He brought a tree
to his home and decorated with candles as a way
to represent the scene. Writer Dorothy Haskins explained he wanted
(05:43):
to stand there ever greet as a reminder to his
children that when the world was at its bleakest moment,
sad and helpless and covered the wave of sin, God
sent his son, everlasting life itself to bring hope in
the midst of the dark and chill. Although it isn't
clear if the story of Luther is real or apocryphal,
the tradition quickly became associated with Protestant reformers, and Christmas
tree was placed in the Cathedral of Strasburg at the
(06:05):
direction of reformer Martin Booser in fifteen thirty nine. The
tradition became common in the Upper Rhineland by the eighteenth century,
but less so along the lower Riding, where there was
a Roman Catholic majority. However, trees also have a particular
meaning in Catholic doctrine in the Catholic Church often sits
in eighth century a d story where Saint Boniface cut
down an oak tree called Donor's Oak in central Germany
(06:26):
that was being used as a pagan symbol and said
offered a fir tree as a holy tree, that being
an evergreen, represented end was life as the origin of
the Christmas tree. If so, the Vatican was somewhat slow
in coming to the party, only starting a Christmas tree
tradition in Saint Peter Square in nineteen eighty two.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And you've been listening to the History Guy tell the
story of the origins of the Christmas Tree, and we
love hearing from him regularly. And you can go to
our website and put in History Guy and catch all
of the work he's done and it's so good. Or
better still, go to his YouTube channel and look up
the History Guy and you'll find it and just enjoy yourself.
(07:03):
It's a really unique voice he has and a great
grasp of detail as it relates to almost every subject imaginable.
When we come back, more with the History Guy and
more on the history of the Christmas Tree. Here on
our American Stories, Lie Hibibi here the host of our
(07:33):
American Stories. Every day on this show, we're bringing inspiring
stories from across this great country, stories from our big
cities and small towns. But we truly can't do the
show without you. Our stories are free to listen to,
but they're not free to make. If you love what
you hear, go to Ouramerican Stories dot com and click
the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go
(07:56):
to Aluramerican Stories dot com and give and we continue
with our American Stories and with the History Guy and
the history of the Christmas Tree.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
By the nineteenth century, the tradition had taken hold all
cross Germany and was seen to be an expression of
German culture. In fact, that is how the tradition of
Christmas trees luckily first came to the United States, with
Hessian troops fighting in the American Revolution, as well as
with German immigrants as early as seventeen seventy seven. Still,
the tradition was not widely accepted in the US, or
(08:37):
it was largely perceived as a quaint, foreign or even
pagan tradition. If Protestants created the Christmas tree tradition in Germany,
they vehemently opposed it. In England. The Puritan saw Christmas
as a frivolous addition to the religious calendar, and were
particularly offended by wasteful excess like seeing carols and decorating trees.
A sixteen forty three ordnance during the Protectorate encouraging subjects
(08:58):
to treat the midwinter period with more solemn humiliation, because
it may call to remembrance our sins and the sins
of our forefathers, who have turned this feast, pretending the
memory of Christ into an extreme forgetfulness of them, by
giving liberty to carnal and sensual delights. As Lord Protector,
Oliver Cromwell had to patrol the streets to rest anyone
who looked like they were headed to a special Christmas
(09:19):
Eve service and confiscate any food discovered being prepared for
Christmas celebrations. The same attitude prevailed among Puritans and the Americas.
According to history dot com. In sixteen fifty nine, the
General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law banning any celebration
of December twenty fifth and finding people for hanging decorations.
