December 24, 2024
Introduction: In this article, Katie Rebecca Merkley describes the history of celebrating Christmas with Christmas trees set up inside the home. Katie specializes in U.S. research for family history, enjoys writing and researching, and is developing curricula for teaching children genealogy.
The Christmas tree is now a familiar symbol of Christmas. The season is marked by obtaining one (real or fake), decorating it for Christmas, and then placing presents under it. This tradition has gone on long enough that your grandparents likely remember Christmas trees from their childhood. However, this tradition is younger than most might think.
The Christmas tree was originally a German tradition. The parents would set it up in a drawing room and keep it a secret from the children until it was time to present it to them. The Christmas tree consisted of the top of a spruce or fir tree set atop a table, then decorated with treats and toys, and tiny candles. When the children were brought into the room with the Christmas tree, they would then be told they could have any of the toys or treats they could grab without burning their hands on the candles. (1) Of course, German immigrants continued this practice in America.
Two differing myths explain how the German Christmas tree was introduced in America. One is that Hessian soldiers introduced it during the Revolutionary War. Another is that Price Albert, Queen Victoria’s German husband, introduced Christmas trees to England, and America followed suit. Neither of these is entirely accurate. (2)
Christmas trees began as a localized tradition in Germany – in Strasbourg, the Alsatian capital – at the beginning of the 17th century. It didn’t spread to the rest of Germany until after 1750. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was introduced to the Christmas tree tradition when he visited Strasbourg in 1771. He included a Christmas tree scene in his 1774 novel.
This work and others by Goethe’s colleagues were influential in spreading the popularity of the Christmas tree across Germany. Christmas trees were a national practice in Germany by the 1830s. An American visitor to Germany was introduced to the Christmas tree in 1820. (3) It is unlikely that Hessians, who immigrated to America prior to the Revolution, were familiar with Christmas trees.
In 1841, Prince Albert set up a Christmas tree at the palace for the royal family and introduced the practice in England. (4) Christmas trees were already becoming popular in the United States, so they were not copying England.
It was the early 1800s when German immigrants in Pennsylvania brought the tradition of Christmas trees. An immigrant painted a Christmas tree, and folklorists date the painting from 1812 or 1819. The painting was not published until recently, so it’s not the first published image of a Christmas tree. (5) The first published image of a Christmas tree appeared in Boston in 1836 in a piece written by a German immigrant. (6)
It is only partially true that German immigrants spread the use of Christmas trees throughout America. Literature was very influential in this process, including the use of newspapers. (7) Miss Sedgwick, a Unitarian, posted a story called “New Year’s Day” in 1835 (that story will be part 2 of this series).
Her story was reprinted in many newspapers. The Unitarians believed in guiding a child’s will through moral instruction rather than beating out sin, as the Puritans did. (8) This belief influenced their desire to indulge children at Christmas time, and a Christmas tree provided a means for just that. Other Unitarians also published literature on Christmas trees in the 1830s. Miss Sedgwick had friends who were German immigrants, so she likely learned of the Christmas tree tradition from them. (9)
Tune in next Monday to learn the Miss Sedgwick story that made Christmas trees popular in America.
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Note on the header image: “Happy Christmas” by Johansen Viggo, 1891. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
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(1) Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: A Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), pp. 178-179.
(2) Ibid, p. 178.
(3) Ibid, pp. 196-197.
(4) Anthony & Peter Miall, The Victorian Christmas Book (Secaucus, NJ: Chartwell Books Inc., 1990), p. 55.
(5) Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: A Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), pp. 195-196.
(6) Ibid, p. 188.
(7) Ibid, p. 177.
(8) Ibid, p. 202.
(9) Ibid, pp. 189-190, 194.