Evergreens in the depths of winter
Long before Christmas, plants that stayed green all year meant something special during long, dark northern winters, and many ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In ancient Egypt, people filled their homes with green palms and papyrus reeds at the winter solstice, as a sign of life's triumph over death. The Romans marked the solstice with Saturnalia, a festival in honour of Saturn, the god of agriculture, decorating their homes and temples with evergreen boughs.
A German tradition
Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we know it. By the 16th century, devout Christians there were bringing decorated trees into their homes; where trees were scarce, some built wooden Christmas pyramids decorated with evergreen sprigs and candles.
A popular story credits Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, with the first candle-lit tree: walking home one winter's evening, he was so struck by the stars twinkling through the evergreens that he put up a tree at home and wired its branches with lit candles. It's a story rather than a record, but candle-lit trees became part of a German Christmas.
Queen Victoria's tree
The first British royal to have a Christmas tree was Queen Victoria's grandmother, Queen Charlotte, the German-born wife of King George III, though hers was a yew rather than a fir. The custom really took off with Victoria and her German-born husband, Prince Albert. In December 1848 the Illustrated London News published a drawing of the royal family gathered around their decorated tree at Windsor Castle. What was done at court quickly became fashionable, and decorated trees spread to households across Britain and the English-speaking world.
Christmas in an Australian summer
Colonists couldn't bring a snowy northern Christmas with them, so they made the most of what grew here. Homes were filled with greenery and flowers: chimneypieces covered in foliage, and doorways and verandah posts turned into leafy bowers.
Native plants were taken up with enthusiasm. Christmas bush, named for flowering just in time, had bright red flowers that echoed holly's colours; Christmas bells were sought after too, along with native mistletoe, tree-fern fronds, and branches of hoop pine that looked like European conifers. When the Christmas tree itself became popular, in the third quarter of the 19th century, native trees such as the Norfolk Island pine stood in for the fir and spruce, and wattles and many other trees were pressed into festive service.
Lights, and the tree today
Electricity brought Christmas lights, making it possible for trees to glow for days on end, and decorated trees began to appear in town squares as well as homes. Today a real, fresh-cut tree is still at the heart of Christmas for many families. West Hawthorn Scouts' tree sale keeps the tradition going, and every tree helps fund camps, hikes and adventures for local young people.