Have you heard the history of the Christmas tree

By Doug Carter, Rankin County Extension Agent

    Around Christmas, I often wonder: When did the Christmas tree tradition begin? A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer such as a fir, spruce, or pine or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas.

    The winter solstice is when the earth travels the shortest path through the sky, and therefore that day has the least sunlight and the longest night. In ancient cultures, the winter solstice was heralded as the beginning of brighter days ahead, and an indication that the Sun God was gaining strength. In ancient Egypt, a similar mindset was adapted. This Sun God typically grew weak as conditions became colder and darker. This solstice was seen as a turning point in seasons, so Egyptians decorated their homes with palm leaves and branches. In ancient Rome, people were encouraged to celebrate the coming spring with evergreen decorations.

    Evergreen trees became part of Christian rites in Germany, and in the Middle Ages “paradise trees” begin to appear. These trees were traditionally decorated with roses made of colored paper, apples, wafers, and tinsel. Martin Luther reportedly first hung lighted candles on a tree in the 16th century and paradise trees evolved into Christmas trees. By the 19th century, Christmas trees were a firmly established tradition in Germany.

    German settlers migrated from their county, and they took the Christmas tree tradition to other countries, including the United States. At first Christmas Trees were not fully embraced in the United States.

    According to Wikipedia, several cities in the United States claim to be the first sites of Christmas trees in homes and towns. A Hessian soldier put up a Christmas tree while imprisoned in 1777 in Windsor Locks, Conn. The first Christmas tree in America is also claimed by Easton, Pennsylvania, where German settlers erected a tree in 1616, and in 1821 a gentlemen in Lancaster, Pennsylvania recorded the use of a Christmas tree and laid claim to the first American Christmas tree.

Charles Follen, a German immigrant in Boston, is credited for being the first to introduce to America the custom of decorating a Christmas tree. August Imgard, a German immigrant living in Woodster, Ohio, is said to be the first to popularize the practice of decorating a tree with candy canes.  It is said that Mr. Imgard cut a spruce tree for a Christmas tree and has a star constructed and decorated the tree with the star, paper ornaments, glided nuts, and candy canes.  

Edward Johnson, who was then vice president of the Edison Electric Company, created the first known electrically illuminated Christmas tree at his home in New York City in 1882.  Johnson became the “Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights”.

Sources: “Christmas Tree” Wikipedia Encyclopedia; “The History of the Christmas Tree Goes Back Farther Than You Might Realize” Amy Mitchell, CountyLiving.com, 2021