Pilgrims and Pioneers: Christmas tree

Welcome To Pilgrims and Pioneers!

After many years of researching my family geneaology I have been lucky enough to discover actual information about my relatives that lived in the Pilgrim Era and the Pioneer Era- while many people also have realtives from those eras- many do not know their names or where they lived- actually seeing the proof in print makes you much more aware of who they really were.
After discovering these relatives it of course made me curious to learn more about the eras that they lived in and what their lives were like as, the history I learned in grade school had long since been forgotten.
I decided to start this blog for others who are also interested in these eras.
Some of the information here will be actual facts about my realtives and some will be information about the eras in general that I have found on the web.
I hope you will enjoy traveling back in time with me!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The History of the Victorian Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree tradition began in the Victorian era, with the custom of a lighted evergreen (Tannenbaum) originating in Germany. German-born Prince Albert, Consort of Queen Victoria, brought the idea to England and by the mid-19th century, Christmas Trees at Windsor Castle were decorated with wax candles and laden with presents. As citizens copying the Royal tradition spread this custom, the Christmas Tree soon became a popular English tradition.
It was (and still is) considered bad luck to remove the Christmas Tree and other Christmas decorations before Twelfth Night (6th January). Superstition stated that it was also bad luck to put up a Christmas Tree before Christmas Eve, although other Christmas decorations might appear some time before Christmas.