We're resting the instructional theme of short stories this week to get into an appropriate Christmas post.
The popular practice of using a Christmas tree to celebrate the holidays comes from the Victorian Era.
The Christmas tree has German origins. It came into England's society after 1840 when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert who was German. He brought the tradition of the Christmas tree to England. The "London Illustrated News" published a full page illustration of the royal family seated around their tree at Windsor Castle in 1848.
It was accompanied by a detailed description of the decorated tree. It was about eight feet high with six tiers of branches. Each branch held up to a dozen candles. An angel was placed on top of the tree.
Obviously a fire hazard, candles were lit only when someone supervised the tree.
Decorations were often edible snacks such as cookies. Presents were arranged around the tree with the recipients' names on the colorful packages.
The 1848 publication of the illustration came to America where the idea of using Christmas trees became popular. Before this time, Christmas in America was formal and lacked the festive atmosphere it has today. A happy feeling dominated Christmas in America and lasts today from the influence of the Christmas tree and the royal couple of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Charles Dickens' portrayal of Christmas in "A Christmas Carol" also influenced people in America to include fun celebrations to be part of the religious season. We talked about Dickens' skilled writing last week.
The Christmas tree became the center of American family celebration indirectly from Germany through England.
Thank you for reading this blog. Visit us again next week when we talk about the origin of Christmas carols.
I always thought Americans were kind of funny dragging trees into their living rooms and hanging socks by their fireplaces. This is a helpful perspective of how decorative trees make the holiday more festive.
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