Christmas tree Traditions We May Not Know About

The Solstice Evergreen:
The History Folklore and
Origins of the Christmas Tree
Paperback]

In Austria and Germany in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the tops of evergreens were cut off and hung upside down in a corner of the living room. They would then decorate these evergreens with different food like apples, nuts and strips of red paper. The Christmas tree decorated with apples represented the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.

Christmas trees in Germany are traditionally decorated secretly by mothers with lights, tinsel and ornaments. And the rest of the family can see it on Christmas Eve with cookies, nuts and gifts under its branches.

Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert brought the first Christmas tree to Windsor Castle in 1834 and started its popularity in England. This popularity crossed over to the United States and by 1850 and had become very fashionable in the eastern states.

Because there aren't any trees in Greenland, their Christmas trees are imported. They decorate their trees with candles and different bright ornaments.

Norwegian parents decorate their Christmas trees on Christmas Eve while the children wait anxiously outside the room and then the family join hands and sing carols while walking around it and after they exchange gifts.

Even in warm climates the tradition of decorating trees on Christmas exists. In Australia, many Australians decorate Christmas bushes which are native plants with little red flowered leaves. In Brazil, pine trees are decorated with pieces of cotton to represent falling snow.

Christmas trees in Sweden are decorated with stars and snowflakes made from straw. Spain has a fun tradition of playing a game called Catalonia in which a tree trunk is filled with goodies and the children hit the trunk, like the piñata is hit in Mexico.