What does xmas tree represent

Once inside, he placed small, lighted candles on the branches and said that it would be a symbol of the beautiful Christmas sky. 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.

Nicholas by stuffing naughty Austrian children in sacks and dragging them to hell. Yes, the true history of Christmas is as colorful Some date back to 16th-century Germany or even ancient The War on Christmas begins around the same time each year, when stores start peddling plastic Christmas trees and giant Santa Claus inflatables.

Depending on which media talking head is speaking, the war is either a subversive effort by left-wing liberals to erase all traces of Today, he is thought of mainly as the jolly man in red who brings toys to good girls and boys on Christmas Eve, but his story stretches all the way back to the 3rd In America, Christmas Pudding also known as plum pudding or figgy pudding is a dish as famous as it is misunderstood.

The pious Puritans who sailed from England in to found the Massachusetts Bay Colony brought with them something that might seem surprising for a group of devout Christians—contempt for Christmas. In a reversal of modern practices, the Puritans kept their shops and schools Celebrating Christmas in the White House has been a tradition since These were intimate gatherings with Live TV.

It was so beautiful, that he went home and told his children that it reminded him of Jesus, who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas. So he brought a tree into his house and decorated it with candles to represent the stars. Some people say this is the same tree as the 'Riga' tree, but it isn't! The story about Martin Luther seems to date to about and Riga tree originally took place a couple of decades earlier. The custom of having Christmas trees could well have travelled along the Baltic sea, from Latvia to Germany.

In the s and s, the countries which are now Germany and Latvia were them part of two larger empires which were neighbors. Another story says that St. Boniface of Crediton a village in Devon, UK left England in the 8th centuryand traveled to Germany to preach to the pagan German tribes and convert them to Christianity. He is said to have come across a group of pagans about to sacrifice a young boy while worshipping an oak tree in honour of Thor. In anger, and to stop the sacrifice, St. Boniface cut down the oak tree and, to his amazement, a young fir tree sprang up from the roots of the oak tree.

Boniface took this as a sign of the Christian faith and his followers decorated the tree with candles so that St. Boniface could preach to the pagans at night. St Boniface was certainly involved in spreading Christianity in parts of Germany, although the legends of the tree seems to have started several centuries later and they're not mentioned in the early writings about St Boniface. Haing Trees upside down has also been connected with St.

Being upside down it that looked a bit like a cross and so also helped to explain the crucifixion. Once on a cold Christmas Eve night, a forester and his family were in their cottage gathered round the fire to keep warm.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. When the forester opened the door, he found a poor little boy standing on the door step, lost and alone.

The forester welcomed him into his house and the family fed and washed him and put him to bed in the youngest sons own bed he had to share with his brother that night!

The next morning, Christmas Morning, the family were woken up by a choir of angels, and the poor little boy had turned into Jesus, the Christ Child. The Christ Child went into the front garden of the cottage and broke a branch off a Fir tree and gave it to the family as a present to say thank you for looking after him. So ever since them, people have remembered that night by bringing a Christmas Tree into their homes! In Germany, the first Christmas Trees were decorated with edible things, such as gingerbread and gold covered apples.

In an unknown German wrote: "At Christmas they set up fir trees in the parlours of Strasbourg and hang thereon roses cut out of many-colored paper, apples, wafers, gold foil, sweets, etc. Some other trees were used in different parts of Germany, such as box or Yew. In the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz it was common to decorate just a branch of a yew tree. At first, a figure of the Baby Jesus was put on the top of the tree.

The 'angel' might also might have started as a version of the 'Christkind' which translates as 'The Christ Child' but is normally shown as a little angel figure with blond hair!

Queen Charlotte grew up in Mecklenburg-Strelitz and in the s there are records of her having a yew branch in Kew Palace or Windsor Castle. She helped to decorate it herself and it became a popular event for the royal court.

Dr John Watkins, who went to the party described the tree like this: " And " Soon having a tree had become popular amongst some rich families. Queen Charlotte died in and by then, having a Christmas Tree was a tradition among much of the upper classes.

They became very popular throughout the country from the mid s, when reports of 'the Royal tree' were printed in newspapers. 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.

Some versions of this St. Boniface legend say he cut down the new fir tree and hung it upside down, which is believed to have led to the tradition of trees being hung upside down to represent the Holy Trinity — sometimes with an apple wedged at the point instead of a star.

All of these stories may have helped the Christmas tradition spread. But the real origins of Christmas trees appear to be rooted in present-day Germany during the Middle Ages. In , a guild in Freiburg put up a tree decorated with apples, flour-paste wafers, tinsel and gingerbread. Flanders finds documentation of trees decorated with wool thread, straw, apples, nuts and pretzels. The oldest Christmas tree market is thought to have been located just over the southwestern German border in Strasbourg in Alsace which was back then part of the Rhineland, now in present-day France , where unadorned Christmas trees were sold during the 17th century as Weihnachtsbaum , German for Christmas tree.

Demand for Christmas trees was so high in the 15th century that laws were passed in Strasbourg cracking down on people cutting pine branches. Ordinances throughout the region of Alsace limited each household to one tree in the s. References to Christmas trees in private homes or establishments in North America date back to the late 18th century and early 19th century. Flanders mentions a reference to a pine tree in North Carolina in But the image of a decorated Christmas tree with presents underneath has a very specific origin: an engraving of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and their children gathering around a Christmas tree, eyeing the presents underneath, published in the Illustrated London News in The tradition of gigantic Christmas trees in public spaces seems to be an American one that dates back to the late 19th century.