The change in both Great Britain and the United States
(09:40):
was imported from Germany via the royal family. The tradition
of decorating a whole tree was brought to the British
royal family by Queen Charlotte, wife of George the Third,
in eighteen hundred. While the autrician did not buy and
large at the time, spread beyond the royal family. It
was well recognized by young Victoria Alexandrina, who would later
be crowned Queen Victoria. When she married her cousin, Prince
(10:01):
Albert of Saxe, Coburg and Gotha in eighteen forty one,
the queen and her consort made a point of advertising
their Christmas traditions, reinforced by Albert's German heritage. With their
eventual nine children, the traditions solely became more popular, boosted
significantly when the Illustrated London News portrayed the royal family
with their tree in eighteen forty eight. Statis conscious Britains
(10:22):
quickly began emulating the royal couple. The tradition briefly fell
out of favor due to the anti German sentiment during
the Great War, but by the nineteen twenties was common
among all classes. A special tradition was started following the
Second World War, where the Government of Norway since nineteen
forty seven donates a Norway spruce tree each year to
the people of Britain as a token of gratitude for
British support during the Second World War, when the British
(10:44):
government hosted the Norwegian government in exile. The tree is
the focus of a traditional carol singing program, and according
to the web page of the City of London, for
many Londoners, the Christmas Tree and the carol singing in
Trafalgar Square signals the countdown to Christmas. The city bills
the tree as the world's most famous Christmas Tree. As
with the United Kingdom, the Christmas tree tradition was spread
(11:06):
throughout Europe by the largely intermarried European nobility. Nobility was
not quite as popular in the United States, but upper
classed as conscience Americans tended to emulate their European peers.
In an odd twist. The eighteen forty eight illustration of
the Queen and her Concert was also popular in the
United States, printed in the women's magazine Godey's Ladybook in
(11:26):
eighteen fifty, but was modified to remove the queen's crown
and the Prince consort's sacs, resembling a more typical family.
The well known illustration is credited with popularizing Christmas trees
in the United States, where there were more than three
million Germans who immigrated between eighteen forty and eighteen eighty
and the Puritan fervor of the seventeenth century had faded. Still,
various complaints about the German tradition being un American persisted
(11:49):
through the Great War period. There is some anecdotal evidence
that tree was placed in the White House in the
eighteen forties under the Tayler administration, and others edit tree
was placed during the Pierce administration in the eighteen fifties,
but the most credible reports do not place a Christmas
tree in the White House until eighteen eighty nine during
the Benjamin Harrison administration, when it was placed on the
second floor and decorated with candles for the Harrison grandchildren.
(12:11):
But a White House Christmas tree did not become an
immediate tradition and was left to the whims of the
occupant and often depended upon whether there were children in
the White House. First Lady lew Henry Hoover started a
tradition of an official White House tree with decorations decided
by the First Lady in nineteen twenty nine, with only
two exceptions. The White House Christmas Tree has been placed
on the first floor Blue Room since nineteen sixty one
(12:33):
and is commonly called the Blue Room Christmas Tree. The
tradition of placing a tree in Rockefeller Center in Mintown, Manhattan,
between West forty eighth and fifty first Streets in fifth
and sixth Avenues didn't begin until nineteen thirty one. First
tree was placed by construction workers building Rockefeller Center. Workers
pulled their money for the tree, which was decorated with
homemade decorations made by their families. In nineteen thirty three,
(12:55):
Rockefeller Center decided to make an annual tree a tradition,
and the now iconic Ice Shrink was opened in nineteen
thirty six. The lighting of the tree was first televised
in nineteen fifty and today the ceremonies broadcast a hundreds
of millions and as many as one hundred and twenty
five million people visit the tree in a normal year.
While early traditions included ersatz trees, often wooden platforms covered
(13:15):
with evergreen boughs, something approximating a modern artificial tree was
developed earlier than you might think. By the eighteen eighties,
Germans became concerned about the use of Christmas trees because
of deforestation. As a solution, a type of artificial tree
made of green dyed goose feathers wrapped around a wire
frame was developed. Feather trees were popular throughout the nineteenth
century and had a brief surge of popularity in the
(13:37):
United States in the early twentieth century, when they were
sold at department stores and tatted for not dropping needles.
In nineteen thirty, a maker of housewares, the Attis Brush Company,
produced an artificial tree made from brush bristles. They used
the same process and equipment used for making toilet brushes
that used green bristles, and were sold into the nineteen fifties.
