A Social History of Christmas Ornaments - Introduction

emember near the end of the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”when we hear the jingling of a small silver bell? Jimmy Stewart’s small daughter says “Look, Daddy, teacher says every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.”

The bell she’s pointing to is hanging amongst a host of other ornaments on a Christmas tree.

Why there? Why are there Christmas trees and why do they have all that stuff hanging from their branches.

That’s what we’d like to talk about in this social history of Christmas ornaments.

We call it a social history because it’s far from a definitive examination of every type of ornament ever made, by people from countries across the globe. It’s really meant to be a broad overview of ornaments over the years and the impact they’ve had on our memories of Christmas.

• Origins of the Christmas Tree
• The Earliest Ornaments - The 1800's
• The Rise of All American Ornaments - The 1900's