How Did The Tradition Of The Christmas Tree Start?

We all associate Christmas with the huge evergreen fir tree which is decorated with all kinds of bits and baubles for the season. Where the children find presents with their names on it at the bottom, but did you know that the Christmas Tree was not part of the seasonal celebrations at all? In fact till the 16th century there are no records of the Christmas tree at all. So how did the tradition of the Christmas tree come into being? The ancient civilizations all celebrated the winter solstice which falls on the night of 21s and 22nd December as a major holiday. The Pagan Druids, the Hebrew, the Egyptians and even the Chinese all celebrated this day on which the sun grew stronger and the days grew longer. The Romans would also celebrate the feast of Saturnalia which was dedicated to the lord of agriculture, Saturn. They would make boughs of the evergreen coniferous tree to mark the return of the greenery in spring. These green circles would be then used to decorate the homes and temples of the Romans. Although it is the Germans who are credited with bringing the whole tree into the home and decorating it with apples and wafers to mark the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. The tree was further popularized in England when in 1846 the family of Queen Victoria along with her German husband Prince Albert were sketched in a family portrait with their children around the Christmas tree. This was published in the Illustrated London News and all the loyal subjects of the popular Queen Victoria began to imitate her and the trees moved in to the homes. The Americans were not so quick to accept the tree indoors and it was only in the 19th Century that the Christmas Tree became an accepted indoor tradition. Home made ornaments, apples, nuts, popcorn strings and a whole lot more natural fruits were initially used to decorate the tree. Unlike today when we can walk into a store and pick up any Christmas Tree Ornament that we wish.