Interesting
Facts/ Notes About Christmas
It is an
accepted fact that the Christmas tree tradition is
one that was
brought to the shores of America by German
immigrants who continued a practice that was popular
in their former homeland. Today, a Christmas tree,
even a miniature one, is present in just about every
home at Christmas. It is therefore interesting to
note some little-know facts about the Christmas Tree
and other traditions related to Christmas.
The first interesting fact is the source of real
Christmas Trees for some
Americans. These can be bought at a Christmas Tree
Farm or at many local stores and other places of
business in just about every town and city across
the country around Christmas time. But according to
the National Christmas Tree Association, Americans
buy about 330,000 Christmas trees that are real
through e-commerce or from a catalogue and have them
shipped by mail-order.
The scent of real Christmas trees is the reason they
are so popular. But as they stand silently in their decorative wonder, they also are providing another
benefit. The Christmas Tree Association says the
amount of oxygen produced on a daily basis by one
acre of Christmas tree is enough to provide enough
oxygen for 18 people. And during the first week, a
Christmas Tree at home will use up to one quart of
water each day to help retain its longevity for the
many days of
Christmas.
Since Christmas celebrations gained popularity in
America, the Christmas Tree has always been a big
tradition. During the 1950s however, artificial
Christmas trees were not always green. It was very
popular during those times to have artificial trees
with other colors such as silver, pink and aqua. The
appeal in having these colored Christmas trees may
have been due to the fact that they looked shiny and
bright and appeared like tinsel instead of green
foliage.
An important ceremony related to the Christmas tree
that gains national attention during the Christmas
season is the lighting of the National Christmas
Tree at the White House. This tradition can be
credited to President Calvin Coolidge who lit the
first decorated Christmas tree outside at the White
House in 1923.
The lighting of the National Christmas Tree has also
been used to convey some symbolic meaning not
related to Christmas. It was not lighted until Dec.
22 in 1963 because of a national mourning period of
30 days for the assassination of President Kennedy.
And while Teddy Roosevelt was President he gave an
order that banned the Christmas tree from the White
House, not for the assassination of President
McKinley in 1901, which caused him to become
president, but for
reasons related to the environment.
Also of note is that when the National Christmas
Tree was lighted on Dec. 13 in 1984, temperatures
were in the 70s during an unusually warm December.
Christmas has been celebrated in the United States
since the 1600s although it wasn't always very
popular. It took more than two centuries into the
mid-late 1860s for Christmas to become a popular
holiday season all across America. So maybe the rest
of the country owes the holiday of Christmas Day to
the state of Alabama, which in 1836 became the first
state to declare Dec. 25 a legal holiday.
It is interesting to note that on Christmas Day of
1789 Congress was in session. And to show how far
ahead of the game Alabama was, it wasn't until June
26, 1870 that the federal government declared
Christmas as a federal holiday.
Although Christmas is based on the Christian
religion, not all Christian groups celebrate the
season. Among the Christian groups who do not
celebrate Christmas and related traditions such as
sending greeting cards are Jehovah Witnesses.
Jehovah Witnesses and other non-participating
Christian groups say Christmas isn't specifically
mentioned in the Bible as a time or reason to
celebrate and since they strictly adhere to the word
of the Bible, they refuse to celebrate Christmas.