(This blog post is an excerpt from Plant School Podcast. Listen above or on any major podcasting platform!)
Introduction
When did we as humans decide to that it was a good idea to bring trees into our homes, put lights on them, and little intricate balls of plastic or glass? Well the answer lies quite far back in human history! So let’s dive in, shall we?
Prehistoric
Evergreen plants have long held special meanings to humans. There’s evidence that ancient people hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In fact, it was an important practice because many of these ancient ancestors of ours believed that these evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.
Evergreen trees were particularly important on winter solstice, which is the shortest day and longest night of the year for the northern hemisphere (Dec. 21 or 22). Evergreen boughs or branches were taken to remind them of all the green that would return when the sun gold was well and strong and summer would return.
Ancient Civilizations
This idea was held by many ancient civilizations all over the world. Let’s look at a few brief examples with various ancient people. 
The Egyptians worshiped the god Ra who would recover from illness and bring the sun and warmth. They’d bring palm rushes into their homes which symbolized the triumph of life over death. Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called Saturnalia and would decorate their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. In Northern Europe, the Druids and ancient Celts would also use evergreen boughs on temples as a symbol of everlasting life. The vikings of Scandinavia thought evergreens were the special plant of the sun god, Balder. And some pre-Christian pagans in Europe worshiped trees and worshipped their deities within groves of trees.
First Christmas Trees…well almost
So we know that many cultures regarded trees and their various boughs as sacred but what culture decided to bring the whole tree in, not just the boughs?
Well, there’s not an exact clear answer. BUT the most likely theory is that Christmas trees started with medieval plays. These plays celebrated the Nativity and the birth of Christ and were also linked to the story of creation. You see, Christmas Eve was also considered the feast day of Adam and Eve and so these plays would have a Garden of Eden with a “paradise tree” hung with fruit/apples to represent the forbidden fruit and wafers to represent the Eucharist (last supper or sacrament).
Interestingly these plays were largely banned by the 16th century. And it’s thought that it was because of this ban, people decided to set up their own “paradise trees” in their homes. These paradise trees were brought in as a whole tree or some would bring in the boughs to represent the paradise trees. Fittingly, these evergreen boughs and trees that were brought in were called “paradises”.
We aren’t quite to the days of putting the ornaments on them that we’re familiar with today but these people introduced the predecessors. They’d put apples on the trees and boughs as well as wafers. It’s thought that the apples slowly developed into our modern red glass ornaments and the wafers eventually formed into cookies, gingerbread, and salt dough ornaments that we use modernly.
Actual First Christmas Trees – European Beginnings
Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it though some experts think it may have come from Finland and spread to other parts of Europe. I imagine it’s a title that’s yearned for by multiple countries and so many vie for being known as the first. Let’s look at the facts, shall we?
There are records in 1510 Latvia and 1521 Strasbourg that trees were used as symbols of Christmas. In the 16th century, devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some also could build pyramids of woods that resembled a tree and then they would decorate them with evergreen branches and candles.
A popular legend is that Martin Luther, the 16th century Protestant reformer, was the first to add lighted candles to a tree. It’s told that he was walking home and as doing so, he was awed by the brilliant stars shining amidst the evergreens. This inspired him so much that once he was home, he recreated the scene for his family by putting a tree in the main room and wired candles onto the branches. Is this man is responsible for household Christmas tree fires? Because according to the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) in the US from 2007-2011 there were 230 fires caused by Christmas trees! These fires lead to 6 civilian deaths each year.
I don’t we can place all the blame on him but because of it’s supposed Lutheran origins, the Christmas tree met a lot of resistance by Catholics. You can see this resistance of not wanting to be associated with the Christmas tree by the fact that the first Christmas tree in the Vatican was put up in 1986.
Spread to America
It’s obvious that the Christmas tree has deep European ties, but exactly when and how did the Christmas tree spread to America?
Surprisingly, it took Americans awhile to adopt this tradition. In fact, most 19th century Americans found Christmas trees quite odd. We’ll come back to this idea and why it took so long.
The first record of a Christmas tree on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania. This makes sense, since Germany is credited with possibly starting the tradition of Christmas trees in the home in the first place. But the story isn’t that simple. There are other claims to the first Christmas trees such as in Windsor Locks, Connecticut who claims a Hessian soldier put up a Christmas tree while imprisoned in 1777. Like I said, the claim to the first Christmas tree, no matter the continent or country, seems to be a big deal.
Charles Follen is thought to be the first to introduce America to the custom of decorating a Christmas tree as we know it. And August Imgard, a German immigrant in Wooster, OH, is said to be the first to popularize the practice of decorating a tree with candy canes.
But why did it take Americans so long to adopt the tradition of Christmas trees? As late as the 1840s the Christmas tree was seen and a pagan symbol and not accepted by most Americans. This is due partly from America’s English ancestors. Oliver Cromwell, a prominent member of 1600 Parliament, preached against the heathen traditions of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any joyful expression of the sacred event that Christmas was. Because of this, in 1659 the General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 other than going to a church service punishable by law. Not only that, but you would also be fined for hanging decorations in your home.
The stern view continued in America until the 19th century. What started to turn the tide was when in 1846, Queen Victoria was sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with her children around a Christmas tree. She was popular and seen as very fashionable so it spread quickly, even to the fashion-conscious East Coast American Society.
It started first among the upper classes and slowly moved its way down to lower classes as it became more popular and affordable.
Christmas Trees Today
How has the Christmas tree developed since? Well, they’ve had a lot of modern changes and enhancements. For one, we don’t put candles in them anymore, thank heavens. When electricity arrived, it brought with it Christmas lights. Edward H. Johnson was vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company and created the first known electrically illuminated tree at his home in 1882. With this, Christmas trees appeared in town squares and it became an American tradition to have one in your home.
Aluminum Christmas Trees were popular during the early 1960’s and thank the skies that they still aren’t popular right now. Fake Christmas trees have continually improved over the years and they look quite realistic to this day. Real Christmas trees are still used but are not the only option like they used to be in the past. They are decorating with a wide variety of decorations from tinsel, red glass ornaments, dried fruit, ribbon, and strands of beads.
Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states including Hawaii and Alaska with the top producing states including Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington.
About 33-36 million Christmas trees are produced in America, and 50-60 million are produced in Europe. There are about 15,000 Christmas tree farms in the US and they can take as many as 15 years to grow to their typical height or as little as 4 years, depending on the type of tree. There are close to 350 million live Christmas trees currently growing in the US alone and there are 4,000 local Christmas tree recycling programs in the US, making real trees pretty environmentally friendly.