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Writer's pictureMarianne Terrell

Origins of Holiday House Decor🎄


Christmas Tree

The interesting thing about traditions is we do them because they are traditions, but do we always really know where they come from or how they got started?


At the beginning of the 19th Century, Christmas was barely even celebrated and many businesses didn’t even consider it a holiday.


Many of our popular Christmas traditions today can be attributed to Victorian Era Britain. Queen Victoria’s husband, Albert, was born in Germany and Germans are often credited with the creation of the Christmas Tree tradition. Victoria and Albert’s prominence made them trendsetters…some of the first influencers and therefore what they did became very popular to emulate among the common population.


The Christmas Tree tradition, though, predates Christianity. Evergreen plants held special meaning as they were thought to protect from ills and evils and were a reminder that the world would warm and spring to life again after the winter solstice. In the 16th century…Christian Germans started to bring trees into their homes to decorate…now for Christmas and not the solstice.

Drawn Christmas Tree

Victoria and Albert distributed a drawn card of their festive tree that people could purchase like a post-card and is considered the pre-cursor for the Christmas Card tradition.

Interestingly, those that did formally celebrate the winter solstice time frame or yuletide season held festivities much different from what we’d consider “Christmassy” today. The festivities were often a drunken ruckus, a time for adults to cut loose and was definitely not for children. We have Victorians to thank for taking this relatively uncelebrated holiday and turning it into a family-centered affair.


Do you and your family continue celebrating any of these traditions? If so, which ones?

Don’t feel like reading…watch a similar topic in video form here.


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