The History of Christmas Trees in the UK and US
- jr81568
- 2 hours ago
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A Brief History of Christmas Trees in Germany and The UK
Evergreen trees were first used to celebrate winter festivals. People used evergreen branches to decorate their homes during the winter solstice. It began in Rome in the late 1400s and 1500s when they owned the land that is now Germany.
The German developed The Paradise Tree that had a variety of handmade ornaments hung on it. It had communion wafers, cherries, stars, bells, angels, and ornaments It was also The Christ Tree. The German brought the traditions to the US when the became citizens.
Christmas became popular in the UK in the mid 1840s when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert brought a real tree into Windsor Castle. They decorated it and had a table of toys for their children beneath. They brought it into Windsor Castle on Christmas Eve and decorated it themselves.
They decorated the tree with lighted candles, ribbons, sweetmeats, candy, and gingerbread. Prince Albert sent decorated trees to schools and army barracks in the UK. The publicity made the idea of having a Christmas tree popular in the United States.
History of The Christmas Tree In the United States
Consumers in the US decorated trees with apples, nuts, marzipan, cookies, stringed popcorn, berries, and other ornaments. In 1850 German ornaments were imported into the US,. The ornaments were glass balls, toys, and figurines that consumers used to decorate the trees. German settlers in US introduced the Christmas tree as tabletop trees and later larger trees that went from floor to ceiling.
In 1883 artificial Christmas trees were sold at Sears Roebuck and Company. In 1901 the first Christmas Tree Farm started. It grew over 25,000 spruce trees on the farm located in New Jersey. President Roosevelt tried to stop consumers from having Christmas trees due to his concern about the destruction of the forests.
The presidents two sons and Gifford Pinchot a conservationist convinced him to start a Christmas tree farm. He started a Christmas tree Farm in Hyde Park NY in 1930. It is no longer in operation today the tree farm but preserved as a museum to President Roosevelt.
The first Rockefeller Christmas Tree in New York was placed there during the Depression in 1931 by a construction workers. The tree had paper garlands, strings of cranberries, a few ornaments. After they gathered around it they collected their paychecks.
In 1933 a publicist made the tree lighting in Rockefeller Center an annual event lighting up a 50-foot tree. In 1936 they built a skating rink in Rockefeller Plaza and added two Christmas trees for the public that year. During World War II they decorated the tree with red, white and blue ornaments and stars.
The Rockefeller Center Tree was televised in 1951 on TV and it took 20 workers over 9 day to decorate it using scaffolding. In 1971 the Rockefeller Christmas tree was recycled and turned into bags of mulch for nature trails in New York.. In 2004 it was given a large star on the top made of 25,000 crystals.
In 2018 the star was replaced with a larger one made of three million crystals and it weighed over 900 pounds. Each star was designed by a different designer. Engineers designed a computer program to get the lights to twinkle correctly. Today the real tree is typically a Norway spruce that they transport from a state in New England.
More History of The US Christmas Tree
In the United States North Carolina and Oregon have the most tree farms that grow real trees for consumers for holidays. The American Farm Federation defines a Christmas tree as an evergreen tree. It is usually a fir, spruce, or pine tree.
The traditions in the US are choosing real or artificial trees to put up near Christmas. Consumers buy ornaments and decorate the trees with glass, wood, sliver, pewter and handmade ornaments. Lights are a big part of decorating with different shapes, colors and some even have a computer program that controls lighting. Most trees have a lighted star on top. The star may take different shapes and the color vary.
Towns and cities have town lighting ceremonies outdoors to celebrate the Christmas spirit. The Christmas tree symbolizes community, family togetherness, helping others less fortunate, and celebrating the season with gifts and food. Overall viewing outdoor Christmas trees indoors can lift your sprint and make the season more joyful.
References:
The History of Christmas Trees, by History.com website, November 28, 2023
The History of the Christmas Tree National Christmas Tree Association, St Louis Missouri 2024
The History of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree -A New York City Tradition by Dana Schultz, 6 Square Ft. -New York City, December 3, 2025
The History of Christmas Trees, Why Christmas Site by James Cooper 2025
Doing Christmas Trees in Public Queen Victoria's Christmas Tree by Fabia Buescher, Doing History Public, 2025