“Old Santeclaus with much delight. His reindeer drives this frosty night. O’er chimney tops and tracts of snow, to bring his yearly gifts to you.”
— Published anonymously, 1821
If Santa Claus was inspired by the generous bishop of Myra, then where did the reindeer and sleigh, the wreath and the tree, the lights and the cheery little poinsettia come from?
The above poem appears to be the first mention publicly of reindeer, sleighs and chimney tops. When publisher William Gilley was questioned, he related the author gave little information of himself. Reindeer were considered almost magical creatures, as well as often used by indigenous peoples of the far north for transportation pulling sleighs and wagons.
The next reference would be in the 1822 poem “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” pretty well situating reindeer in the midst of Santa’s story.
The practice of bringing trees into the house developed in several different countries with different meanings. The earliest representation of a private tree was found in a sculpture in 1576, then part of Germany and now France. Earliest trees were lit with candles and often only on the night before Christmas. They were decorated with apples, paper roses and such. The tree was often topped with an angel representing the angel Gabriel, or a star for the star of Bethlehem. Germany and surrounding countries formed early Christmas customs which would spread to England through intermarriages by royalty.
The first Christmas trees in America were reportedly displayed by Charles Follen in 1835, a political exile from Germany and written about by a British visitor. In 1836, a Christmas tree was mentioned in “A Stranger’s Gift” written by Herman Bokum, also a German immigrant. The first Christmas tree in the White House was in 1902 and was sneaked in by President Roosevelt’s son Archie, then 8-years-old. There are two explanations: It was not a practice of the Roosevelts to have a tree, or it was inconsistent with Roosevelt’s nature conservationist ideas. Afterwards, thanks to Archie, the White House would have Christmas trees.
Electric lights would replace candles. Thomas Edison in 1880 lit up his workshop alongside a railroad where all the passengers would be dazzled at the display. Edison’s associate, Edward H Johnson, would come to be known as the Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights for having hand-strung 80 red, white and blue lights the size of walnuts together for his home. The photographs appeared in newspapers and eventually were mass produced and affordable by 1930.
The Christmas wreath was a symbol of eternal life, and the greenery showed endurance through often harsh and difficult times. It may have been inspired by the Roman wreaths as a sign of victory. Early Christians hung wreaths on the door as a sign of welcome.
And the poinsettia, the most beautiful of Christmas plants, was once a lowly Mexican weed growing by the wayside. Joel Poinsett, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and amateur botanist, brought the plant back to his home in South Carolina. However, it was Albert Ecke, another German immigrant, living in California, who developed a secret solution causing the weedy plant to grow into the compact, colorful flower we see today — and now you know.
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