Christmas decoration

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Christmas decorations
)

On Christmas Day, the Christ Candle in the center of the Advent wreath is traditionally lit in many church services and Christmas dinners.
Christmas decorations, Germany
Christmas decoration in front of The church in Weissenbach an der Triesting
An animated Christmas angel from the late 20th century.
Christmas decorations in a private home, Europe.

A Christmas decoration is any of several types of ornamentation used at

Baby Jesus, Mother Mary, angels, Father Christmas, Santa Claus, and the star of Bethlehem. Advent wreaths, nativity scenes, illuminations, and Moravian stars are popular Christmas decorations.[1]

In many countries, such as

denominations.[4] Taking down Christmas decorations before Twelfth Night, as well as leaving the decorations up beyond Candlemas, is historically considered to be inauspicious.[5][6]

History

Christmas decorations are mentioned in ancient descriptions of the Roman feast Saturnalia, which was believed to have originated in the 5th century BC.

The tradition of decorating a tree is old since the

Scandinavians did the same for the Yule festival
, which was held around the same date as Christmas.

Tertullian complained to the 2nd century that Christians in North Africa decorated their homes with greenery, a pagan symbol.[8]

Tree

Main article: Christmas tree
Further information: Chrismon tree
A Christmas tree inside a home.

The

ornaments
.

Types of decorations

Glass ornaments

Figural glass

Christmas ornaments originated in the small town of Lauscha, Germany in the latter half of the 19th century.[21]
The town had long produced fine glassware. The production of Christmas ornaments became a family affair for many people. Some families invested 16 hours a day in production. For some, it was their sole source of income.

Sometimes, competitions were held. Prizes were awarded to the family, producing the finest examples. Santa Clauses, angels, birds, animals, and other traditional

Yuletide
subjects were favorites.

F.W. Woolworth discovered these glass ornaments on a toy and doll-buying trip to

Sonnenburg, Germany, in the 1890s. He sold them in his "five and ten cent" stores in America. The ornaments were said to have contributed to Woolworth's business success.[22]

For the American market, figures depicting comic book characters and patriotic subjects such as Uncle Sams, eagles, and flags were blown. Glassblowers have held on to the old molds. Glass ornaments are still created from these old molds.

Method

A clear glass tube is heated over an open flame. It is then inserted into a mold. The glassblower then blows into the end of the tube. The glass expands to fill the mold. The glass takes on the shape of the mold. It is cooled. A silver nitrate solution is swirled about inside the ornament. This gives the ornament a silver glow. The outside of the ornament is painted or decorated with metal trims, paper clippings, etc.[21]

Cotton batting

Cotton batting Christmas ornaments were popular during the German Christmas toy and decoration boom at the turn of the century. They were exported in large numbers to the United States. These decorations suggested puffs of snow. Fruits and vegetables were popular subjects and often had a realistic appearance. African-American and patriotic characters were fashioned for the American market. Some ornaments were used to hide boxes of candy.

Assembling these decorations was a cottage industry. Cotton batting was wound around a wire frame resembling a human or animal. A face was painted, or a lithograph cut-out was affixed to the batting. Figures were given crepe paper costumes. Some were touched with glue and sprinkled with mica flakes for a glittering appearance.[23]

Dresden

Dresdens are three-dimensional ornaments. They are made of paper, card, or cardboard. Dresdens were produced mostly in

WWI
. They were originally priced between 1 and 60 cents. Subjects included animals and birds, suns and moons, humans, carriages and ships, etc. Some Dresdens were flat, allowing the buyer to collect them in scrapbooks.

Positive and negative molds were set into a press. A moistened sheet of card was put into the press. The images were pressed. When they had dried, they were sent to cottage workers for the finishing touches. This involved separating the form-halves from the card, trimming ragged edges, and gluing the two halves together. The form was then gilded, silvered, or hand-painted. Sometimes, a small gift or sweet was put into the form. Forms were usually no larger than five inches.[24][25]

Plants

garlands and evergreen
foliage. These often come with small ornaments tied to the delicate branches and sometimes with a small light set.

