Newark post., 1915-12-29
FRAGRANCE OF SPRUCE
AND PINE IN THE AIR
The Origin Of The Christ
mas Tree

Cldlin DIS CHe Tlcn green OF pine ana
fir, of spruce and cedar bursts
upon our sight. The old north
wind brings breath of ever
green-Christmas is come!
Just now when Neutrals are
damning everything made in
Germany" let's review the history
of the Christmas tree. Christmas
or Heihnacht, night of Dedication
is German tradition. "Gemuth-
lichkeit," a word for which we
have no expression, it is said,
harks back to the German Christ
mas tree. To the Germans, we
must credit this beautiful symbol
ism-the tree of the Christ-child.
They introduced the tree to the
Allies, they brought it to us. 1t
neither violates our neutrality nor
stamps us as pro-German to re-
view the history of the Christmas
tree and find its origin back in the
German forest. We clip a review
from the Baltimore Sun:
"Since time was young men have
found inspiration and joy in the
stateliness, the longevity and ver-
dure Of trees. In Scandinavian
mythology men read of Yggdrasii,
the mystical ash tree that symbol
ICES existence and binds together
earth and Heaven and hell. 1t is
the tree of life, Of knowledge, of
fate, of time, of space. in ancient
Rome the pine trees of the Satur-
MALTA were decorated with images
of Bacchus and songs sung about
the fragrant branches. Egyptians
regarded the date palm as the en-
blem of Immortality and of the
starry armament, and in midwin-
ter decorated their houses with
branches of it as a symbol of life
triumphant over death. Even in
medieval days there was tradi-
tion of holiness investing an il
lumined tree, and the German
name for Christmas is Heihnacht,
the night of dedication, while the
Greeks call Christmas the Feast
of Lights. So to every people
there seems to belong some racial
myths that centre about the fair
beauty of an evergreen tree.
st. Winifred, it is said, desiring
to dissuade the Britons from
Druidic rites of sacrifice and blood
hewed down in a forest great
oak tree the people had revered,
and as it crashed, splintering as it
fell to earth, behind it and un-
harmed was discovered a young
fir tree pointing greenly heaven
ward. st. Winifred bade the peo-
pie accept the fir tree as their
holy tree. "It is the wood of
peace" he said, "for your houses
are built of fir. 1t is the sign of
an endless life, for its leaves are
ever green. See how it points up
ward to Heaven. Let this be call.
ed the tree of the Christ-child;
gather about it, not in the wild
wood, but in your own homes
there it will shelter no deeds OF
blood, but loving gifts and rites Of
kindness"
$50 these vague traditions
merging together, finally led to tht
permanent establishment of thu
Christmas tree. AS regular in
stitution, however, it can only b,
traced to the sixteenth century
During the Middle Ages it sudden
ly appears in Strassburg and
treasured manuscript of 1908 nov
in private collection in Fried
berg, Hesse, describes the tree a
a feature of the Christmas festi
val. For some 200 years the Gus
tom existed along the River Rhin
then suddenly about the beginnin,
of the nineteenth century tn
Christmas tree spread all owe
Germany and so years later ha,
been accepted by Christendom. Il
"The Nut-Cracker," fairy tall
by Foque and Hoffman, is fount
the first description in literatur,
of Christmas tree.
In the year 1880 Queen Carolin,
introduced the Christmas tree il
Munich, Bavaria; about the sam,
time it became fashionable anon,
the Magyar aristocracy of Hun
gary, and 10 years later, in 1910
the Duchess Helena of Orleans
brought the first greenly glisten
ing and brightly lighted tree to tn,
Tuileries in Paris. The Empress
Eugene delighted in it's beauty
but the Parisians were slow to ac
cept custom which they consid
cred of foreign origin; but event
ually all France yielded to tn,
mystical wonder within i+c ra+oc