Decorated Christmas trees have been part of the festive season for centuries, as they first appeared in people’s living rooms in 16th century Germany, during Christian celebrations of the birth of Christ.
However, the fir tree has been a festive tradition since the times of Ancient Rome, dating from 753 BC. People decorated Roman temples during the pagan winter solstice festival, Saturnalia. The evergreen tree was celebrated because it symbolised new life.
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The fir tree took on new significance when it became part of the celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ. Early Christmas trees in Germany had food items, such as gingerbread and apples, hanging from their branches – a practice echoed today with chocolates and candy canes.
Rather than an angel on top, a figurine of Jesus was often used in the early years. Over time, it changed to the angel, who had told the shepherds about Jesus’s birth. A star on top of the tree represents the star that guided the three wise men to Jesus’s birthplace of Bethlehem.
Victorian Christmas
Christmas trees first arrived in Britain in the 1830s, but their popularity grew rapidly when Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, erected one at Windsor Castle. He decorated it in a style he recalled from growing up in Germany.
The decorations on Victorian Christmas trees included candles, representing stars. Early tinsel, made in Germany, was fashioned from silver that was beaten and cut into strips. It was later replaced by tinsel made from modern materials, such as plastic.
The Christmas tree is so adored that there has even been a famous song written about it: O, Christmas Tree. Written by German poet and composer Ernst Anschutz in 1824, the lyrics are set to music written by 16th-century composer, Melchior Franck.
Due to the royal family’s influence, the Victorian tradition of having a large Christmas tree decorated with lighted candles, paper chains and ribbons grew rapidly.
Unfortunately, the combination of decorations often created a recipe for disaster, as detailed by novelist Charles Dickens in his Almanac, The Household Narrative, first published in 1850. In an article entitled Accident and Disaster, he warned of the hazards of lit candles on Christmas trees, describing the true story of a fire that occurred during Christmas 1849 at the home of Mr W Bigg, of Abbot’s Leigh.
During a party in the drawing-room of his house, a small candle on the 5ft high Christmas tree ignited a child’s dress as she leaned over to take a toy. Dickens wrote of how Miss Gordon’s light gauze overdress set alight. A young male guest threw Miss Gordon to the floor and wrapped her in a rug to snuff out the flames. She escaped with “severely scorched arms”.
Electric tree lights
Electric lights began to replace candles on Christmas trees in the late 19th century. Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb, produced the first string of electric Christmas tree lights in 1880. The Edison company published a brochure offering electric lighting for Christmas. However, the tree lights were very expensive, so ordinary working-class families couldn’t afford them.
In 1882, Edison draped festive lights outside his Menlo Park Laboratory, in New Jersey, so passengers on the adjacent railway line would see them. It still took some time for the Christmas lights craze to take off, so people on lower incomes tended to use old-fashioned candles.
However, in 1917, a major blaze was sparked by candles on a Christmas tree in New York, leading to a drive to make electric tree lights more affordable. Albert Sadacca, whose family owned a lighting business, came up with the idea for cheap white string lights when he was 15.
Sadacca and his brothers launched Noma Lighting, which grew into a multi-million-pound business that monopolised the Christmas lights sector until the 1960s.
Do electric Christmas tree lights cause fires?
Unfortunately, Christmas tree fires still occur in the UK, despite most people using electric lights. According to the National Accident Helpline, Christmas trees and decorations caused 47 house fires in one year alone – including faulty fairy lights causing 20 fires.
Hospital A&E departments across the UK treat more than 1,000 people every Christmas who have suffered burns. Most have occurred in the kitchen. Sadly, 2.5% of householders who have Christmas lights have suffered a shock through faulty wiring.
Between 1997 and 2010, 26 people died in the UK after being electrocuted due to watering their real Christmas tree with the electric fairy lights switched on.
Do people still put candles on trees?
Very few people put lit candles on Christmas trees today, due to the fire hazards. If a tree fire occurs due to candles, it makes national headlines.
In December 2016, the BBC reported how a family in Worthing, who decided to have a traditional German Christmas tree with lit candles, accidentally destroyed their home with a massive blaze. Firefighters rushed to the bungalow on Christmas Day to find it fully alight.
The couple, in their 80s, had wanted to show their grandchildren how Christmas was once celebrated in Germany. The children weren’t harmed, but the elderly couple were treated for minor injuries and smoke inhalation.
Firefighters said the tree blaze had the same ferocity as a chip pan fire.
How can we safely use electric decorations?
Any electric Christmas decorations should be treated with the same care as you would treat any other electric equipment. Follow simple safety guidelines to reduce the risks of fires and electric shocks.
Never allow young children to handle Christmas lighting products and don’t leave them unsupervised to play with the Christmas tree and decorations. Don’t leave the tree lights on when there’s nobody at home or when you’re sleeping.
Unplug the light string before changing any bulbs and never use indoor extension cables for outdoor Christmas lighting. Similarly, don’t use internal Christmas lights outdoors, or you will have problems if it rains or snows.
Don’t overload extension cables. Check the amps on the plugs. Each socket can normally take 13 amps, so if you have a four-plug extension cable, the combined total amps of each device shouldn’t exceed 13 amps.
Never have multiple sets of lights plugged into the same extension cable, or you could end up with 52 amps of power surging through a 13-amp socket – a recipe for disaster.
Check your lights for broken or cracked sockets, bare or frayed wires and loose connections. Throw out damaged sets – don’t attempt to repair them. Some people choose battery-operated tree lights because they feel it’s safer.
Decorating a Christmas tree is fun for all the family but do take care not to create a fire hazard that will wreck not only Christmas but your home too.
Sometimes, accidents can happen – but Furniture Rental Online is always here to help. Should you suffer a fire, we can work with insurance companies, loss adjustors and individuals to provide hassle-free emergency furniture rental.
If you’ve suffered the disruption of damage involving your home, contact us right away.
The Furniture Rental Online team would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.