European Holly
, traditional Christmas decoration.

berries, and Christmas ornaments including jingle bells
. A bow is usually used at the top or bottom, and an electric or unlit candle may be placed in the middle. Christmas lights are often used, and they may be hung from doors or windows, and sometimes walls, lampposts, light fixtures, or even statuary.

Since the nineteenth century, the poinsettia, a native plant from Mexico, has been associated with Christmas

Different places also have different traditions and

superstitions about when and how to remove Christmas decorations.[26] For example, in some parts of England, people believed that if Christmas greenery were thrown away instead of being burned, a ghost would appear, but in other parts, they believed that if the greenery were burned instead of being thrown away, a family member would die.[26]

Outdoors

A house decorated for Christmas
Christmas decoration of a house in Dublin, California

In

snowmen, and other Christmas figures. Municipalities often sponsor decorations as well. Christmas banners may be hung from street lights and Christmas trees placed in the town square.[27]

Others

In the

Snow sheets are made specifically for simulating snow
under a tree or village.

In many countries, a representation of the

churches also perform a live Nativity with volunteers and even live animals
.

Among the most popular items of Christmas decorations are stockings. According to legend, Saint Nicolas would creep in through the chimney and slip gold into stockings hanging by the fireplace. Various forms of stockings are available, from simple velvet ones to sock-shaped bags to animated ones.

Season

Santa Claus figurines and other Christmas decorations sold in Quezon City, Philippines ahead of the "ber" months on August 31, 2022

Christmas decorations are typically put up in late November or early December, usually to coincide with the start of

Thanksgiving.[citation needed] Major retailers put their seasonal decorations out for sale after back-to-school sales, while smaller niche Christmas Stores sell Christmas decorations year round.[citation needed
]

A Christmas tree ornament.

In some places, Christmas decorations are traditionally taken down on

Julian Calendar
, thus making it fall 13 days later.

In England, it was customary to burn the decorations in the hearth. However, this tradition has fallen out of favour as reusable and imperishable decorations made of

plastics, wood, glass and metal became more popular. If a Yule log has been kept alight since Christmas Day, it is put out, and the ashes are kept to be included in the fire on the following Christmas Day.[29] A superstition exists which suggests that if decorations are kept up after Twelfth Night, they must be kept up until the following Twelfth Night, but also that if the decorations for the current Christmas are taken down before the New Year begins, bad luck shall befall the house for a whole year.[citation needed
]

In the United States, many stores immediately remove decorations the day after Christmas, as some think of the holiday season as being over once Christmas has passed.[citation needed] A vast majority of Americans who put up home decorations keep them out and lit until at least New Year's Day, and inside decorations can often be seen in windows for several weeks afterward.

