Why xmas tree is decorated

We have to get the cake baked and ready the other eatables, purchase the tree, buy and collect all the accessorial embellishments, decorate the tree, apart from planning out the entire day. But do you know why do we decorate the Christmas tree with all these beautiful decorative embellishments at all? There is a star, the tinsel, and many other little baubles that we tie up to the branches of the Christmas tree to dangle through out the day.

Do you not think that it is rather naive to just blindly use them without knowing the rationale behind? So today we reveal to you the stories behind. It is not only revelatory but also indubitably interesting. It showed Queen Victoria, her German Husband Prince Albert and their young children around a tree which was set-up on a table.

The drawing was republished in Godey's Lady's Book, Philadelphia in December but they removed the Queen's crown and Prince Albert's moustache to make it look 'American'! In Victorian times, the tree would have been decorated with candles to represent stars. In many parts of Europe, candles are still used to decorate Christmas trees.

Christmas Tree 'skirts' started as Christmas Tree 'carpets'. They were made from heavy fabric, often decorated and with fancy frills around the edges, and were used either on the floor, or on tables, and went under the trees and their stands - rather than 'around' them. They were used to catch the needles from the trees and also protect the floor or table tops from dripping wax coming from the candles on the trees.

At this point trees were either normally put in pots if they still had roots on them or they were attached to a larger piece of wood or other heavy support if they'd been cut and so the scenes help to hide these. In the s proper metal tree holders, for cut trees, started being made. If you were rich, you could get them in very fancy shapes - and some even had music boxes in them, so they 'plinked' Christmas tunes!

Less expensive tree holders also became available and were made out of cheaper metals and they also didn't look so good , so the 'carpets' became smaller and were also put 'around' the tree holders and became the Christmas tree skirts that we have today. Lead and glass decorations started being made in the s and s.

Some of the first glass decorations were apples - and that's probably where round, red, baubles on Christmas Trees comes from! Frank Woolworth started selling glass ornaments in his stores in the USA in Tinsel was first created in Nuremberg, Germany in the when thin strips of silver foil were sold as 'Icicles'. In 'angel hair, made from spun glass was sold. The first 'tinsel' garlands were sold in the s from silver plated copper wire.

These tales seem to have started in Eastern Germany, Poland or Ukraine but are also told in parts of Finland and Scandinavia. All the versions of the story involve a poor family who can't afford to decorate a Tree for Christmas in some versions the tree grew from a pine cone in their house, in others the family have bought a tree into the house.

When the children go to sleep on Christmas Eve a spider covers the tree in cobwebs. Then on Christmas morning the cobwebs are magically turned into silver and gold strands which decorate the tree! In parts of Germany, Poland, and Ukraine it's meant to be good luck to find a spider or a spider's web on your Christmas Tree. Spider's web Christmas Tree decorations are also popular in Ukraine.

They're called 'pavuchky' which means 'little spider' and the decorations are normally made of paper and silver wire. You might even put an artificial spider's web on your tree! There are a few different claims as to who invented popularised the first strings of 'electric' Christmas Tree lights.

In , the famous inventor Thomas Edison put some of his new electric light bulbs around his office. And in Edward Johnson, who was a colleague of Edison, hand-strung 80 red, white and blue bulbs together and put them on his tree in his New York apartment there were two additional strings of 28 lights mounted from the ceiling! The lights were about the size of a walnut. In the Edison company published a brochure offering lighting services for Christmas. In another Edison advert offered bulbs which you could rent, along with their lighting system, for use over Christmas!

There are records in a diary from where settlers in Montana used electric lights on a tree. The Christmas tree was born. Another legend says that in the early 16th century, people in Germany combined two customs that had been practiced in different countries around the globe.

The Paradise tree a fir tree decorated with apples represented the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. The Christmas Light, a small, pyramid-like frame, usually decorated with glass balls, tinsel and a candle on top, was a symbol of the birth of Christ as the Light of the World.

Modern Tannenbaum Christmas trees are traditionally decorated in secret with lights, tinsel and ornaments by parents and then lit and revealed on Christmas Eve with cookies, nuts and gifts under its branches. Although Christmas trees are not common, windows are often draped with sparkling cotton wool and tinsel.

