At the beginning of December, the world around us changes. All the windows and houses are shining with colorful lights, the streets are decorated with figures of Santa, citizens are running around the shops in search of gifts, and the air is filled with frosty freshness.
But what is the most important thing for every resident of the United States and Europe, which is inseparably associated with the winter holiday and always reminds us of a happy snowy season? Naturally, spruce or pine, which we buy and install every year! We want to tell you about one feature that unites any Xmas tree in New York – the decorations on the main attribute of the Noel.
Where does this tradition come from, and when did it first appear? What were the first Christmas tree ornaments? We’re here to tell you all the facts about them!
Fact number 1: Christmas tree ornaments sets began to be made in the 16th century in Germany
Yes, yes, at this distant time, people had the idea to decorate evergreen trees for Christmas. At first, people decorated the branches with apples, representing them as the trees of paradise from the Bible.
Then, gradually, sets of baked goods in the form of angels, stars on the top of a tree, hearts, and colorful flowers began to appear and are sold on the streets of cities, bright ribbons and wealthier people also bought bunches of berry branches. However, many craftsmen preferred to make decorations on their own.
Fact number 2: Christmas decorations have caused many fires.
As this tradition spread, it began to undergo modifications. For example, many people, inspired by the great German church reformer Martin Luther, began to think about arranging ornaments on a Christmas tree using candles. The spectacle of twinkling on the branches on Christmas Eve and on holiday itself brought a lot of pleasure to the lives of people of that time.
However, there was a giant fly in the ointment in this barrel of honey: people were not careful enough, which caused lots of problems all over Europe. A huge number of people died just out of fashion and the desire to make the holiday brighter.
Fact number 3: The first glass jewelry appeared only in the 19th century.
Now it is tough for us to imagine how to decorate a Christmas tree without ornaments. However, even literally 170 years ago, people got by with various fruits and gingerbread, without even thinking that it was possible to make beautiful things out of metal or glass. It was only in 1847 that glassblower Hans Greiner from Germany decided to make a Xmas tree toy from something more durable for the first time. What shape do you think he chose? Of course, a glass apple.
Fact number 4: The tradition of decorating a Christmas tree took root in America only in the 19th century.
Before the War of Independence (until about 1770), no one on our continent had even heard of such a thing.
Americans from the 17th and 18th centuries would not understand why we put ornaments on a Christmas tree, or maybe they considered it a great sin.
The fact is that, years ago, this tradition still belonged to Europeans and was not very favorably accepted by the American people. Secondly, the ancestors considered evergreen trees and other attributes of modern Xmas associated with them to be relics of paganism.
We hope that our article was interesting for you. Merry Christmas!