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In the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Evergreen boughs reminded our ancestors of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return. -
A precursor to a tree, holly, and ivy poles were used as decor. In 1419, a guild in Freiburg puts up a tree decorated with apples, wafers, tinsel and gingerbread to celebrate the feast day of Adam and Eve. -
It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. According to a common version of the story, walking home one winter evening, Luther was awed by the stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles. -
Appears in the southwestern german border (now present-day France). Trees were sold as "weihnachtsbaum", German for Christmas tree. -
the “first decorated indoor tree” was recorded in 1605, in Strasbourg, decorated with roses, apples, wafers and other sweets -
In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 a penal offense; people were fined for hanging decorations. That stern solemnity continued until the influx of German and Irish immigrants in the 19th century undermined the Puritan legacy. Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols. -
A school for American Indians run by Moravian missionaries sent students "to fetch a small green tree for Christmas" -
Pictured around a Christmas tree with their children. This image was published in Illustrated London. -
A 20-foot-tall tree at Rockefeller Center first went up in 1931. -
Time Magazine first introduced a new trend: fake Christmas trees. Now the majority of Christmas trees are artificial. -
History.com (2023). History of Christmas Trees Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees on November 29, 2023