History of the Christmas Tree

Mel Garner has created this scene of the manger, here continuing a traditional begun by St. Francis of Asisi.

“Ever since St. Francis of Assisi made the first Christmas crib in 1223, in many areas of Europe it has been customary to make and set up beautifully carved scenes of Christ’s nativity. As the tree became the central focus of festivities in the home, these cribs were staged at the base of it. In many homes those cribs became part of the ritual trimming the tree.”

From: The Christmas Tree – the Heart of Traditional Yuletide, Barbara Segall Clarkson, Potter 1995

What Makes A Great Christmas Tree?

Christmas Tree by Mel Garner Aylmer, QC

“It’s hard to describe what makes the perfect Christmas tree. The physical requirements are straightforward enough. The tree must stand tall and straight. Its branches must be thick and graceful, and they must point upward, giving the impression they are reaching for the sky…
But the trees that are finally selected need something more than height, thickness and suppleness ― even more than mere beauty. And that’s where I come in. I’m not an exceptional fellow in most ways, but I do have this gift. I can see if a tree has character, a spirit that outshines the ornaments and tinsel and lights ― if its beauty comes from the inside and not just the outside.”

About finding the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York, from the story The Christmas Tree, Julie Salamon, Random House 1996

“Rituals and myths, such as those involving Xmas and Santa Claus, are among the few remaining links to our ancient roots; they are part of the most tenacious and most important myth of all ― the story of man’s first awareness of being part of something greater than himself and of the shattering memory of the conquest of fire; that fiery instant which totally changed the fate of mankind.”

From the fascinating and highly original book: When Santa was a Shaman ― The Ancient Origins of Santa Claus & the Christmas Tree, Tony van Renterghem, Llewellyn Publivations, 1995

O Christmas Tree

O Christmas Tree (Quoted from “O Tannebaum,” Wikipedia- Click Here to listen!)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us.
They’re green when summer days are bright;
They’re green when winter snow is white.
O, Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
You give us so much pleasure!
How oft at Christmas tide the sight,
O green fir tree, gives us delight!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
You give us so much pleasure!

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree
Forever true your colour.
Your boughs so green in summertime
Stay bravely green in wintertime.
Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree
Forever true your colour.

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree
You fill my heart with music.
Reminding me on Christmas Day
To think of you and then be gay.
Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree
You fill my heart with music.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
How are thy leaves so verdant!
Not only in the summertime,
But even in winter is thy prime.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How are thy leaves so verdant!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure dost thou bring me!
For every year the Christmas tree,
Brings to us all both joy and glee.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure dost thou bring me!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!
Each bough doth hold its tiny light,
That makes each toy to sparkle bright.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!

No Santa Claus

Here’s a famous letter from 8-year old Virginia O’Hanlon to the New York Sun and Francis P. Church’s reply, 1897.

Dear Editor,

I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in the Sun it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
115 W. 95th Street

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the scepticism of a sceptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no child-like faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Mel Garner’s Christmas Decorations

For 27 years Mel Garner of Aylmer, Quebec, Canada has created Christmas decorations, everything from the 3 wise men and the nativity scene to Santa in his workshop.

Local children delight in his Christmas world.

Mel is a carpenter as well as a former newspaper man, sings in the church choir and supports the local food bank. His scenes are a labour of love open to visitors from far and wide.