A non-evergreen Christmas tree, 1850s
Not all Christmas trees were evergreens. In the late 1800s and, most probably, long before, home-made white Christmas trees were made by wrapping strips of cotton batting around leafless branches creating the appearance of a snow-laden tree. Only those presents too large to be hung on the tree were placed on the tree skirt underneath the tree. Most presents were small, and edible gifts were among the most highly prized gifts hung in small baskets on the tree. During the Civil War, one soldier from a New Jersey regiment recorded in his diary, “In order to make it look much like Christmas as possible, a small tree was stuck up in front of our tent, decked off with hard tack [a hard cracker] and pork, in lieu of cakes and oranges, etc.”
Via: Randolph History
