The History of Holiday Decorating
A Look at the Roots of a few Holiday Traditions
Where do those holiday decorating traditions come from and what is the symbolism behind them?
Decorating for the holidays has become as enmeshed in American culture as have both Jesus and Santa Claus, but where do those traditions come from? It might be surprising to some that they often came from other religions.
The Tree. Probably the most ubiquitous of all holiday decorations is the Christmas tree. For simplicity's sake, we’ll dump boughs and fresh garland into this category as they have the same origins. The Roman Saturnalia religion used evergreen boughs and clippings to decorate homes during the winter seasons. As part of their holiday ceremonies, they also gave gifts and had feasts. When the Roman Catholic church chose to celebrate Christmas at the same time of year some of the rituals carried over. The tree was not an easy transfer though; early rulers didn’t like the symbol and thought it too reminiscent of Saturnalias.
But the tradition continued and became wildly popular in Germany where today’s modern Christmas tree was born. Price Albert, a German native, brought the tradition to England where its charm won over the hearts of the masses. It is from these origins that it migrated to the United States.
Ornaments. The very earliest holiday ornaments were fruit and nuts and began appearing on or around trees in the 1800s. These natural decorations were a sign of life and meant to celebrate the upcoming spring and probably helped to relieve the winter blahs. In addition to fruit and nuts, other foods were soon added to the tree. Hard cookies, gingerbread and candies (such as candy canes) were also used as decorations and holiday treats. In North America, the newly discovered popcorn was strung with cranberries as garland. Eventually, other items were used to decorate the tree such as ribbons and paper streamers and other handmade items. It wasn’t until the mid 1800s that glass ornaments started popping up.
Mistletoe. Hanging mistletoe is another centuries' old tradition; in fact the Druids revered it 200 years BC. Celtics believed it had healing powers and used it to cure some ailments and ward off evil. It also became a symbol of peace, the very beginnings of kissing under a hanging branch. Scandinavians deepened the tradition by associating it with their goddess of love, Frigga and established the belief that kissing under mistletoe brings good luck.
Stockings. This tradition is a little harder to trace as there are different versions, but the most popular one is that a father of three little girls was so distraught over the death of his wife that he squandered their dowries. St. Nicholas of Myra, who would become the Santa Claus of legend, felt bad for the girls so he gathered three bags of gold coins and tossed them into their chimney; the bags landed in their stockings which were hanging to dry. It’s not certain how much of that tale is true, but it is known that drying stockings by the mantel was common practice.
This year when you hang your stockings and decorate your tree, spend a moment thinking about the past and all of the people who have celebrated just as you are doing; they may not be from the same religion, nationality, region of the country or even the same millennium, but in some way each and every one of them has taken similar steps to celebrate the cycle of life and give thanks for their blessings. Happy Holidays!
