The Christmas Tree In Wisconsin History

Christmas trees are grown in almost every state, but Wisconsin is among the top producers. Wisconsin trees have even gone to the White House as the national Christmas tree, including this year’s tree from Whispering Pines Tree Farm in Oconto.

According to the University of Illinois Extension, the first decorated tree appeared in Riga, Latvia in 1510 and the first printed reference to Christmas trees was in Germany in 1531. Evergreen trees had long been an important seasonal symbol, though, one of the few things that didn’t lose its color in the winter.

While the first decorated tree may have been in Latvia, it is the Germans that are credited with the tree traditions we know today. Christians in Germany are said to have begun bringing decorated trees into their homes in the 16th century.

Wisconsin’s first Christmases didn’t include decorated trees but trees had become common by the latter half of the 19th century, helped surely by the state’s large German population. The Waukesha Freeman advertised a local tree sale in 1859, though Christmas trees were most common in community churches until the 20th century. Church women decorated the trees with presents either hanging on the tree or lying beneath it for the children. Christmas trees with “bountiful yields of good things” could be found in Madison churches in the 1870s.

Before the 20th century, most Americans cut their own trees from nearby forests. Most trees today come from farms. Nearly all trees must be pruned to attain their signature Christmas tree shape.

Nearly 24,000 acres of Christmas trees are grown in Wisconsin. The top varieties are Balsam fir, Fraser fir, Canaan fir, Scotch pine, white pine and spruce.