Christmas Trees
The Christmas tree became popular in England in 1841 when Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, brought a Christmas tree over from Germany and put it in Windsor Castle. The Royal couple were illustrated in a newspaper standing around the Christmas tree with their children, and the tradition of decorating a tree became fashionable. Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert were known to be very big fans of Christmas!
However, the tradition actually dates back further than that. It originally came from Germany, where Prince Albert was actually born, and was introduced to England during the Georgian period, when King George III was on the throne. He had a German wife called Charlotte, who it is thought used to decorate a tree for her family in the 1790s.
Most houses in Britain, will have a tree of some sort, decorated with various items and then place the presents under. The traditional Christmas tree is a fir tree but these days more people buy artificial trees to ‘save the earth’. The decorating of the tree is usually a family occasion, with everyone helping.
Decorations on Christmas Trees
During the Victorian times, Christmas trees were decorated with candles to remind children of the stars in the sky at the time of the birth of Jesus. Using candles was, of course, a great fire hazard. Today, candles have been replaced by little coloured electric lights, more a reminder of the fairground than the sacred symbolisation of the ‘Light of the World’.
Christmas trees were also decorated with sweets and cakes hung with ribbon. In 1880, Woolworths first sold manufactured Christmas tree ornaments which proved to be very popular.
Today, Christmas trees are decorated with tinsel, lights and small ornaments which hang from the branches. I’m not a fan of tinsel and I prefer to add more baubles and ornaments that we collect as we travel around the country.
Chocolate coins or chocolate shapes are also hung on the Christmas tree and the presents are put under the tree. An angel or star is usually put on the very top of the tree. The angel reminds Christians of the angel who brought glad tidings of great joy to the shepherds in the field.
Why do we decorate the Christmas tree?
Long time ago people used to decorate trees outside each winter. When the trees had lost their leaves, it was felt that the spirits living in the trees had abandon them. This made people very worried because they believed that without tree-spirits the trees would not grow leaves ever again.
To encourage the tree-spirits to return they dressed the trees with strips of coloured cloth. They hoped by making the trees look beautiful, the spirits would return to live in the trees ready for Spring. To everyone’s delight this worked and every year, in spring, the trees burst into leaf again.
When the new custom of bringing small fir trees indoors started in Germany, it was natural enough to add similar decorations to them, even though fir trees had not lost their leaves.
Over time people add different decorations. They added strings of beads and fruit, gingerbreads and sweets were hung from the branches.
Recycling Christmas Trees
Christmas trees are biodegradable – the trunk and branches can be used as mulch for gardens. The mulch provides a protect barrier for the roots of other plants and vegetation while preventing weeds from growing. The mulch then decomposes, providing the nutrients plants need to thrive.
Until next week…
