Advent Day 9
Baubles
It’s a simple icon of holiday cheer, but the Christmas bauble comes with an obscure history. Thought to have originated in 16th century Germany, the first ornaments were nothing like what we know today.
The ‘modern’ Christmas tree tradition is thought to have originated in 16th century Germany, where small evergreen trees were decorated with the likes of candles, apples, nuts, and berries as “Paradise trees” in church plays. Over time, devout Christians integrated these decorated trees into their homes during the holiday season. The tradition, which became a Christian ritual, began to spread across Europe.
By the 1890s, Woolworth’s Department Store in the United States was selling $25 million in German-imported ornaments made of lead and hand-blown glass. As time went on, tree decorations became increasingly artful, incorporating new materials such as tinsel, silk, and wool.
Once the premiere manufacturer of handmade ornaments, Germany was suddenly competing with Japanese and Eastern European mass-production as the Christmas bauble became a globalized commercial venture. By the mid-1930s, over 250,000 ornaments were imported to the United States.
In 1973, Hallmark introduced their “Keepsake” ornaments, which afforded these decorations collectible value. The first collection consisted of glass baubles and little yarn figures, and each successive line of limited-edition ornaments has been unique to the year.
Today, the Christmas tree has shed most of its religious significance. Having become a fully-integrated cross-cultural winter tradition, families of all faiths around the world await that beloved time of year when they can dust off their decorations.
Source: The Culture Trip
Christmas tree decoration became fashionable in the UK during Queen Victoria’s reign, most notably in 1848 when a picture was published in the Illustrated London News of the Royal Family.
In an elaborate image, Queen Victoria and her family were pictured at Windsor Castle stood beside a large tree adorned with glass ornaments hailing from Prince Albert's native Germany.
For centuries, baubles have evolved in design, material and cost and these days any Christmas tree would look a little lost without a few cheerful baubles hanging from its branches.
But just where exactly did the first bauble originate from?
The original bauble comes from sixteenth century Germany in the alpine town of Lauscha. This town would become infamous for its skill in glass-blowing and Christmas ornament production.
By the 1800s, founder of the first glassworks in Lauscha, Hans Greiner, began producing fruit and nut shaped glass ornaments complete with decorative silver embellishment using mercury or lead.
With popularity and interest in the bauble growing, other glassworks in the area also began to produce their own style of glass decorations, creating moulds of animals, famous saints and children.
Eventually, the beautiful glass ornaments, renowned as a German invention, were discovered by the infamous F.W. Woolworth on a visit to Germany. Sensing an opportunity within the rise of global commerce, he began to import the glass ornaments to the United States and the rest, as they say, is history.
What are traditional Christmas decorations?
The most traditional decorations for the Christmas tree include stars, angels, fruit and Father Christmas.
Like the tree itself, many traditional decorations have their roots based in faith; the angel harking back to the nativity and the star representing Jesus as the light of the world. This is also the basis for decorating the tree with lights.
Red, gold and green goes back to winter flora - green for the evergreen holly or mistletoe plants and red for seasonal berries, while gold represents the sun.
Blue and white, or silver, meanwhile, represents various symbols. One is the Jewish faith so they can have their own Christmas tree during Hanukkah. Others include peace or snow - represented by white. Blue can symbolise the sky or heaven and Mary, Jesus' mother
Source: Christmas Tree World