(13:58):
Alumen trees, manufactured from about nineteen fifty five into the
nineteen seventies, were briefly popular in the United States. More
than a million were produced by the Aluminum Specialty Company
of meant what Wisconsin between nineteen fifty nine and nineteen
sixty nine, But in nineteen sixty five, a Charlie Brown
children's cartoon portrayed illumine trees as symbols of the commercialization
of Christmas and the market faded.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
I don't know, maias I just don't know. Well, I
guess we'd better concentrate on finding a nice Christmas tree.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
I successfully try those slitchlights, Charlie Brown. This really rings
Christmas clothes to a Burthen.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Gee, they still make wooden Christmas tree. This little green.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
One here seems to meet your homes.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
I don't know, Charlie Brown. Remember what Lucy said. This
doesn't seem to It's the modern spirit.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I don't care.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
All decorated and it'll be just right for our play. Besides,
I think it means me. Today there's a market for
vintage and antique trees, such as feather trees, addus brush trees,
and aluminum trees, but most modern official trees are made
of PVC and most commonly manufactured in China. There are
(15:10):
ongoing debates about the economic and environmental impacts of real
versus artificial Christmas trees. A twenty seventeen survey by the
American Christmas Tree Association found that around eighty one percent
of America's approximately ninety five million Christmas trees were artificial,
although other surveys suggests that the number may be closer
to around two thirds. Still, as many as thirty million
(15:31):
natural Christmas trees are produced in the United States every year,
and as many as sixty million in Europe. While the
tradition seems harmless, a twenty twenty survey by the website
Value Penguin found that nearly one in twenty Americans having
been injured while putting up a Christmas tree, and three
quarters that met to have forgotten to turn the lights
out at nine, which can be a fire hazard. According
(15:51):
to the National Fire Protection Association, there's an average of
about one hundred and sixty home fires in the United
States attributed to Christmas trees each year, causing around ten
million dollars property loss and an average of two deaths
per fire. To limit the risk of fire, the website
aciweather suggests buying fresher looking trees, keeping them well watered,
shaking the tree to see if the needles are detaching,
(16:12):
checking the lights and turning them off at night, and
keeping the tree away from heat sources such as radiators, fireplaces,
and candles. And even with their long history, the future
of Christmas tree still looks very bright. A twenty nineteen
report on CNN noted that in the previous year twenty eighteen,
more Christmas trees were sold in America than ever before
in history. The reason is that the generation called the
(16:34):
Millennials are now settling down and having children. Jessica Lutz
of the American Relator's Association asserts that millennials might actually
be more attracted to Christmas trees than previous generations because
of their obsession with posting photographs on social media, where
a picture of the family in front of the Christmas
tree is quickly becoming an Instagram staple.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
And you've been listening to the History of the Christmas Tree.
The special thanks on the production to Greg Hangler and
a special thanks as always to the History Guy and
you can find him on YouTube and the range, breadth
and depth of his storytelling is remarkable. And by the way,
who knew that it was President Hoover's wife who institutionalized
(17:15):
the Christmas Tree as we know it outside the White House,
and my goodness, as a kid growing up in northern
New Jersey, it was unimaginable to skip a Christmas not
going to Rock Center and seeing the Christmas Tree and
it's lighting. One hundred and twenty five million people a
year visit that tree, and it was started because a
bunch of construction workers building Rockefeller Center had decided to
(17:38):
put up their own makeshift tree, The Story of the
Christmas Tree. Thirty million more or less natural Christmas trees
a year are used by Americans. The Story of the
Christmas Tree a staple of American life. Here on our
American Stories
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories.
Up next. Our next story comes to us from a
man who's simply known as the History Guy. His videos
are watched by hundreds of thousands of people of all
ages over on YouTube. The History Guy has also heard
here on our American Stories. Let's take a listen to
the History Guy as he recalls the forgotten history of
(00:37):
Christmas trees.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Traditions involving evergreen plants in midwinter is ancient as civilization.
