Christmas trees, largely as we know them, started in Germany in the 16th century although the celebration of “ever-green” trees can be seen in many different cultures. In Pagan traditions the Winter Solstice, or shortest day of the year, is celebrated and an evergreen tree reminds us that the days will finally start getting longer again. Trees may also have an early relation to the “Tree of Paradise” mentioned in medieval mystery plays typically performed around Dec 24. A decorated tree with apples represented Adam and Eve’s fall from grace. It was said that Martin Luther, admiring the stars in the sky, put candles on a tree to recreate that and celebrate.

19th century Americans by and large did not decorate with Christmas trees. The tradition was most likely adopted by German immigrants in Pennsylvania. Apparently it didn’t catch on until then because the puritans took Christmas very seriously and didn’t want any pagan riff raff to muck with it.

From the 19th century on the Christmas tree was a staple. The German immigrants continued decorating with fruit, nuts and marzipan. Other non Germans preferred hand made ornaments with the occasional fruit or popcorn garland. 1882 brought the first electric Christmas lights by Edward H. Johnson of New York City, who was Vice-President of Edison Electric Light Company, now known as Con-Edison. I don’t even want to know what the fire risk was like for that.

Artificial trees had been in existence for years, but the 1950s/60s brought my favorite: Aluminum Trees. As the name states, the trees are made of aluminum poles with foil on them to look like branches. They were first widely manufactured in Chicago but the bulk were made by the Aluminum Specialty Company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. (Making a Murder anyone? What if that family had been in the tree business instead of the car business?!) They fell out of favor in the 1970s and after being sold rather cheaply in the 80s are now a collector’s item. (Does anyone have one they don’t want because I will surely take it off your hands)