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This week on the DesignCoach: Keeping Your Holiday Decorating Real
I’ve been working daily on my decorating plan for the house. Yesterday I was asked about the origins of holiday garland. What I found was many interesting bits of history related to Christmas Trees and Garland.
Here are some of the highlights:
Historically, there has been opposition to the custom of the Christmas tree because of its pagan origins. In 1851, parishioners in Cleveland, Ohio, condemned as a pagan practice the actions of the pastor, Henry Schwan, for decorating one of the earliest Christmas trees in an American Christian church.
Scottish author Robert Chambers in his 1832 Book of Days asserts that the festivities of Christmas “originally derived from the Roman Saturnalia, had afterwards been intermingled with the ceremonies observed by the British Druids at the period of winter-solstice, and at a subsequent period became incorporated with the grim mythology of the ancient Saxons. Two popular observances belonging to Christmas are more especially derived from the worship of our pagan ancestors—the hanging up of the mistletoe and the burning of the Yule log.” Regarding the Christmas tree itself, Chambers asserts that it “seems to be a very ancient custom in Germany, and is probably a remnant of the splendid and fanciful pageants of the Middle Ages.”
Other traditions relating to Christmas that may derive from Germanic pagan practices include the Christmas ham, Yule Goat, stuffing stockings, elements of Santa Claus and his nocturnal ride through the sky, and elements of Alpine folklore.[1]
While the Christmas tree’s pagan roots are generally accepted, there still are various legends of Christian origins for the tradition. Such legends often relate to Saint Boniface, such as: Boniface, in the process of converting local pagans, cuts down Thor’s Oak, a hallowed tree for the locals, and claims a fir tree growing in the Oak’s roots to be a new symbol Jesus Christ for the converted locals. Francis Weisler argued that Christmas trees are “completely Christian in origin” and that “the Yule tree had no direct pagan connotation…” [2]
Christmas garland history tells us that the early settlers to America brought the custom of Christmas garlands to the country. They where used for decorating the room or the house during the Christmas season. Making Christmas garlands added to the family income after the harvesting season and before Christmas. Selling the garlands fetched a tidy sum, which was spent in buying clothes or other household articles. We find from the Christmas garland history, pine, spruce and cedar trees were used in the making of the Christmas garlands. There were other things used that include cornhusks, orange and scarlet pods of bittersweet, mosses, and dried fruits. The Christmas garlands were not only for home decoration they were used for decorating, churches, business establishments, shops, and hospitals also. The decoration with green garlands made an attractive picture in the background of white snow covered ground.”
Here’s a picture of the garland on my fireplace mantel.
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