Transcript The history of Christmas Trees

There was once a monk named St Boniface and he went to chop
down an old oak tree. It split into four and in the middle he found
a small fir tree.
“This little tree shall be our holy tree. It is the tree of peace because
our house are made of fir. It is a sign of endless life for its leaves
are evergreen. See how it points towards the heavens? Let this be
called the tree of the Christ Child. Gather about it, not in the
wilderness, but in your homes. There it will be surrounded by loving
gifts and rites of kindness.”
To this day, this is why the Fir tree is the symbol of Christmas.
Long ago people used to decorate
trees in winter because they
thought the spirits had left them
when the leaves fell off.
To encourage the spirits to come
back, the people used to decorate
the trees with strips of materials in
bright colours.
Every year the leaves grew again
and people continued this
tradition.
Even when the German’s brought
fir trees inside they decorated
them.
Christmas trees became popular in
1841 when Queen Victoria’s husband,
Prince Albert, brought over a tree from
Germany and put it in Windsor Castle.
In the Victorian age, Christmas trees
were decorated with candles to remind
children of the stars in the sky.
They decorated the tree with chocolates
and sweets. Woolworths were the first
store to sell sweet decorations for the
Christmas tree in 1880.
Famous
The most famous Christmas tree
in Britain is the one in Trafalgar
Square.
The tree is a gift from Oslo,
Norway, for helping them with
the second world war. They give
Britain a tree every year.
The tree
Christmas trees are biodegradable. This means the trunk and
branches can be used a mulch for the gardens.
When you put the mulch on the garden it helps plants to grow
whilst protecting them from cold weather. The mulch stops weeds
from coming through the soil.
Many people use fake Christmas trees so that real ones don’t
have to be chopped down every year.
MULCH