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Exchange Students

Charlotte Kreklau

Sina Kilian

Broncho Express

Volume 2 Issue 3            

December 2009

Editor: Macy McClung

Reporters: Brett Wilson, Isaac Hale, Macy McClung, Sina Kilian, Charlotte Krekau, Petie Bensin, Jennifer Reyes Sawyer Wilson, Tori Cordova, Linda Mercado

Advisor: Mr. Klug

The Broncho Express newspaper may contain facts, views, opinions, statements and recommendations of staff, students and third party individuals. The Broncho Express news staff does not represent or endorse the accuracy, currentness or reliability of any advice, grammar or opinion.

What is the significance of that big bushy decoration which brings holiday cheer to hearts of millions of people all over the world? Instead of putting up a Christmas tree this time of year, why not put up a fake chimney in the middle of your house? Why not instead bake 100 Christmas cookies or sacrifice a reindeer for Christmas dinner? Why is the Christmas tree such a large part of Christmas and where does the tradition come from? I think the answers will surprise you.

The Christmas tree actually predates Christianity by centuries and was originally used by pagans.  Of course, these were not really Christmas trees, because Jesus was not born until centuries later. Long before the

advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness. In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when summer would return. Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life. The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special plant of the sun god, Balder.

The modern Christmas trees appeared in the middle 1500's. The trees were sold at local markets and set up in homes without any ornaments in Germany in the year1531. Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce.

During the 1700s most of the early accounts of Christmas trees in the United States were among the German settlers in eastern Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvanian German settlements had community trees as early as 1747.

During the 1800s the Christmas tree really catches on in English speaking countries. In 1846, the popular royals, Queen Victoria and her German Prince, Albert, were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their children around a Christmas tree. Victoria was very popular with her subjects, and what was done at court immediately became fashionable. By 1850, the Christmas tree had become fashionable in the eastern states. Mark Carr brought trees from the Catskill Mountains to the streets of New York in 1851, and opened the first retail Christmas tree lot in the United States. In 1856, Franklin Pierce was the first president to introduce the Christmas tree to the White House for a group of Washington Sunday School children.

The first national American Christmas Tree was lighted in the year 1923 on the White House lawn by President Calvin Coolidge. Since 1966 a tree from the National Christmas Tree Association has been displayed in the Blue Room of the White House.

Silver, aluminum trees, 'Silver Pine' tree, was patented in the 1950's. It was designed to have a revolving light source under it with colored gelatin 'windows, which allowed the light to shine in different shades as it revolved under the tree. No decorations were needed for this tree.

Now, whether you have a fake tree or not, you can look at your traditional holiday decoration and know that its not just an excuse to make your living room look beautiful and full of holiday spirit. That tree represents so much more.