The "Christmas: The Evolution of Celebrating" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading how Christmas has been celebrated over the ages.  For many Christians, Christmas is a time of both worship as well as celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus.  

The way we celebrate Christmas has evolved over time and how we celebrate the holiday is somewhat different than how it was celebrated in the past.  In the early 1800's in America, most people didn't observe Christmas.  It was felt that it was too closely associated with its pagan roots from Europe.  Those that did celebrate did so with modest decorations that were perhaps placed on the family table.  Some decorated trees with popcorn garlands and baked cookies.  In the mid to late 1800s people began to select small trees for placing festive more ornate and intricate decorations, mostly made by hand.  More traditional events started with the arrival of the first Christmas cards.  R.H. Pease introduced the first Christmas cards in the 1850s while Louis Prang turned then into a tradition in the 1870s.

Santa was created by Thomas Nast in 1863 when
he drew this image in Harper's Magazine.

 Santa Claus was created by Harper's Weekly Magazine's illustrator Thomas Nast in 1863 who also made Santa and his elves at home in the North Pole.  Wasn't long before gift giving became a tradition at Christmas time.  Little did Thomas know the magnitude of celebration that his creation would make in the future.  In 1892 Russian Pyotr Tchaikovsky wrote the Nutcracker which wasn't a huge success in America until the late 1960s.  The Nutcracker made decorating with little wooden soldiers a whimsical Christmas tradition.   In the early 1900s people began to decorate much larger live trees that would perhaps reach the ceilings in their homes.  Christmas wreaths made from evergreen tree branches began to decorate the front doors of homes.  By the late 1920s candy canes became not only a Christmas treat, but also a decoration for the family tree.  In the mid to late 1900s people began to cut down live trees for decorating and before long artificial trees began to replace the live version.  My wife showed me photos of her family tree that was made of shiny aluminum.  Lights were added to the Christmas trees in the late 1940s.  Before that time candles were used to add illumination to the Christmas tree, though they were quite dangerous.  Today the Christmas tree is covered with technology people in the 1800s didn't even dream about.  LED lighting that can perform a variety of tasks gives the tree a different look.   At times music can be added with timed lighting exhibitions bouncing around the tree.  Each family celebrating Christmas with an illuminated tree has their own traditions and decorates their tree to bring memories to life once a year.  My wife, Carol, and I wish each and every person who celebrates Christmas as a religious holiday, a Merry Christmas.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

What were people thinking when the aluminum tree was developed.