Around this time of the year many of us will be bringing the ‘outdoors’ into our homes, with the main focal point being the Pine, Spruce or Fir tree, yes, the Christmas tree.
Did you know that the custom of having a tree as a central decorative piece in winter holiday celebrations can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians? The ancient people had a custom of bringing branches from palm trees into their homes on the shortest day of the year each December. The Chinese and Hebrews from ancient history also had similar traditions too.
So many plants are associated with Christmas time; Mistletoe for kissing under, holly for table displays and other festive decorations, wreaths on doors decorated with other seasonal evergreen foliage and so on.
An ancient belief was that homes decorated during the winter festival with evergreen plants and foliage was to represent the promise of the return to spring once the winter has passed.
In the 1870’s the most popular Christmas tree was the fragrant Cedar, but this tree lost its foliage indoors too quickly. The Cedar was briefly replaced by the Hemlock, but its branches where too flimsy to hold Christmas decorations and so now we favour the Pines, Spruces and Fir trees.
During the 17th century it became traditional to decorate the Christmas tree, mainly with edible decorations such as home baked biscuits and apples as this was a symbol of representing plenty. Nowadays chocolate treats wrapped in coloured foil represents this old tradition.
As the years went by, Christmas tree decorations became more inventive with the introduction of tinsel and glass ornaments and during the 1800’s the Americans introduced the electric lights.
By the 1900’s due to the popularity of Christmas tree, tree farms were started up in order to stop the depletion and destruction of forests. This was also the reason for introducing artificial Christmas trees, which were more convenient and made less mess than the Pine.
I don’t know about you, but I love this time of the year when we bring more foliage indoors, for whatever reason. So decorate your home for the festive season with nature’s gifts and enjoy!
It now leaves me to wish all my readers a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas and a prosperous New Year to you and your loved ones.
Thanks for your all your support and feedback.
My next blog will be back here on the 5th January and I hope you’ll join me then.
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