The winter solstice, the point where one of the ears
polls has its maximum tilt away from the sun, occurs
in December in the northern Hemisphere, very close to Christmas,
usually December twentieth or twenty first. The solstice represents the
longest night in the shortest day of the year, and
days thereafter we'll go longer until the summer solstice. Many
(01:02):
ancient religions saw the significance to them. Winter came because
the Sun God had grown ill or weak, and the
solstice was a cause for celebration as it represented the
day when the Sun God began to recover. Evergreen plants
were used because they represented the triumph of life over death.
In ancient Egypt, on the solstice, people decorated their homes
with green palm proms and a celebration of Ra, the
(01:25):
god of the San. Ancient Romans celebrated Saturnalia Rocus festival
in honor of Saturn, the god of wealth and agriculture,
in mid December, and the festival of gift giving and
libation included decorating the home with evergreen boughs. Celtic druids
and ancient Bretain decorated evergreen trees at the onset of
winter to ensure eight fruitful coming year. Germanic people's venerated
(01:45):
sacred trees and oaks and associated the evergreen tree with
a god Balder, who was associated with the San. In
ancient Germanic and Scabinavian traditions, trees were seen as a
protection from the wild Hunt, a chaotic time when a
mythical figure led a hunt of souls that could spell doom.
In Scandinavian folklore, the hunt was led by the god
Woden and occurred during the midwinter festival called Yule, whose
(02:07):
traditions affected many later Christmas traditions, but it's not clear how,
if at all, these pre Christian traditions affected the modern
tradition of Christmas trees. A more likely predecessor is mystery plays,
plays that depicted biblical stories that were the origin of
passion plays. Mystery plays started to be introduced into sacred
services in Europe around the fifth century. The place would
(02:28):
be associated with dates, and in many countries the liturgical
calendar celebrated Saints Adam and Eve on December twenty four.
The mystery place on Christmas Eve therefore often featured the
so called tree of knowledge of good and evil, also
called the Tree of Life from which Eve took the
apple given to Adam. The tree was decorated with red
apples and white wafers. The decoration of a Christmas bow
(02:50):
by the Catholic religious order of Cistercians, noted in a
fifteenth century reference to an evergreen bow decorated with red
oranges and candles, is seen by some as the earliest
reference to a Christmas tree, But the tradition of Christmas
trees might actually not be related to pre Christian pagan traditions,
or even to Christian mystery plays. According to a December eighteenth,
(03:13):
twenty twenty edition of National Geographic the Cities of Riga, Latvia,
and Tallann Estonia have an ongoing argument over which city
was the first to host a real Christmas tree, and
that debate has to do with a mysterious medieval order
called the Brotherhood of the Blackheads, established in what was
then called Livonia in the mid thirteenth century. The Brotherhood
(03:34):
was an association of local, unmarried merchants, ship owners and
foreigners urgently created help fight an indigenous uprising against Christianity
called the Saint George's Night Uprising again fifteen forty three.
While the order had a military history in chivalric tradition,
it was largely an association of merchants and tradespeople. In
the middle fifteenth century, they apparently took up the practice
(03:55):
of raising and decorating a real or ersatz tree with
fruits and nuts in their guilt. They would then haul
the tree to the middle of town, dance around it,
and set fire to it. Laviia claims the first such
event occurred in Riga in fifteen ten, and Estonia claims
the first was in Tallent in fourteen forty four, but
the evidence is sketchy to support either claim. While the
(04:15):
debate is seen to affect tourism travel for Christmas celebration.
The odd thing is that these supposed the first Christmas
trees might not have had anything to do with Christmas.
