THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE AND WHY WE DECORATE EACH YEAR?

LED-LIGHT CHRISTMAS TREE
(ALL IN 1 CHRISTMAS TREE COMBO,
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 THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE AND WHY WE DECORATE EACH YEAR?

        Why do we decorate a Christmas tree each year?

       When did we start celebrating christmas?

                                  The habit is probably inherited from the Egyptians.

                            They worshiped a Sun-God named Ra. They used the leaves

                                  of palm trees to decorate their houses on during the

                                 winter solstice to symbolize Ra's triumph over death.

PALM TREE LEAVES WERE USED BY
EGYPTIANS FOR  DECORATING THEIR HOMES

                                        The habit is also taken up by the Romans 

                                 that used Conifers Trees instead of palm trees or 

                                theirs leaves.The Roman Pagons celebrated a Saturnalia,

                     a feast that they held in honor of Saturn their god of agriculture.
                   In the 4th century the Roman Church decided to celebrate Christmas
                on the 25th day of December, which also was during the time that Saturnlia
             was celebrated.The church adopted some of the rituals of the Saturnlia, 
     such as feasting and giving gifts. The Roman Church did not believe that the
 use of evergreen trees was appropriate for use in celebrating Christmas, as such                 
                                   traditions were that of the Pagans belief system. 

                             

CONIFER TREE

 Today in America we use primarily 3 species of trees. They Are:

Balsam Fir

First type of trees used for christmas trees are the Firs

• Douglas Fir
• Balsam Fir
• Fraser Fir
• White Fir

Scotch Pine

Next type of trees used for christmas are the Pines

• Scotch Pine
• White Pine
• Virginia Pine

Colorado Blue Spruce

Next type of trees used for christmas are the Spruces

• White Spruce
• Blue spruce

But the story for us really begins around the 7th century when a monk from Devon-shire came to Germany to teach the word of the Lord. Legend says that he used the triangular form of the Christmas tree to symbolize religious meanings. In the Europe of the 12th century, on Christmas day, the Christmas tree was installed upside down, hanging down from the ceiling! 

            It appears the first christmas tree was decorated at Riga in 1510. At the beginning of the 16th century. Martin Luther decorated the tree with candles to suggest to his children the twinkling stars in the sky. He was inspired one night by the view of the stars sparkling in the night sky through the tree line when he was walking home. 

The late middle ages in Bautzen, Germany the year 1294, appear the first markets specialized in selling presents for Christmas, usually food or objects of practical use.

SNOWFLAKE ORNAMENTS

Christmas decorations that were meant to suggest snow were invented in Germany in 1610. At that time not only they were silvery, but they were also made out of silver. There were  machines invented  to make thin silver strings for the tree. Silver lasted long but it oxidized very quickly, so they tried to ally it with cooper and zinc, but the product was so heavy that it just broke under the action of his own weight. So silver was used till the middle of the 20th century.

Christmas Tree

In Great Britain, the Christmas tree came along with merchants that originated from Germany and settled in England. Decorating the Christmas tree meant silver ornaments, candles and pearl-like ribbons all produced in Germany and Eastern Europe at the time. The custom said that every family member or invited person had to have a little tree placed on the table in front of him, with the presents besides it.

            In 1846, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert – both born in Germany - appear in "Illustrated London News", along with their children, all around the Christmas tree. The popularity of the regal family made this custom to spread fast among the people. The tree became a fashion matter not only in the Britain Islands, but also on the eastern coast of America.

Country Snowman Ornaments

            Decorations were of a huge variety. Mostly home made because they were expensive at the time. Young ladies spent hours cutting paper snowflakes and stars, folding present envelopes and paper supports for candy.

            In America, the Christmas tree appears around 1747, in German communities from Pennsylvania, but it spreads only along with the development of communications, at the middle of the 19th century.

            In 1882 the electric light bowl is invented and in 1892 it is adapted for the Christmas tree.

And so, we get to our present tree that combines all the elements presented above in the most ingenious and creative mixtures.

It seems that throughout history that we decorate a tree at christmas to celebrate our different religious beliefs, although they are different, they are all the same depending on the time period and the culture.

 It also seems that as the years have gone by that Christmas has become so commercialized that we decorate for christmas as a sign of our prosperity, not so much for religious reasons.

We decorate at christmas because its what we are taught to enjoy doing during the winter months.
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