- Evergreen trees were used before Christ was born to celebrate the winter season;
- In 1510, the first Christmas tree was decorated in Riga, Latvia;
- The first printed account of Christmas trees was seen in 1531 in Germany.
- In addition to use of evergreens, other types of trees such as hawthorns and cherry were used as Christmas trees in the past;
- Starting in the 17th Century, small candles were used to light the Christmas trees;
- Electric lights on Christmas trees was an idea of Thomas Edison’s assistant and in 1890 numerous Christmas tree lights were produced;
- Christmas tree lights were first mass-produced in 1890.
- The illuminated Christmas trees you see in Supermarkets and shopping malls have been erected since 1900.
- Every single year since the year 1947, the people of Oslo, Norway have given a Christmas tree as a present to the city of Westminster, England. This is a gift of goodwill and gratitude for Britain’s assistance to Norway during World War II.
- “The tradition started more than 2,000 years ago when pagans used to worship evergreen trees as a symbol of fertility.
- Cherry trees were once used as Christmas trees;
- The most popular Christmas trees are: Scotch pine, white pine, balsam fir, Douglas fir and Fraser fir;
- Americans buy an excess of 30 million live Christmas trees every year from Christmas tree farms which means there are people who grow trees specifically for the Christmas;
- Artificial trees were first used in 1880s when the Germans made an effort to prevent deforestation and they used dyed goose feathers held together using a wire;
- The largest artificial Christmas tree in the world had cost Ksh. 8 million to construct. It was 236 feet in height;
- The Vatican first received its Christmas trees in 1982 which shows that the Roman Catholic Church never took the Christmas tree tradition seriously until later on;
- Christmas trees causes average 160 fires annually;
- Property worth Ksh. 1 billion was lost in the USA as a result of fires started by Christmas trees;
- Christmas trees take at least 10 years to grow;
- The British Royal family made the Christmas tree popular in the English-speaking countries after they were photographed around the Christmas tree;
GOT a story? Contact Kerosi Dotcom on EMAIL info@kerosi.com