As A historian for the National Library of Lafia, quoted
in The New York Times in twenty sixteen, notes that
these events were likely rooted in rituals and traditions unique
to the Blackheads, when bi annual celebrations served as a
means of inducting new members. Thus, the Christmas tree tradition
(04:39):
might actually have been secular. The first firmly dated representation
of a Christmas tree is in fifteen seventy six in
alsas which is today part of France, but it's on
the border with German anifolds many German traditions. The Christmas
market in the Alsatian city of Strasburg is among the
oldest in Europe, dating as far back is fifteen seventy
(05:01):
and at least in modern times, is famous for its
Christmas tree. The practice of decorating a tree in the
home as we know it today is generally seen as
having evolved in Germany in the sixteenth century. The tradition
may have been associated with Protestantism, as the trees and
the homes might have been a Protestant response to the
Catholic tradition of Christmas cribs or Nativity scenes. Most directly,
(05:23):
the story of decorating a Christmas tree has been associated
with the sixteenth century religious reformer Martin Luther. According to
the story, Luther was walking home one winter evening and
was struck by the beauty of brilliant stars against the
evergreen trees of the German forests. He brought a tree
to his home and decorated with candles as a way
to represent the scene. Writer Dorothy Haskins explained he wanted
(05:43):
to stand there ever greet as a reminder to his
children that when the world was at its bleakest moment,
sad and helpless and covered the wave of sin, God
sent his son, everlasting life itself to bring hope in
the midst of the dark and chill. Although it isn't
clear if the story of Luther is real or apocryphal,
the tradition quickly became associated with Protestant reformers, and Christmas
tree was placed in the Cathedral of Strasburg at the
(06:05):
direction of reformer Martin Booser in fifteen thirty nine. The
tradition became common in the Upper Rhineland by the eighteenth century,
but less so along the lower Riding, where there was
a Roman Catholic majority. However, trees also have a particular
meaning in Catholic doctrine in the Catholic Church often sits
in eighth century a d story where Saint Boniface cut
down an oak tree called Donor's Oak in central Germany
(06:26):
that was being used as a pagan symbol and said
offered a fir tree as a holy tree, that being
an evergreen, represented end was life as the origin of
the Christmas tree. If so, the Vatican was somewhat slow
in coming to the party, only starting a Christmas tree
tradition in Saint Peter Square in nineteen eighty two.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And you've been listening to the History Guy tell the
story of the origins of the Christmas Tree, and we
love hearing from him regularly. And you can go to
our website and put in History Guy and catch all
of the work he's done and it's so good. Or
better still, go to his YouTube channel and look up
the History Guy and you'll find it and just enjoy yourself.
(07:03):
It's a really unique voice he has and a great
grasp of detail as it relates to almost every subject imaginable.
When we come back, more with the History Guy and
more on the history of the Christmas Tree. Here on
our American Stories, Lie Hibibi here the host of our
(07:33):
American Stories. Every day on this show, we're bringing inspiring
stories from across this great country, stories from our big
cities and small towns. But we truly can't do the
show without you. Our stories are free to listen to,
but they're not free to make. If you love what
you hear, go to Ouramerican Stories dot com and click
the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go
(07:56):
to Aluramerican Stories dot com and give and we continue
with our American Stories and with the History Guy and
the history of the Christmas Tree.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
By the nineteenth century, the tradition had taken hold all
cross Germany and was seen to be an expression of
German culture. In fact, that is how the tradition of
Christmas trees luckily first came to the United States, with
Hessian troops fighting in the American Revolution, as well as
with German immigrants as early as seventeen seventy seven. Still,
the tradition was not widely accepted in the US, or
(08:37):
it was largely perceived as a quaint, foreign or even
pagan tradition. If Protestants created the Christmas tree tradition in Germany,
they vehemently opposed it. In England. The Puritan saw Christmas
as a frivolous addition to the religious calendar, and were
particularly offended by wasteful excess like seeing carols and decorating trees.
A sixteen forty three ordnance during the Protectorate encouraging subjects
(08:58):
to treat the midwinter period with more solemn humiliation, because
it may call to remembrance our sins and the sins
of our forefathers, who have turned this feast, pretending the
memory of Christ into an extreme forgetfulness of them, by
giving liberty to carnal and sensual delights. As Lord Protector,
Oliver Cromwell had to patrol the streets to rest anyone
who looked like they were headed to a special Christmas
(09:19):
Eve service and confiscate any food discovered being prepared for
Christmas celebrations. The same attitude prevailed among Puritans and the Americas.
According to history dot com. In sixteen fifty nine, the
General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law banning any celebration
of December twenty fifth and finding people for hanging decorations.
