Have you ever wondered why we have Christmas trees and how they have become part our Christmas traditions? The Christmas tree has been a German tradition since as early as the 17th century, but many ancient civilizations held evergreens to be a symbol of life during the long winter months and decorated trees as a symbol of eternal life. In 1841 Prince Albert, German husband of Queen Victoria, introduced the charming custom to the royal family. In 1848 the Illustrated London News published a drawing of the royal family celebrating around a decorated Christmas tree, a tradition that was reminiscent of Prince Alberts childhood in Germany. Soon every home in Britain had a tree bedecked with candles, sweets, fruit, homemade decorations and small gifts. Trees were set up for the Christmas season decorated with lighted candles, draped with tinsel, ribbon, paper chains, cookies and candies. With the growing popularity of Christmas trees manufacturers began producing ornaments around 1870. Also popular were moulded wax figures of angels and children. Many ornaments were made of cotton-wool wrapped around an armature of metal or wood and trimmed with embossed paper faces, buttons, gold paper wings and diamond dust made with powdered glass. This year we have been kindly been donated a Christmas Tree from Ransoms Garden Centre which has been standing proud at the entrance of Jersey Museum.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 11:00:01 +0000