Christmas Traditions

We all have family traditions. Some of these are developed with new families, some are carried down through generations.

The history of the modern Christmas tree dates back to Germany in the 16th century. German immigrants brought them to America about 1700 and they became popular with the general U.S. population about 1850. The tree is widely accepted today with Christmas trees gracing homes and office buildings alike.

I'm fairly certain that our family traditions, including the decorated tree, started, at least, as far back as the late 1700's to early 1800's. The trees through the years have come in all shapes and sizes. Growing up we had short ones, tall ones, fir, white plastic and a cedar that my dad cut for us one night. It was such an adventure having daddy cut down our own tree, that is, until we saw the sign saying we were on land belonging to a state park!



My husband and I started our family's tree tradition with a Lionel train set and a town consisting of a farm, train station and Santa with reindeer. While the placement and additions have changed throughout the last 40 years, it's content remains circa 1955. The following shots are from our tree this year.

I would love to hear from you if you'd like to share your family traditions. Merry Christmas!