The change in both Great Britain and the United States
(09:40):
was imported from Germany via the royal family. The tradition
of decorating a whole tree was brought to the British
royal family by Queen Charlotte, wife of George the Third,
in eighteen hundred. While the autrician did not buy and
large at the time, spread beyond the royal family. It
was well recognized by young Victoria Alexandrina, who would later
be crowned Queen Victoria. When she married her cousin, Prince
(10:01):
Albert of Saxe, Coburg and Gotha in eighteen forty one,
the queen and her consort made a point of advertising
their Christmas traditions, reinforced by Albert's German heritage. With their
eventual nine children, the traditions solely became more popular, boosted
significantly when the Illustrated London News portrayed the royal family
with their tree in eighteen forty eight. Statis conscious Britains
(10:22):
quickly began emulating the royal couple. The tradition briefly fell
out of favor due to the anti German sentiment during
the Great War, but by the nineteen twenties was common
among all classes. A special tradition was started following the
Second World War, where the Government of Norway since nineteen
forty seven donates a Norway spruce tree each year to
the people of Britain as a token of gratitude for
British support during the Second World War, when the British
(10:44):
government hosted the Norwegian government in exile. The tree is
the focus of a traditional carol singing program, and according
to the web page of the City of London, for
many Londoners, the Christmas Tree and the carol singing in
Trafalgar Square signals the countdown to Christmas. The city bills
the tree as the world's most famous Christmas Tree. As
with the United Kingdom, the Christmas tree tradition was spread
(11:06):
throughout Europe by the largely intermarried European nobility. Nobility was
not quite as popular in the United States, but upper
classed as conscience Americans tended to emulate their European peers.
In an odd twist. The eighteen forty eight illustration of
the Queen and her Concert was also popular in the
United States, printed in the women's magazine Godey's Ladybook in
(11:26):
eighteen fifty, but was modified to remove the queen's crown
and the Prince consort's sacs, resembling a more typical family.
The well known illustration is credited with popularizing Christmas trees
in the United States, where there were more than three
million Germans who immigrated between eighteen forty and eighteen eighty
and the Puritan fervor of the seventeenth century had faded. Still,
various complaints about the German tradition being un American persisted
(11:49):
through the Great War period. There is some anecdotal evidence
that tree was placed in the White House in the
eighteen forties under the Tayler administration, and others edit tree
was placed during the Pierce administration in the eighteen fifties,
but the most credible reports do not place a Christmas
tree in the White House until eighteen eighty nine during
the Benjamin Harrison administration, when it was placed on the
second floor and decorated with candles for the Harrison grandchildren.
(12:11):
But a White House Christmas tree did not become an
immediate tradition and was left to the whims of the
occupant and often depended upon whether there were children in
the White House. First Lady lew Henry Hoover started a
tradition of an official White House tree with decorations decided
by the First Lady in nineteen twenty nine, with only
two exceptions. The White House Christmas Tree has been placed
on the first floor Blue Room since nineteen sixty one
(12:33):
and is commonly called the Blue Room Christmas Tree. The
tradition of placing a tree in Rockefeller Center in Mintown, Manhattan,
between West forty eighth and fifty first Streets in fifth
and sixth Avenues didn't begin until nineteen thirty one. First
tree was placed by construction workers building Rockefeller Center. Workers
pulled their money for the tree, which was decorated with
homemade decorations made by their families. In nineteen thirty three,
(12:55):
Rockefeller Center decided to make an annual tree a tradition,
and the now iconic Ice Shrink was opened in nineteen
thirty six. The lighting of the tree was first televised
in nineteen fifty and today the ceremonies broadcast a hundreds
of millions and as many as one hundred and twenty
five million people visit the tree in a normal year.
While early traditions included ersatz trees, often wooden platforms covered
(13:15):
with evergreen boughs, something approximating a modern artificial tree was
developed earlier than you might think. By the eighteen eighties,
Germans became concerned about the use of Christmas trees because
of deforestation. As a solution, a type of artificial tree
made of green dyed goose feathers wrapped around a wire
frame was developed. Feather trees were popular throughout the nineteenth
century and had a brief surge of popularity in the
(13:37):
United States in the early twentieth century, when they were
sold at department stores and tatted for not dropping needles.
