The Christmas tree custom as we know it began in Germany in the 16th century, when pious Christians carried decorated trees into their homes. According to legend, Martin Luther, a 16th-century Protestant reformer, was the first to put lit candles to a tree. Christmas lights were made possible by electricity. Commercial Christmas trees became popular in the 19th century.
Today, people of many religions around the world celebrate Christmas. It is a religious holiday for Catholics and Anglicans, but not for Protestants. The date of Christmas varies from year to year because it is calculated from the birth of Jesus Christ. However, most countries adopt a date between December 25 and January 7 to mark the occasion.
Christmas trees are used to decorate homes throughout the world during the Christmas season.
They don't grow on trees, although that isn't unusual these days. A Christmas tree usually consists of several branches with small, cone-shaped objects attached to them. The number of objects on each branch may vary from three or four feet up to a maximum of eight or nine feet.
The objects on the tree represent the saints. Catholic churches use white or silver decorations while Protestant churches tend to go with gold or red ones. No one knows exactly why we dress our trees in Christian symbols, but some say it's to honor the saints or even God himself.
If wood was limited, some people made Christmas pyramids out of wood and adorned them with evergreens and candles.
The first official decree on Christmas trees came from King George I of England in 1730, but they weren't popular until much later. The modern tradition of cutting a Christmas tree into the now-famous shape was invented by Norwegian carpenter Peder Jensen Haugo in 1872. He called his tree "Julemanden" which means "the joker" or "the fool". It was an instant success and soon became the standard Christmas tree shape throughout Europe.
In America, Christmas trees were popular from the beginning of the 20th century. The German immigrant community brought their traditions with them, including the use of Christmas trees. Stores sold decorated trees after Thanksgiving to give families time to put them up before Christmas. Today, most American Christmas trees are grown and harvested during December, though there are also many fresh trees sold in stores during November and October.
Christmas trees are grown for sale at commercial plantations and orchards. A large plantation may grow thousands of trees annually. The trees are harvested when they are between three and eight years old.
The first official "Christmas tree" was planted by the German king Frederick III in 1556 at a festival celebrating his accession to the throne. The tree was decorated with gifts for him and guests from all over Europe.
In America, the first Christmas tree was planted by Swedish immigrant Peter Magnus Stenström in Detroit in 1872. It was decorated with candles and fruits donated by local merchants. The practice of decorating the tree with lights and other decorations is said to have begun with Thomas Edison's invention of the light bulb in 1879. Today, more than 10 million lights are used to decorate American Christmas trees.
The person who decorates the tree represents our country's spirit of giving. The position of "Tree Decorator" is often given away as a gift during the holidays. Recent trees have been given to presidents Bush, Clinton, and Obama.
The National Arbor Day Foundation has designated January 26 as National Arbor Day because it is believed that this is when America's original Christmas tree was planted by Peter Stenström in Detroit.
The tradition dates back to when Christmas trees were decked with candles to represent Christ as the light of the world. Christians in early modern Germany brought Christmas trees into their houses. They decorated them with candles, which were replaced every year with new ones.
Today's Christmas lights are a far cry from those first candle-lit trees. They're bright and colorful, and some people claim they can be therapeutic for children who suffer from depression and anxiety disorders. The lights also serve as a reminder that Jesus was born, lived, died, and was resurrected from the dead.
Christmas lights are so popular that they now sell billions of dollars' worth of merchandise each year. But why stop there? Why not dress up like Santa or reenact scenes from Christmases past? The options are limitless!
People all over the world have been decorating their homes with lights since the 1800s. Today, it's one of the most popular holidays in the United States. People spend hundreds of millions of dollars on Christmas gifts and decorations each year. That's why we put up lights: because Jesus was born in December.
The usage of evergreen trees to mark the winter season predates Christ's birth. In 1510, Riga, Latvia, had the first decked Christmas tree. In 1531, the earliest printed mention to Christmas trees emerged in Germany. Today, both Germany and America are leading consumers of Christmas trees.
Christmas trees have been used since early times to celebrate Jesus' birth. They remain a popular way of celebrating Jesus' presence on earth and the importance of family during this holiday season.
Christmas trees are native to northern Asia and Greenland. The first evidence of their use as a religious symbol dates back to 28 AD when they were planted outside Roman temples. Evergreens were recommended for prayers because they can never die even though their seed can fall off and new plants will grow if needed. Today, Christians around the world decorate their churches with pine trees to remind them of Jesus'.
After the fall of Rome, Christmas trees became popular again in Europe. The first written reference to Christmas trees in America appeared in 1791 when Benjamin Franklin wrote about sending Christmas trees to President Washington. Today, more than five million trees are harvested from forests across the United States and Canada every year.
Christmas trees are not just found in church settings. Many families also put up Christmas trees at home.
Each year, people all over the world festively decorate evergreen trees with ornaments for Christmas. Many believe that this tradition began with Martin Luther in Germany in the 1600's, but decorating trees in the wintertime was actually a pagan tradition before being associated with Christians.
The first documented evidence of Christmas trees comes from a poem called "The Feast of Saint Stephen" written by Pope Clement IV about 1350. In this poem, he describes how the pope's staff officers would deck their trees with gold and silver ornaments for the holiday season.
It is believed that after this event, other noble families in Europe began decorating their trees too. In 1450, an Italian priest named Boniface VIII issued a decree that banned people from cutting down trees for timber during Christmas time because they were needed as habitat for saints' relics. This order probably inspired more people to start making and using wood ornaments instead of burning them.
Over time, people started decorating trees not only with wooden ornaments but with candles, boughs of holly, and even lights. In 1723, German immigrants moving to Pennsylvania brought the custom of decorating trees with electric lights with them. By 1866, electric lights had become available in England too, so they may have influenced the tradition there.
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