The fact that Queen Victoria’s husband was from Germany is perhaps the main reason that Americans decorate their Christmas trees with ornaments.
I’ll explain that statement later, I promise. But first, let’s begin at the beginning.
The history of the Christmas tree is nebulous at best. Different sources give different timelines for the development of the holiday tradition, and what follows is drawn from many different, and often contradictory, sources.
Germany’s St. Boniface introduced a fir tree as a Christmas symbol in the seventh or eighth century AD, explaining that the triangular shape of the tree represented the Holy Trinity. Germans then began the tradition of decorating trees with candles at Christmastime.
Around 1510, Latvians decorated a tree with roses, symbolizing the Virgin Mary.
In 1605, in Strasbourg, France (a city near the German border), a tree was brought indoors for the first time. It was decorated with not just candles and roses made of paper, but also nuts, sweets, and cookies. Every year thereafter, decorations on Christmas trees became more elaborate. In 1610, tinsel was introduced—and it was made of silver.
The tradition of the indoor Christmas tree spread across Europe, remaining strongest in Germany. When Prince Albert of Germany married Queen Victoria of England, he brought the Christmas tree with him.
The December, 1850 issue of Goudy’s Lady Book (a popular British fashion magazine) printed an illustration of the royal family posing with an elaborately-decorated Christmas tree.
That picture excited America’s High Society, and suddenly Christmas trees were a sign of wealth and good taste in the upper echelons of the American social structure. And thus the Christmas tree covered with gaudy ornaments spread across the country.
The most popular tree ornaments were glass balls, and virtually all of them came from glassblowing shops in Lausha, Germany. Woolworth’s in America began selling glass ornaments in the 1880’s, and within a decade was selling $25,000,000 worth of them a year. Besides balls, they offered glass hearts, stars, animals, and even people.
Tin ornaments, angels, Santas, and fancy, colorful paper animals also became popular.
When interest in German products waned because of World War I, Americans had a hard time finding glass ornaments. In the late 1930’s, the Woolworth company talked the Corning Glass Company in New York into producing Christmas tree ornaments. Corning was quickly able to produce many times more ornaments than the German companies, which were still blowing their ornaments by hand.
Artificial Christmas trees were introduced in the 1930’s, and in 2007 (the latest year I could find), over 17 million artificial trees were sold in the United States.
In the 1960’s the aluminum tree became popular. Instead of strings of light, it had a rotating “color wheel” spotlight that made the tree change colors as the wheel slowly spun. Ornaments for aluminum trees were usually just glass balls, all of the same color.
Perhaps the biggest innovation in Christmas ornaments occurred in 1973, when Hallmark issued its first Christmas Keepsake Ornaments. From six glass balls that year, Hallmark’s annual offerings are now up to over 300 new ornaments every year. Over 3,000 Hallmark ornaments have been issued, and over a hundred different series are available. Because they are dated and sold only for one season, many of them are worth hundreds of dollars.
The first ornament series Hallmark issued was the Betsey Clark glass ball ornament series, which began in 1973. The popular Nostalgic House series began in 1984.
Many Hallmark ornaments are popular with collectors of other things. For example, many Star Trek fans collect Hallmark Star Trek ornaments.
And unlike ornaments before Hallmark came along, many of the Keepsake ornaments do not end up on the Christmas tree. They are tucked away safely by collectors who have never even opened their boxes.
Dan Hughes and his wife Kathy own the Kaleidoscope Art Studio in Rantoul, which offers classes and self-directed workshops for both children and adults. Please visit their web site at http://room200.com. Dan is a retired general manager of the Parkland College radio station and was an instructor in broadcasting. He wrote, produced, and hosted The Parkland Challenge, a popular local television quiz program. He has written books and he does weekly podcasts (internet radio shows). Email Dan at danhughes@juno.com, and check out his web site at http://danhughes.net.