In nineteen thirty, a maker of housewares, the Attis Brush Company,
produced an artificial tree made from brush bristles. They used
the same process and equipment used for making toilet brushes
that used green bristles, and were sold into the nineteen fifties.
(13:58):
Alumen trees, manufactured from about nineteen fifty five into the
nineteen seventies, were briefly popular in the United States. More
than a million were produced by the Aluminum Specialty Company
of meant what Wisconsin between nineteen fifty nine and nineteen
sixty nine, But in nineteen sixty five, a Charlie Brown
children's cartoon portrayed illumine trees as symbols of the commercialization
of Christmas and the market faded.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
I don't know, maias I just don't know. Well, I
guess we'd better concentrate on finding a nice Christmas tree.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
I successfully try those slitchlights, Charlie Brown. This really rings
Christmas clothes to a Burthen.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Gee, they still make wooden Christmas tree. This little green.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
One here seems to meet your homes.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
I don't know, Charlie Brown. Remember what Lucy said. This
doesn't seem to It's the modern spirit.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I don't care.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
All decorated and it'll be just right for our play. Besides,
I think it means me. Today there's a market for
vintage and antique trees, such as feather trees, addus brush trees,
and aluminum trees, but most modern official trees are made
of PVC and most commonly manufactured in China. There are
(15:10):
ongoing debates about the economic and environmental impacts of real
versus artificial Christmas trees. A twenty seventeen survey by the
American Christmas Tree Association found that around eighty one percent
of America's approximately ninety five million Christmas trees were artificial,
although other surveys suggests that the number may be closer
to around two thirds. Still, as many as thirty million
(15:31):
natural Christmas trees are produced in the United States every year,
and as many as sixty million in Europe. While the
tradition seems harmless, a twenty twenty survey by the website
Value Penguin found that nearly one in twenty Americans having
been injured while putting up a Christmas tree, and three
quarters that met to have forgotten to turn the lights
out at nine, which can be a fire hazard. According
(15:51):
to the National Fire Protection Association, there's an average of
about one hundred and sixty home fires in the United
States attributed to Christmas trees each year, causing around ten
million dollars property loss and an average of two deaths
per fire. To limit the risk of fire, the website
aciweather suggests buying fresher looking trees, keeping them well watered,
shaking the tree to see if the needles are detaching,
(16:12):
checking the lights and turning them off at night, and
keeping the tree away from heat sources such as radiators, fireplaces,
and candles. And even with their long history, the future
of Christmas tree still looks very bright. A twenty nineteen
report on CNN noted that in the previous year twenty eighteen,
more Christmas trees were sold in America than ever before
in history. The reason is that the generation called the
(16:34):
Millennials are now settling down and having children. Jessica Lutz
of the American Relator's Association asserts that millennials might actually
be more attracted to Christmas trees than previous generations because
of their obsession with posting photographs on social media, where
a picture of the family in front of the Christmas
tree is quickly becoming an Instagram staple.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
And you've been listening to the History of the Christmas Tree.
The special thanks on the production to Greg Hangler and
a special thanks as always to the History Guy and
you can find him on YouTube and the range, breadth
and depth of his storytelling is remarkable. And by the way,
who knew that it was President Hoover's wife who institutionalized
(17:15):
the Christmas Tree as we know it outside the White House,
and my goodness, as a kid growing up in northern
New Jersey, it was unimaginable to skip a Christmas not
going to Rock Center and seeing the Christmas Tree and
it's lighting. One hundred and twenty five million people a
year visit that tree, and it was started because a
bunch of construction workers building Rockefeller Center had decided to
(17:38):
put up their own makeshift tree, The Story of the
Christmas Tree. Thirty million more or less natural Christmas trees
a year are used by Americans. The Story of the
Christmas Tree a staple of American life. Here on our
American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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