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Collecting rare and ‘different’ Christmas decorations has always been a bit of a passion for us. When the kids were young i remember we got a set with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves but that’s probably considered politically incorrect these days. Another of my favourite items is a Christmas Angel that you can’t actually mount on the top of the tree as it is made of plaster or something like that and is way too heavy for a branch. We usually managed to get it attached to the tree near the top but if it is too far up, the tree ends up bending over under the weight which is not a great look. You can read a little about museums dedicated to handbags, tulips and gardening (each of which we have visited) elsewhere on this website but I am really quite surpried that there is no Christmas Decoration musuem that I can find. Maybe a future venture and on a sufficiently off the beaten path subject to suit my view of the world. The origins of tree decoration seems to go back to the time of Martin Luther but no apparently he did not nail Christmas Decorations to the door of the Church in Wittenberg but there is evidence of so called ‘paradise trees’ decorated with nuts and fruit that pre-date him. For some reason it is thought that Luther added candles to the yule-tide trees as well. Although we know he got into a whole lot of trouble with his church elders for his 95 Thesies, the evidence any fire risk assessment for mounting candles on Christmas trees is scant. However despite this the practice of Christmas tree lights and decorations gathered pace across the Christian world, insurance companies no doubt drew up exclusion clauses, while the people welcomed Santa Claus(es). Here is a selfie taken by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (in 1848) of them, their children and their tree. There are clearly candles and decorative ornaments, and also a handy servant ready to dowse the flames. At Abrahsms Store we like a traditional Christmas so have resisted stocking (no pun intended) some contemporatry decorations such as those shown on the right….. See our collection of Chistmas decorations here.
