#SeriouslyFunFacts

Did you know that evergreen trees have been used to celebrate both Pagan and Christian winter festivals for thousands of years.The use of evergreen trees and wreaths were used as a symbol of eternal life for ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Hebrews and more. Tree worship was common for Pagan Europeans; this tradition was practised in Scandinavia where houses and barns were decorated to scare away evil. Christmas trees were seen in Germany in which the Yule tree was placed at the entrance or inside the house during the midwinter holidays.

The first known occurrence of a Christmas tree being brought into a house was in the 1600’s by German preacher Martin Luther. The story recounts that one night before Christmas, Martin Luther was walking through a forest when he saw a shining star behind a tree. He said that it reminded him of Jesus who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas. And so he brought the tree into his house and decorated it with candles to represent the stars.

Queen Victoria Building Christmas Tree

The Queen Victoria Building (QVB) where Hobbyco's flagship store is located, has a Christmas tree that is 24 metres high and reaches over 3 floors which resides under the famous QVB Dome. This tree is Sydney’s tallest Christmas tree. Shoppers will be enchanted by its nostalgic beauty with over 100,000 ornaments, 6,400 white rosebuds, 65,000 twinkling lights and topped by a dramatic, wide crystal-gilded star. This Christmas icon requires more than 100 people to put together. Shoppers can admire this Christmas tree while shopping for all their Hobbyco Christmas gifts.

Did you know that the record for the most Christmas trees chopped down in 2 minutes is 27 trees by Erin Lavoie on the 19th of December 2008 in Germany. The tallest Christmas tree ever chopped was 67.36 metres high and was located in Northgate Shopping Centre in Seattle, USA, in December 1950. The tallest artificial Christmas tree was 72 metres tall which was made in Sri Lanka on the 24th of December 2016 (Source).

Artificial Christmas trees started to become popular during the Edwardian period in the early 1900’s. Over the years, these trees were made from a variety of artificial products including feathers, paper, metal, glass and many different types of plastic.

Christmas Tree Lights

There are a few different claims as to who invented the first 'electric' tree lights. In 1882, Edward Johnson, who was a colleague of Edison, hand-strung lights together and put them on his tree. Electric tree lights were first widely known in 1895 when the American President decorated a tree in the White House. Candles were traditionally used on Christmas trees which resulted in many fires including a fire which burnt down a hospital in Chicago in 1885. In 1908, insurance companies in America tried to create a law banning candles on Christmas trees. The most lights on at the same time on a Christmas tree is 194,672 lights which occured in Belgium on the 10th of December in 2010 (Source).