Two years ago, I took a little dive into the history of the Christmas tree.
It seemed appropriate to revisit Christmas trees past this year, as we settle in for an unusually sheltered holiday season and people are eagerly buying up Christmas trees to bring some light into their lives.
I reached out to Judith Flanders, the historian and crime writer – known especially for her books on the Victorian period – whose 2017 book, Christmas: A Biography, is the latest, most definitive account of the history of Christmas.
She corrected some of my prior beliefs – it turns out we don’t really know if and, if so, how pre-Christian Europeans celebrated the winter solstice, although we do know that Christmas was celebrated on the winter solstice, according to the Julian calendar before the leap year was introduced.
Flanders debunks a lot of the myths about Christmas – Washington Irving’s account of the origin of Santa Claus was an act of myth-making intended to dress up New York’s past, for instance.
The real histories that emerge are equally, if not more, compelling, however. Flanders thinks it’s more likely Swiss immigrants – rather than the Dutch – that brought the precursor to Santa Claus over to the United States, for instance, in the form of Sami Claus who fills the shoes of Swiss children with treats on December 6th, Saint Nicholas Day.
Interestingly, we did not import Sami Claus’ alter ego, Schmutzli (or “dirty fellow”) whom my Mom remembers from her childhood in Switzerland. He was known to put coal in the shoes of children who behaved badly and might even carry a large sack to carry children away! (A little more daunting than the elf on the shelf!)
My mother was from Lausanne, Switzerland and we grew up with candles on the tree which we only lighted for a short time to sing a Christmas song. Selecting a tree with branches to place the candles properly was an important part of the decision. The tree was put up on Christmas Eve and taken down on the 6th of January. Besides candles there were chocolates in foil and cookies on the tree. Oranges were found in our Christmas stockings along with a box of colored pencils or crayons and a silver dollar. I still put the candles on the tree, but almost never light them.
It sounds like we have similar memories of Christmas. Thanks for sharing!
It’s definitely a Swiss tradition to wait until Christmas Eve to bring the tree into the house and decorate it. When I moved to the US with my American husband and our children, I was quite shocked to discover that Americans set up their trees at the beginning of December. Given that the European tradition for a long time was to put real candles on a Christmas tree, it made sense to remove it before it dried out too much. Also, January 6th happens to be “Three Kings Day”, also known as Epiphany. As in some other European countries (and some US states influenced by French culture), Swiss people look forward to sharing a special cake – in which a figurine is hidden. The lucky person who picks the right piece of cake gets to wear a golden paper crown for the day. This honour gives the wearer privileges but also some obligations.