Art by Brian Kesinger

 I must now seek in the children an echo of what Ernest and I were in the old time, of what we felt and thought; and their delight in the Christmas-trees is not less than ours used to be.

Prince Albert, 1847

The decorated Christmas tree came into fashion in England during the Victorian era, and the practice was spreading to the rest of Europe … but the Christmas tree was originally a German tradition. In the early 19th century, the Christmas tree was taken to be an expression of the finer aspects of German Culture, especially among emigrants overseas. Queen Victoria had some familiarity with the tradition as a child, but it was really the German Prince Albert who embraced celebrating Christmas with a tree.

You can follow the popularity of the Christmas tree by its appearance in literature and the media. There was no mention of a tree in the poem, A Visit from…