History of the Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree, a symbol of life, has become such an integral part of our holiday celebration that most people cannot imagine celebrating the holiday without one. Its attractiveness needs no explanation--its beauty, fragrance, and fun of decorating.

The earliest record of a decorated tree dates back to the 1400s, however, greenery has been used as early as the Egyptians who brought green palm branches into their homes on the shortest day of the year in December to celebrate life's triumph over death.

The Romans also used evergreens to decorate their homes during Saturnalia, a winter festival celebrating Saturnus, their god of agriculture. And the Druid priests would decorate oak trees, which they considered sacred, with golden apples for the winter solstice celebrations.

The earliest record of a decorated tree is from an English book printed in 1441 which describes a tree in the middle of the village decorated with ivy. The Christmas tree as we know it, however, is believed to have originated in Germany.

One legend of the "first" Christmas tree dates back to the 700s when one Christmas Eve, St. Bonaface, while traveling through a forest came upon a group of people who were going to sacrifice a child to the god, Thor. He protested the act by destroying the oak with an ax or a single blow from his fist depending on which story you've heard. It was then that a fir tree appeared in the place where the oak once stood which led to the belief that the fir was the most sacred.

The most popular Christmas tree legend, however, is told of Martin Luther. One Christmas Eve he had become so in awe of the beauty of the stars shining down on the snow that he went home and placed candles on a tree to recreate what he had seen. Martin Luther never corroborated the story however. He then transformed it into the Protestant counterpart of the Catholic nativity.

The use of Christmas trees spread throughout Europe and was brought to the U.S. by German immigrants. It wasn't until the late 1800s that the idea of decorating a tree for the holidays became popular.

Today, 27 - 30 million households will purchase a live tree for their holiday decorating. It is highly unlikely that the use of a live tree will ever diminish in spite of the improvement of the artificial look-alikes as nothing can replace the beauty and fragrance of the live tree.

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