References

  1. ^ "The Putz and Illumination". Moravian Church. November 19, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  2. ISBN 9782067182110
    . Advent – The four weeks before Christmas are celebrated by counting down the days with an advent calendar, hanging up Christmas decorations and lightning an additional candle every Sunday on the four-candle advent wreath.
  3. ISBN 978-0-664-50147-1
    . Another popular activity is the "Hanging of the Greens," a service in which the sanctuary is decorated for Christmas.
  4. ^ "Candlemas". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved April 9, 2014. Any Christmas decorations not taken down by Twelfth Night (January 5th) should be left up until Candlemas Day and then taken down.
  5. ISBN 978-0-7387-3450-7
    . Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  6. ^ McGregor, Kate (November 30, 2023). "It's Bad Luck To Take Your Tree Down Before January 6". AOL. According to the tradition of the 12 days of Christmas (explained above), January 6 is the earliest you should be taking down your Christmas tree. According to the legend, bad luck will befall those who stop the Christmas cheer any earlier.
  7. ^ / FR / cadre_repertoire / social / Reflexion / Noel / noel_origines.html The millennial cult of the sun
  8. ^ Cafe-discoveries / Sons / Le-Pere-Noel-est-il-une-junk-350601 / Is Santa Claus a junk? Archived June 1, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Broadcast from Europe 1, December 24, 2010
  9. ISBN 9781451424331
    . The Christmas tree as we know it seemed to emerge in Lutheran lands in Germany in the sixteenth century. Although no specific city or town has been identified as the first to have a Christmas tree, records for the Cathedral of Strassburg indicate that a Christmas tree was set up in that church in 1539 during Martin Bucer's superintendency.
  10. ^ "The Christmas Tree". Lutheran Spokesman. 29–32. 1936. The Christmas tree became a widespread custom among German Lutherans by the eighteenth century.
  11. ISBN 9780814639320
    . German Lutherans brought the decorated Christmas tree with them; the Moravians put lighted candles on those trees.
  12. ISBN 9781442225909
    . Many Lutherans continued to set up a small fir tree as their Christmas tree, and it must have been a seasonal sight in Bach's Leipzig at a time when it was virtually unknown in England, and little known in those farmlands of North America where Lutheran immigrants congregated.
  13. ISBN 9781554390984
    . The eight-pointed star became a popular manufactured Christmas ornament around the 1840s and many people place a star on the top of their Christmas tree to represent the Star of Bethlehem.
  14. ^ Wells, Dorothy (1897). "Christmas in Other Lands". The School Journal. 55. E.L. Kellogg & Company: 697–8. Christmas is the occasional of family reunions. Grandmother always has the place of honor. As the time approaches for enjoying the tree, she gathers her grandchildren about her, to tell them the story of the Christ child, with the meaning of the Christ child, with the meaning of the Christmas tree; how the evergreen is meant to represent the life everlasting, the candle lights to recall the light of the world, and the star at the top of the tree is to remind them of the star of Bethlehem.
  15. ISBN 9780191614910
    . The same ambiguity is seen in that most familiar of angels, the angel on top of the Christmas tree. This decoration, popularized in the nineteenth century, recalls the place of the angels in the Christmas story (Luke 2.9–18).
  16. ISBN 1-56718-765-X
  17. John Wiley & Sons
    . His biographer, Eddius Stephanus, relates that while Boniface was serving as a missionary near Geismar, Germany, he had enough of the locals' reverence for the old gods. Taking an axe to an oak tree dedicated to Norse god Thor, Boniface chopped the tree down and dared Thor to zap him for it. When nothing happened, Boniface pointed out a young fir tree amid the roots of the oak and explained how this tree was a more fitting object of reverence as it pointed towards the Christian heaven and its triangular shape was reminiscent of the Christian trinity.
  18. ^ Harper, Douglas, Christ, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001.
  19. ^ "The Chronological History of the Christmas Tree". The Christmas Archives. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  20. ^ Shoemaker, Alfred Lewis. (1959) Christmas in Pennsylvania: a folk-cultural study. Edition 40. p.52,53. Stackpole Books 1999.
    ISBN 0-8117-0328-2
  21. ^ a b Merck (1992), p. 43
  22. ^ Merck (1992), p. 41
  23. ^ Merck (1992), pp. 65-69
  24. ^ Merck (1992), pp. 54–63
  25. ^ Smith and Smith (1993), p. 56
  26. ^ a b "Good luck or bad? How Christmas decorating traditions vary in England". the Guardian. December 2, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  27. ^ Murray, Brian. "Christmas lights and community building in America," Archived October 26, 2006, at the Wayback Machine History Matters, Spring 2006.
  28. ^ BBC – London's Oxford Street and Regent Street Christmas lights have been switched on at precisely the same time.
  29. ^ Twelfth Night Traditions Archived September 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Christmas decorations.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christmas_decoration&oldid=1194551413"