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Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



mas-tree custom appears to have been 

 confined to the Rhine River district. 

 From 1700 on, when the lights were 

 accepted as part of the decorations, 

 the Christmas tree was well on its way 

 to becoming an accepted custom in 

 Germany, and during the Revolution 

 the tradition of the Christmas tree 

 bridged the Atlantic. 



Finland is said to have accepted 

 the custom in about 1800, Denmark 

 1810, Sweden 1820, and Norway about 

 1830. From the Scandinavian coun- 

 tries the custom spread to France and 

 England about 1840. Records show 

 that 35,000 Christmas trees were sold 

 in Paris in 1890. 



Some persons trace the origin of the 

 Christmas tree to an earlier period. 

 Even before the Christian era, trees 

 and boughs were used for ceremonials. 

 Egyptians, when they observed the 

 winter solstice, brought green date 

 palms into their homes as a symbol of 

 "life triumphant over death." When 

 the Romans observed the feast of Sat- 

 urn, a part of the ceremony was to raise 

 an evergreen bough. The early Scandi- 

 navians are said to have done homage 

 to the fir tree. To the Druids, sprigs of 

 evergreen in the house meant eternal 

 life; to the Norsemen, they symbolized 

 the revival of the sun god Balder. To 

 the superstitious, the branches of ever- 

 greens placed over the door would 

 keep out witches, ghosts, and the evil 

 spirits. 



This does not mean that our present 

 Christmas-tree custom might perforce 

 have evolved from paganism, any more 

 than did some of the present-day use of 

 greenery in rituals. Trees and branches 

 can be made purposeful as well as 

 symbolic. The decorated Christmas 

 tree has become an accepted tradition 

 during yuletide, and Christmas would 

 be incomplete without it. 



Through the years the tradition has 

 become so well established that two- 

 thirds of all American homes now fol- 

 low the custom. The Christmas tree is 

 a symbol of a living Christmas spirit 

 and brings into our lives the fragrance 

 and freshness of the forest. 



Just how Christmas-tree decorations 

 other than lights developed is vague. 

 It may be that tufts of cotton and 

 strings of popcorn were used on the 

 branches as a substitute for snow in 

 the manner Martin Luther used can- 

 dles to represent lights on the snow- 

 flecked evergreens. Fruit, such as 

 apples, was easy to attach to the trees 

 and provided color, as did strings of 

 cranberries. Pictures or models of f ood- 

 stufls, such as hams and bacons, were 

 once used as substitutes for the real 

 items too heavy for slender branches. 



The suggestion has been made that 

 the idea of decorating trees is an out- 

 growth of a practice adopted by early 

 dwellers of the forest. Certain food- 

 stuffs were hung in trees to get them 

 out of reach of prowling animals. On 

 the other hand, trees were worshiped 

 by many, and gifts of food were often 

 hung in the branches as offerings or 

 sacrifices to the deities. Such giving 

 was a Christian trait; thus the gifts 

 were hung in "Christian trees" or 

 Christmas trees. 



The fir seems to be the tree most 

 commonly mentioned in reviewing the 

 evolution of the Christmas tree. The 

 fact that the twigs of the balsam fir 

 resemble crosses more than do other 

 evergreens may have had something 

 to do with it. On the other hand, it 

 may be that the word "fir" was used 

 to designate a number of evergreens 

 before botanical nomenclature was 

 well known, for even today many peo- 

 ple, unable to identify the various ever- 

 greens, speak of them as "firs." 



Also, it seems that extracts from the 

 fir, especially balsam fir, were used for 

 medicinal purposes; probably for that 

 reason it was widely sought after and 

 used. Certainly the perfume of the 

 balsam is one of its outstanding fea- 

 tures. At any rate, if the fir tree pre- 

 dominated as the early Christmas tree, 

 then our forefathers selected wisely, 

 for the fir is the favorite of today. 



Many people are troubled about 

 cutting evergreens for Christmas trees. 

 President Theodore Roosevelt, as a 

 conservationist, felt so keenly about the 



