Early 20th Century Christmas Celebrations

By and large, the 20th Century Christmas has been little changed, though celebrations were dampened once again by war. There have been some remarkable events, however.

By the turn of the 20th century, fully one in five American families celebrated Christmas with their own Christmas tree. Christmas history would never be the same...

Most of the ornaments for those Early 20th century Christmas trees were home-made, coming from patterns in women's and children's magazines. The wealthier people in the cities bought all of the imported German ornaments they could get their hands on, decorated with expensive fruits and flowers, and also made some of their own ornaments.

During World War I, however, the United States and Great Britain stopped all importation from Germany. For the duration of the war it was difficult to find Christmas items to purchase, as British and American companies had been restructured toward the war effort, and very few companies could devote time to the production of Christmas items.

One thing that was manufactured here in the U. S. was electric Christmas lights. At the turn of the century, electric Christmas lights were being commercially produced, but they were very expensive, and most people could not afford them.

I could not talk about 20th century Christmas history during World War I without mentioning a curious and blessed event that happened on the battlefields of France and Belgium, in 1914. But, rather than try to tell the story myself, I'll refer you to Mr. Tom Morgan.

Mr. Morgan's site about World War I is incredible. His record of the events and his resources are great - the photos and drawings are worth the trip all by themselves! Be sure to check out the rest of the site while you are there, it is equally amazing!

Please go to The Christmas Truce, 1914 (Opens in new window) to learn more about this amazing event in world history! After a 1917 fire in New York City was caused by the candles burning on a Christmas tree, Albert Sadacca and his family began to manufacture electric Christmas lights. Later, his company would merge with several others, and eventually became the NOMA company.

These were sad years in Christmas history.