Christmas Decorations

You may be surprised to hear that there are records of decorations dating back to the Ancient Egyptians who celebrated the sun god Ra’s recovery from being ill over winter. So they decked out homes in green palm rushes on the winter solstice which they believed symbolized life conquering death.

Decorations were also recorded in the 5th Century BC, used Roman Saturnalia mid winter celebrations. Saturn was the god of agriculture, so to honour him, the upcoming green and fruitful orchards and farms, and the solstice, they decorated their homes.

The decorations used were manly greenery such as wreaths and garlands, which were hung over doors and windows. They also brought the boughs indoors to decorate their stairways. While trees were not brought indoors to be decorated, they were covered where they grew with ornamental symbols such as sun symbols, stars and faces of the God Janus.

By 6th Century AD, Pope Gregory the Great, instead of banning this pagan practice, incorporated it into church beliefs, believeing they should be reinvented rather than banned. Natural boughs and adornments were therefore focused in churches as opposed to indiduals doors. Plants were used then that are still used today. For example, in the UK where holly, ivy and mistletoe is available, became the natural choice for these decorations.

By medieval times, greenery was cheap, so the nobles instead displayed their finest tapestries, gold platers and jewellery. During the Puritan movement, Christmas celebrations were supressed in Europe and America. “In 1644 all Christmas activities were banned in England. This included decorating houses with evergreens and eating mince pie”.

Adding ornaments to trees came from Germany in the 1600s, where they hung fruits, berries, candles and nuts on their evergreens.

German immigrants tried to bring their tradition over to the Americas and while largely rejected due to the Puritans, in small German settlement communities they continued this practice from as early as 1700s.

The Victorian era saw a revival of ye olde celebrations where they wanted to create the nostalgia from medieval Britain. There were modern day influences incorporated as well.

Hans Greiner from Lauscha, invented the first manufactured baubles which were fruit and nut shaped in 1840s. Eventually these turned into a more spherical shape. In 1948, after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had their sketch taken in front of their decorated Christmas tree, wealthy Americans rushed out to adopt this tradition too. According to a Huffingtonpost article, “In the UK, Queen Victoria declared that it’s bad luck to keep your Christmas decorations up after the 12th day of Christmas, on the 5th of January. Many people continue this tradition -- and it's a nifty way to force family members to start packing up decorations and putting them away for next year.”

By the 1890s, Woolworth’s Department Store in the US was selling $25 million in important ornaments from Germany which were made from lead and hand-blown glass.

The ornament and decoration industry grew and soon Germany was competing with Japan and Eastern Europe mass-productions. By mid-1930s, over 250,000 ornaments were imported to the United States, and by 1973 Hallmark started releasing their “Keepsake” ornaments.

And now, on to my decoration information for you - my 12 Days of Christmas, #ecoedition continuing with Day 5! Check out the quiz question at the bottom of the page and stay tuned for the answer tomorrow!

QUIZ ANSWER FROM DAY 4: How many times would the wrapping paper thrown out in the UK go round the world? 9 times!

Did you know:

Some more interesting facts about decorations:

Tinsel was originally made from strands of silver and was a status symbol. Copper and tin was used to make it more accessible.
After WWI, when silver, copper and tin became more scarce, tinsel was made from lead (poisonous) or aluminium (a fire hazard) until 1970s
Tinsel is now made from plastic (polyvinyl chloride), and a town in Wales makes over 11.9 metres of tinsel every year
Tinsel is non recyclable so ends up in landfill once it has served its purpose
In 2009, Christmas decorations ranked 2nd to gifts for the season’s spending
In 1996, annual sales for the ornament industry generated $2.4 billion which was an increase of 25% on the previous year
A town in Mexico is known for its production of Christmas ornaments, particularly baubles, with over 100 million ornaments produced every year, the majority of which are exported.

fun and Eco friendly alternatives

Why not try one or more of the below ideas to help you cut your decorations down:

Reuse decorations you already have and wrap them up safely when packing them up
Make your own decorations! Check this site out for some great wreath designs for inspiration
Create orange and citrus peel decorations - use cookie cutters to cut them into shapes, dehydrate them or decorate them with cloves
Make paperchains or use ribbons instead of tinsel
Host an online decorating evening and catch up with friends or family
Forage in your garden or a wood for items like pine cones, braches, holly, mistletoe, twigs to decorate your outdoors and even (after carefully removing any critters) use them indoors in home made baubles or indoor decorations. If you take care of them, you can keep pine cones for future years. Otherwise simply return these back from where you collected them (providing no glitter or glues etc were used)
Buy second hand decorations
If buying new decorations, opt for natural wreaths with no glitter. For example The Natural Wreath Company (UK), Bloom and Wild or Etsy
Support small businesses and local where possible
Skip the trends and go for ones that will make you smile for many years
Limit yourself to buying 1 or 2 new decorations per year to build your collection and use them to remember memories - special events, holidays, days out

FUN QUIZ QUESTION - find out the answer tomorrow!

What are the top 2 most popular Christmas decorations?

Good luck and happy decorating!

Please note, I am not affiliated with any company mentioned in this post.