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The Christmas Tree
A Legend Card from Time4me Greetings
Facts and Fables
The enduring tree symbol is older than Christianity
and not exclusive to any one religion.

Ancient Times

Long before there was a Christmas, Egyptians brought green palm branches into their homes on the shortest day of the year in December as a symbol of life's triumph over death.

Pagans used trees as part of their religious ceremonies. The Druids decorated Oak trees with fruit and candles in honour of their Gods of the Harvest.

Romans adorned their homes with evergreens during Saturnalia, a winter festival in honor of Saturnus, their god of agriculture.

The Vikings regarded evergreen coniferous trees as symbols that the darkness of Winter would end and that Spring would return.

In the middle ages, the Paradise tree, an evergreen hung with red apples, was the symbol of the feast of Adam and Eve held on December 24th.

One of the earliest stories about the Christmas tree. St. Boniface, a British monk, was preaching to a tribe of Germanic Druids outside the town of Geismar. To these Druids, the oak was a sacred tree. St. Boniface, trying to convince these people that the oak was not sacred, felled one on the spot. The tree toppled over, crushing every shrub in its way except a small fir sapling. Legend has it that St. Boniface interpreted the fir's survival as a miracle and declared it 'the tree of the Christ Child.'

Another version of this legend tells of St. Boniface encountering some German pagans about to sacrifice a child at the base of an Oak tree. He cut down the Oak to prevent the sacrifice and a Fir tree grew in its place. St Boniface told the pagans that this was the Tree of Life and represented Christ.

A German legend describes how a woodcutter befriends a small hungry child in the woods. The next morning the child appears to the woodcutter and his wife identifying himself as Christkindlein (Christ Child). He breaks a branch from a fir tree and explains to the couple that at Christmas the fir tree will always bear fruit. As a result of their kindness, every year thereafter the tree blossoms with golden apples and silver nuts.

Another German legend tells how Martin Luther saw the stars shining through the branches of a forest as he walked at night giving him an impression of twinkling lights. The beauty of this so impressed him that he cut down a small evergreen and brought it into his home to recreate the scene using lighted candles on the tree's branches.

The first recorded reference to the Christmas tree dates back to the 16th century. In Strasbourg, Germany (now part of France), families both rich and poor decorated fir trees with colored paper, fruits, and sweets.

In Britain the Christmas tree tradition was popularised in 1841 by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, (both of German descent), who decorated a tree at Windsor Castle with candles, fruits, gingerbread and sweets. The use of the Xmas tree spread to America with German emigrants.

The tradition spread through Europe and was brought to the United States by German settlers and by Hessian mercenaries paid to fight in the Revolutionary War.

In 1804 U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Dearborn (now Chicago) hauled trees from surrounding woods to their barracks at Christmas.

Charles Minnegrode introduced the custom of decorating trees in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1842.

Scattered records from family diaries, journals, and letters indicate that early-day decorations included homemade cookies and "sugars", corn husk dolls, and various food ornaments such as pomander balls (apples or oranges studded with whole cloves and dusted with cinnamon).

Franklin Pierce, the 14th President, brought the Christmas tree tradition to the White House.

In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge started the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony now held every year on the White House lawn.

Since 1966, members of the National Christmas Tree Association have presented a beautiful, fresh Christmas tree to the President and first family. This tree is displayed each year in the Blue Room of the White House.

Today, the Christmas tree remains a firmly established part of our holiday customs. A beautiful live Christmas tree engages our senses of sight, touch, and smell, and evokes feelings of joy in both young and old.