Your Ornaments

Celebrating the holiday season with a Christmas tree has been a long-standing tradition, but it hasn’t always been that way. Here are a few fun facts about the Christmas tree:

Although no one knows who actually put up the first Christmas tree, some historians believe that the tradition may have started with the Romans and Egyptians who decorated their homes with evergreen during the Winter Solstice celebrations. It was believed that the the aroma of a Christmas tree is a symbol of family traditions and life.

The first documented Christmas tree decorations were in Latvia in 1510. Families decorated their trees with food goodies such as cookies, candy, and fruit. After the holiday season ended, the family members would share the bounty.

About 400 years ago, the Germans were the first to use a tree as part of the Christian holiday celebration. During the Revolutionary war, Hessian mercenaries were paid to fight for the British. They brought the Christmas tree tradition with them to America. It was such a hit, that the soldiers stationed at a fort near Chicago hauled trees to their barracks in 1804. In 1856, the 14th US President, Franklin Pierce, brought the Christmas Tree tradition to the White House.

A German named Charles Minnegerode introduced the custom of decorating Christmas trees with nuts, lighted candles and strings of popcorn to Williamsburg, Virginia homes in 1842.

By 1900, 20% of American families decorated Christmas trees with the tradition becoming completely mainstream by 1930.