![]() ![]() So fear not, you will do no damage to a real forest by purchasing a natural Christmas tree. But before going any further, we should explain that these trees are no longer harvested in forests but farmed. Why? Because the country grows them on a massive scale, making it the EU’s leading producer. Interestingly, most Christmas trees in Europe hail from the realm of Denmark. (This incendiary statement prompted anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss to pen “ The torture of Santa Claus,” a witty and thoughtful essay.) ![]() 23, 1951, in Dijon, France, a red-jacketed mannequin was burned outside the city’s cathedral on the grounds that Saint Nick was a pagan character that did not exist in real life. A range of ancient figures and beliefs converged to form Santa Claus, long accepted by the Catholic church-but not after some resistance. The Protestant origins of decorated fir trees at Yuletide draws on other influences too, much as the invention of Father Christmas. Other Protestant countries followed suit, and the holiday evergreen was first featured in British homes in the 19th century, when it gained popularity thanks to Queen Victoria’s Saxon husband, Prince Albert. Since then, the trees around which revelers danced in medieval town squares in Germany have been brought indoors. ![]() He cut down a sapling, took it home, decorated it with candles and told his son that it reminded him of how Christ descended from heaven to live among mortals on Earth. Legend has it that Martin Luther was strolling in the woods on Christmas Eve when he glimpsed stars twinkling among the branches of a fir tree. Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children admire the royal Christmas tree, December 1848. ![]()
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