The History of the Christmas Tree
Decking Christmas tree decorating. the halls with boughs of holly, or perhaps even the kiss-provoking mistletoe. It all seems so natural to us now during the holiday season, as it would have to pagans throughout history and pre-history. But surprisingly, the history of the Christmas tree in the winter holiday celebrations has not been one big merry sleigh-ride over a pristine snowfall.
Get beyond the commercialism of Christmas, and think about the symbolism -- and the psychology. Evergreen trees and the clippings of evergreen shrubs are widely harvested from the Northern landscape and brought inside to promote good cheer and hope. When everything else on the landscape is dead or dormant, mistletoe, holly, laurels, boxwoods, yews and Christmas trees remind us of better times to come -- the return of a green landscape in spring. They also just plain look great as decorations: they infuse greenery into a season dominated outdoors by white, gray and brown. Yes, for most of us, it seems that the history of the Christmas tree should blend rather well with the history of the winter holiday celebrations themselves.
But did you know that Christmas tree decorating and using the clippings of evergreen shrubs as decorations for Christmas has been a controversial practice at times in Western history? For instance, when the Roman Church decided in the fourth century that Christmas should be celebrated on December 25, some of the pagan celebrations of the Roman Saturnalia (celebrated at the same time of year) were carried over, such as feasting and exchanging gifts. But others were too controversial to carry over....
Using the clippings of evergreen shrubs from the landscape to decorate houses, a common practice during the December celebrations of Saturnalia, was strictly forbidden by the Church. The associations between decorating with evergreen shrubs and paganism were just too strong. Already in the early third century Tertullian had warned his fellow Christians against falling into the Saturnalian rut by using laurel wreaths as Christmas decorations (Tertullian, "On Idolatry," XV).
But the controversy over Christmas tree decorating and using clippings of evergreen shrubs as Christmas decorations is not relegated to that remote epoch in history. In the sixteenth century John Calvin objected to observing the Christian calendar -- which includes Christmas and Easter -- because he felt such celebrations promoted irreligious frivolity. It was in this same century that Germany, by contrast, was establishing Christmas tree decorating as we know it today, launching the modern history of the Christmas tree.
But in England the Puritans, influenced by Calvin, forbade the observance of Christmas and it wasn't until Queen Victoria's reign that Christmas tree decorating "arrived" to stay as a tradition in England, thanks to the influence of Prince Albert. Not coincidentally, Prince Albert had been born in Germany.
Given its roots in English history, America was predictably late in adopting such signs of frivolity as Christmas tree decorating. The Massachusetts Puritans, in particular, frowned upon such pagan backsliding. But the influx of Catholic immigrants in the 19th century was bound to dilute these anti-Christmas tree decorating sentiments.
But North America has made up for its past deficiencies in the celebration of Christmas and in Christmas tree decorating by introducing two innovations. What are they? In 1882 Thomas Edison’s assistant, Edward Johnson, developed the idea of Christmas tree lights that ran on electricity. This innovation made outdoor Christmas tree lights possible. In turn, the possibility of outdoor Christmas tree lights fostered the idea of using Christmas trees in outdoor displays. The Virtual Museum writes, "As early as 1912, the first illuminated trees appeared in Boston's public areas. Outdoor Christmas trees quickly became commonplace in North America. After the First World War, this novelty reached Europe and became widespread towards the middle of the XXth century. In Canada, the fashion of the illuminated outdoor tree is very widespread.... In the suburbs, there are almost as many Christmas trees outside as there are inside."
The now well-established tradition of outdoor Christmas tree decorating complements the indoor Christmas tree decorating. The emergence of this tradition reflects the increasing appreciation people have for the importance of landscaping. In the North, we need to brighten our lives during winter outdoors, as well as indoors.
Fast forward.....Mega Trees! What are Mega Trees? There are really only two basic types of mega-trees, one that goes all the way to the ground and the other is a tree with a trunk. They seem to be as small as 6’ and over 100’ tall. A short definition of mega is as follows; “great, extended, powerful.” If you follow the latest trends in holiday decorating you know all about Mega Trees. These are DIY trees with thousands of lights synchronized to music. The result is spectacular!
  
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