I'm going to say something controversial here: The holidays don't start until the Christmas tree is up. Sure, there's Thanksgiving with its turkey and trimmings, the pumpkin pie, and friends and family gathered around the table, but the minute the Christmas tree goes up, it's game on for the holidays. Nothing else quite says 'tis the season like pulling out the family ornaments to decorate the old Tannenbaum.
First, the lights and keepsake ornaments go on the tree, then brightly colored balls and baubles, maybe tinsel or bows, and finally, a tree topper to finish the job and kick off the holiday season.
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Christmas tree toppers come in various forms and styles, but one of the most common is an angel. It makes sense since angels play an essential role in the nativity story and have the Christmas carols to back it up ("Angels We Have Heard on High," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," "Angels From the Realms of Glory"). There's a history behind it, too.
Back in 1605, when Christmas trees were first popular in Germany, baby Jesus topped the tree decorated with gingerbread and gold-covered apples, according to WhyChristmas.com. Eventually, people switched to putting an angel on top of the evergreen to remind people of both the angel Gabriel and the angels that served as a celestial birth announcement.
The person we have to thank for the popularity of the angel Christmas tree toppers is the same woman we have to thank for popularizing Christmas trees in general—Queen Victoria.
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Bringing some greenery into the home during winter was a practice originated by the Egyptians, then given a little boost by the Romans, Brits, Germans, Latvians, and Martin Luther. However, the image of Queen Victoria and her family gathered around the tree brought Christmas trees into the mainstream and cemented the tradition. Back in 1848, when an engraving of Queen Victoria, her husband Prince Albert, and their children decorating a tree with lights at Windsor made the rounds, everyone wanted a Christmas tree. In the picture, the royal family decked their halls with a relatively sparse evergreen with lights and ornaments and topped it with an angel. That image became the standard for Christmas trees and their decorations.
While some families opt for Santa Claus or a Star of Bethlehem or some other family heirloom or designer idea, thanks to Queen Victoria and her family's traditions, angels are considered the classic choice. Whatever you choose to top your tree with, know this: The moment the topper goes up, the holidays have started.
Alternative Tree Toppers
Even if the angel is considered the traditional tree topper, there are various additional ways to add a festive charm to your spruce. So whether you want to break from the standard or have more than one Christmas tree to decorate, here are a few of our favorite tree topper ideas.
A tree-topper or treetopper is a decorative ornament placed on the top (or "crown") of a Christmas tree. Tree-toppers can take any form[citation needed], though the most common include a star (representing the Star of Bethlehem), angel ("Christmas angel"), or fairy. Additional forms range from a paper rosette, ribbon bow, Father Christmas or Santa Claus, to a Christian cross, owl[citation needed], white dove, spike, or sunburst.
Tree-toppers may be made of from a wide range of materials. Modern plastic tree-toppers are often electric and once connected with the tree's lights offer a gentle glow. Following World War II, various symbols of Christmastide, such as Santa Claus, were introduced as electrified tree-toppers.
Origin and use
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Use of a Christmas angel as a tree-topper represents to some the angel Gabriel from the Nativity of Jesus:
"And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary."
Luke 1:26–27 (KJV)
Use of a star represents the Star of Bethlehem:
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.'"
Matthew 2:1–2 (KJV)
During the 1870s, in conjunction with the growing power of the British Empire, the Union Jack became another popular tree-topper.[1]
Alternatives
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Some Neo-pagan homes celebrate the winter solstice, which falls close to Christmas, by decorating an evergreen tree as a symbol of continuing life, but make an effort to decorate it with non-Christian symbols[2] and often choose tree-toppers representing the sun.
Popular culture
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Hans Christian Andersen's 1844 short story, "The Fir-Tree", describes the decoration of a Danish Christmas tree, including its topper:
"On one branch there hung little nets cut out of colored paper, and each net was filled with sugarplums; and among the other boughs gilded apples and walnuts were suspended, looking as though they had grown there, and little blue and white tapers were placed among the leaves. Dolls that looked for all the world like men—the Tree had never beheld such before—were seen among the foliage, and at the very top a large star of gold tinsel was fixed."[3]
The use of a tree-topper is also depicted in Christmas songs, with lines such as "Först en stjärna utav gull" and "So hang a shining star upon the highest bough".
Image gallery
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Post-War NOMA plastic, electrified angel tree-topper
Croatian Christmas star
Homemade Christmas angel
See also
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References
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Media related to Christmas tree at Wikimedia Commons