Now, is the time to decorate the Christmas tree and enjoy the festivity of the Christmas celebrations, which brings the message of peace, prosperity and happiness for everyone. So friends, gather around the Christmas tree, and join the singing choir! Merry Christmas to all!
It is time to light up your evergreen Christmas tree. The Christmas tree is often brought into a home, but can also be used in the open, and can be decorated with Christmas lights (originally candles), ornaments, garlands and tinsel during the days around Christmas. An angel or star is often placed at the top of the tree, which represents the host of angels.
In the ancient times, pagans, Druids, Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews celebrated the Winter Solstice, (Dec. 21st), the day of the year that the Sun begins its ascent in the sky, thereby ushering a fertile time of planting and bountiful harvests. Hence, the evergreen tree on Christmas represented eternal life.
Later in history, Germans hung wafers on the tree along with the apples to represent the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross on Christmas. After the beginning of the New Year, the Pagans would take the chopped decorated Christmas tree down and burn the “Yule” log in remembrance of the past year. The custom of erecting a Christmas tree on Christmas can be historically traced to 16thcentury Northern Germany and the Baltic region.
The first documented use of an evergreen tree in a Christmas celebration was in Riga, Latvia, in the year 1510. In the early 19th century, the custom on Christmas became popular among the nobility and spread to royal courts as far as Russia. During most of the 1970s and 1980s, the largest Christmas tree in the world was put up every year on the property of The National Enquirer in Lantana, Florida.
The United States’ National Christmas tree is lit each year on the South Lawn of the White House. Christmas tree is, lit by candles in Denmark. Modern commercialisation of Christmas has resulted in trees being put up much earlier; in shops. In Australia, the Christmas tree is usually put up on the 1st of December, which occurs about a week before the school summer holidays; except for South Australia, where most people put up their tree after the Adelaide Credit Union. Types of trees used for Christmas celebrations are fir (Abies), which have the benefit of not shedding their needles when they dry out, as well as retaining good foliage colour and scent; but species in other genera are also used. The first artificial Christmas trees were developed in Germany during the 19th century.
Natural Christmas trees on the other hand are entirely biodegradable and are often reused by tree farms or local governments as woodchips or mulch.
The Christmas trees are decorated with candles or electric lights (fairy lights), toy bear following a particular theme. It is mostly done in departmental stores. Many people on Christmas decorate outdoor trees with food that birds and other wildlife enjoys.
Each year, 33 to 36 million Christmas trees are produced in America, and 50 to 60 million are produced in Europe.
