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Christmas tree candles and sparklers
I was very touched by your video accompanying “All I Want Christmas To Be”. There is an old image of one of you lighting a candle for the tree and another of sparklers on the tree. It touched me because my Mother told me about Christmases when she was a child. Her father was from Hanover, Germany and he never learned English. They lived in a German speaking ethnic area in Baltimore, MD. Mom told me that they used to use lit candles on their tree for Christmas and that it was a common practice in the 1920’s and 30’s. Your video reminded me of her telling me about that experience and I thank you for bringing her back to me, if only for that moment. Hugs, Brian
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5 Replies
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Your mum was right! In Germany (and Austria, where we are from) it was – and still is – tradition to light up the tree with candles and sparklers for Christmas Eve. In these regions we only put up the tree on the 24th (or the night of the 23rd) though, so it’s as fresh as can be. And the candles usually only burn for the big moment when the whole family gathers around the tree, before opening the presents which we do on the evening of the 24th. They might sing some songs first too, while watching the tree shine and sparkle.
It’s important to not repeat the procedure after the tree got old and dry, or else your living room might go up in flames. People start using fake candles and fairy lights more and more which is much safer … but not quite the same 🙂
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If we’d did that growing up here in Canada… Our smoke detectors (when they first came out late 70s-mid 80s circa)… Would of had a heyday going off, the dogs would of been scared and knock down tree, thus a fire…. We just used Xmas tree lights… But perhaps back in my late parent’s day as children and the generations before, perhaps more common to use candles…. ??️
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Thank you so much for your response to my note, Mona. I really appreciated your information and I am going to share it with my brother as well. By the way, I think Austria is beautiful and skied there long ago at Kitzbuhl, Innsbruck and the Zugspitze at the border of Austria and Germany. LOL, I loved the Gluehwein on the mountain to warm me up in more ways than one.
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My wife lived in Zurich for 16 years and started doing it there. So we still have candles on the tree every year. You just need a fresh tree and a little care when you put them on. The minute the tree gets the least bit dry, forget it and stick with lights. This is from last year’s tree:
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Although I’ve heard and read about it, I’ve never experienced in person, a Christmas tree with candles and sparklers, but that would be so nice. It looked so wonderful in the video All I Want Christmas To Be. I really like all the Austrian Christmas tradition you’ve shown us.
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