Christmas lights are generally not tolerated. Most families place their Christmas trees somewhere inconspicuous. Christmas Trees in Philippines Fresh pine trees are too expensive for many Filipinos, so handmade trees in an array of colors and sizes are often used. Star lanterns, or parol, appear everywhere in December.

They are made from bamboo sticks, covered with brightly colored rice paper or cellophane, and usually feature a tassel on each point. There is usually one in every window, each representing the Star of Bethlehem. Christmas Trees in China Of the small percentage of Chinese who do celebrate Christmas, most erect artificial trees decorated with spangles and paper chains, flowers, and lanterns. Christmas trees are decorated with small toys, dolls, paper ornaments, gold paper fans and lanterns, and wind chimes.

Miniature candles are also put among the tree branches. One of the most popular ornaments is the origami swan. In , the National Christmas Tree was not lighted except for the top ornament. This was done in honor of the American hostages in Iran. Between a fishing schooner called the Christmas Ship would tie up at the Clark Street bridge and sell spruce trees from Michigan to Chicagoans. The tallest living Christmas tree is believed to be the foot, year-old Douglas fir in the town of Woodinville, Washington.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition began in Franklin Pierce , the 14th president, brought the Christmas tree tradition to the White House. Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states including Hawaii and Alaska. You should never burn your Christmas tree in the fireplace. It can contribute to creosote buildup. In , the National Christmas Tree was not lit until December 22nd because of a national day period of mourning following the assassination of President Kennedy.

Teddy Roosevelt banned the Christmas tree from the White House for environmental reasons. Tinsel was once banned by the government. Tinsel contained lead at one time. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Christmas is celebrated on December 25 and is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christmas traditions around the world are diverse, but share key traits that often involve themes of light, evergreens and hope.

Probably the most celebrated holiday in the world, our modern Christmas is a product of hundreds of years of both secular and religious traditions Long before there was a Grinch who stole Christmas, there was Krampus, the devilish half-man, half-goat that helps out jolly St.

Queen Charlotte—the princess of a German duchy who married King George III in the midth century— is thought to have introduced the first Christmas tree to the royal household. But it was another British queen who made Christmas trees the seasonal icon they are today. In , Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert another German transplant captured the imaginations of royal watchers around the world when the Illustrated London News published an illustration of their family gathered around a decorated Christmas tree.

Queen Victoria was a trendsetter of her time, and so the tradition took off around the world. Now, the most famous Christmas tree in London is the one that lights up Trafalgar Square each winter. This tree has a rich global history of its own: In , Norway started the tradition of giving the U.

In the years that followed, German immigrants also brought the tradition to the U. Related: Rockefeller, the viral stowaway Christmas tree owl, flies free.

Today, the lighting of two beloved U. In , President Calvin Coolidge oversaw the lighting of the first National Christmas Tree ; a decade later, in , New York City lit the first Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center , which has since become a must-visit for tourists and New Yorkers alike each holiday season.

Both trees have been illuminated every year since, save for a few years in the s when they went dark due to blackout restrictions during World War II. The aroma of toasted almonds and glogg heralds the arrival of Saint Lucia to this charming river town illuminated all season long. Choirs sing and sweethearts smooch along a two-mile Lane of Light leading to the harbor beginning in December.

Christmas trees have long been a tradition in Russia. But by , Soviet leadership had a change of heart when it came to the tree. Even Antarctica has had its share of Christmas tree traditions—although there are no trees to be found in the South Pole. In , crew members aboard a U. Navy expedition to Antarctica celebrated Christmas at sea by tying a spruce tree from Canada to their mast. More than half a century later, researchers based at the U.

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station created a Christmas tree out of scrap metal , complete with custom ornaments. Although the tradition briefly carried on—with iron workers adding new adornments each year—the National Science Foundation says the scrap-metal tree is no longer part of the Christmas celebrations at the Antarctic research station.

In Greece, people once decorated Christmas boats rather than trees in honor of St. Not only would families place small wooden boats inside their homes to symbolize a welcome return from life at sea, but lighted boats took the place of honor in public squares of cities such as Thessaloniki.