Christmas is fast approaching, and to mark the festive occasion enterprising folk up and down the land have been getting out their chainsaws to chop down fir trees. And other people have been coughing up good money to buy those trees, with a view to decorating them with twinkly lights, sparkly decorations and shiny tinsel. But in just a few weeks time it will all be over, the dead trees will be unceremoniously dumped and the lights, decorations and tinsel will be packed away until next year. So just why is it that we feel the need to celebrate Christmas by butchering fir trees, bringing them into our homes and festooning them with random gaudy embellishments?

Christmas marks the birth of Christ the Lord, but Christmas trees have their origins in pre-Christian, pagan times. Long before the birth of Jesus numerous civilisations, including the Egyptians and the Romans, used branches of evergreen fir trees to decorate their homes, thereby celebrating the endurance of life through hard times. Doing so symbolised hope, resilience, and the promise of spring, presumably lifting people’s spirits during the dark winter months. The practice survived in various forms for many centuries.

In the 16th century German Christians began decorating trees in their homes. Legend has it that the Protestant reformer Martin Luther was the first to place candles on an evergreen. Inspired by the stars shining through the trees on a winter’s night, he is said by some to have created humanity’s first “Christmas lights.” While attributing to Martin Luther such a pivotal role in the evolution of the Christmas tree seems to me a bit fanciful, there is no doubt that the idea took off in Germany at around this time. And it is from Germany that the tradition of Christmas trees arrived in the UK.

The first Christmas trees here in the UK were thanks to Charlotte, the wife of King George III. Having been born and raised in Germany, Christmas trees were clearly close to her heart, so it is no surprise that Charlotte sought to introduce the tradition to the British royal court.  The first recorded example in England was in December 1800, when she arranged for a large, decorated yew tree to be the centrepiece of a children’s party at Queen’s Lodge, Windsor. 

Despite Charlotte’s best efforts, however, Christmas trees did not catch on, and it was left to Queen Victoria – George III’s granddaughter – to succeed where she had failed. Victoria and her husband Prince Albert were big fans of Christmas, and having been born in Germany the Prince would have been steeped in the tradition of placing decorated fir trees at the heart of the festive celebrations.

Thanks to their efforts Christmas trees were enthusiastically accepted by high society, from whence the practice filtered down to the masses. Initially the trees were used as table decorations, as they were quite small. But when it became possible to source bigger trees from overseas, or to rear them here in the UK, the practice began of standing them on the floor and arranging presents beneath them. Gathering around the tree became a big thing, a time when families united and enjoyed one another’s company.

Today Christmas trees can be found in huge numbers in both private homes and public spaces, but these days it’s not necessary to kill a living tree in order to join in the fun. Wooden, candle-lit tree-shaped pyramids were used by German Moravian settlers in colonial America in the 1700s. But the move towards artificial trees really began in late 19th century Germany as a response to deforestation. These were initially created from dyed goose feathers, which was great news for fir trees but perhaps not so great for geese!

Another big step forward took place in the USA in the 1930s, when the Addis Brush Company (USA) predicted the principles of recycling – and demonstrated a good eye for a business opportunity! – by using leftover brush bristles to create trees. A little later aluminium trees became popular, but by the end of the 20th century PVC plastic trees were the market leaders. So there, in a nutshell, we have the great 21st century Christmas tree dilemma – do we chop down living fir trees and contribute to deforestation, or do we make artificial trees out of a material that will litter the planet for centuries to come? We are, as the saying goes, between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the future of Christmas trees.

But for now, Christmas trees – artificial or “real” – remain hugely popular. In recent years we’ve noticed an increase in the number of Christmas tree festivals, community events featuring hundreds of trees that are the work of local groups and organisations. Some of these are clearly motivated by commercial considerations, local businesses calculating that this is a cheap and effective way to advertise themselves and their wares. Others are the work of volunteer-led community organisations and public services seeking to promote their activities to a wider audience.

Almost without exception these trees are artificial, but what makes them stand out is their unusual construction and decoration. One of the joys of Christmas tree festivals is the wacky inventiveness of the people who create the trees, such as the upside-down tree that was the brainchild of Chesterfield’s branch of Specsavers opticians. The Chesterfield branch is part of a multinational optical retail chain with the slogan “should have gone to Specsavers”, a chain whose long-running marketing campaign is centred around illustrating what misfortunes might come your way if you don’t get your eyesight tested…such as failing to notice that your Christmas tree is upside-down!

In other examples from the Chesterfield Festival of Trees we have seen a Christmas tree made from golf clubs (yes, you guessed it, the organisation responsible was the local golf club!), a Christmas tree made out of copper pipes (courtesy of the plumbing course at a local college) and a little Christmas tree made out of empty egg cartons loaded with colourful fruit and vegetables for decoration. And we’ve even seen Christmas trees decorated with woolly (beanie) hats, church bell pulls, and cricket balls. Crazy!

I’m tempted to say that you couldn’t make it up, but clearly someone has! It’s easy to be cynical about the commercial aspects of the 21st century Christmas, but Christmas tree festivals counteract this by spreading good cheer at a time when most folk are feeling hugely stressed. Happy Christmas, everyone!