Decorating for the holidays is a long-standing tradition in Canada and we absolutely love to dress our homes up with a bit of Christmas bling. From decking the halls to hanging the stockings with care, Canadians go all-out when it comes to decorating for the festive season, but where does that tradition come from? Read on to find out:
It’s believed that the Romans were some of the first to decorate their homes and communal places for Christmas, with wreaths, gifts and tree decorations forming a big part of the pagan festival of Saturnalia celebrations.
For many years, Europeans used fruit and nuts to decorate their trees and in the 1800s, German immigrants settled in the USA and brought the tradition of decorating Christmas trees with them. Glass Christmas ornaments called baubles also began to be produced during the 1800s. These were the first manufactured Christmas ornaments, and they were a huge commercial success.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert famously set up and decorated a Christmas tree at Windsor Castle and after this retail stores started selling Christmas trees commercially for the first time, and they’ve been popular all over the world ever since!
People loved hanging decorations on their trees and by the mid-1930s, over 250 million Christmas ornaments were being imported from Germany to the United States. In the 1970s, Hallmark released their first “Keepsake” ornaments and the company continues to release a limited edition ornament every year. A few years ago, Hallmark also created the world’s most expensive Christmas bauble. Made of 18-carat white gold and encrusted with thousands of diamonds and hundreds of rubies, this spectacular ornament has been valued at over $130,000 USD!
Whilst we don’t sell Christmas ornaments of that grandeur, our gift shop is chock full of gorgeous items ready to help you and your home sparkle and shine this season. Visit us in store or order online here for pickup or delivery within the GTA.