1st Dec to decorate. Where did it start?

[indie24]

This may be a silly question but one of you guys might able to help. It has been irking me for a while.

Growing up mum always insisted that it was tradition to put your tree and decorations up on the 1st December. I have tried to find out why but come up with conflicting info.

Is this a real tradition? and what is the basis behind it? or is it just something mum did to stop us bugging her?

IYKWIM?

Thanks

[Visitor7]

My mum says the same thing! She's refusing to come to my house before 1st Dec as I've already put the Christmas tree up and she thinks it's bad luck No idea where it came from though. Considering retailers have theirs out in September/October.

[Indadhanu]

My parents put their tree up on Christmas Eve, and have since I was born. They also take it down January 1 or 2.
We do ours on December 1, because I'm making up for 22 years of not having a tree up We take ours down on January 1 or 2.

I always thought the tree was a Pagan Winter Solstice thing...? Don't know for sure though.

[Astrid]

Found this on Wikipedia, it may shed some light:

Both setting up and taking down a Christmas tree are associated with specific dates. In Europe, when the practice of setting up evergreen trees originated in pagan times, the practice was associated with the Winter Solstice, around December 21.[15] Tree decoration was later adopted into Christian practise after the Church set December 25 as the birth of Christ, thereby supplanting the pagan celebration of the solstice.
Traditionally, Christmas trees were not brought in and decorated until Christmas Eve (24 December), and then removed the day after twelfth night (6 January); to have a tree up before or after these dates was even considered bad luck. Modern commercialisation of Christmas has resulted in trees being put up much earlier; in shops often as early as late October[citation needed] (in the UK, Selfridge's Christmas department is up by early September, complete with Christmas trees).[citation needed] Some households in the U.S. do not put up the tree until the second week of December, and leave it up until the 6th of January (Epiphany). In Germany, traditionally the tree is put up on the 24th of December and taken down on the 7th of January, though many start one or two weeks earlier, and in Roman Catholic homes the tree may be kept until late January. In Australia, the Christmas tree is usually put up on the 1st of December, which occurs about a week before the school summer holidays; except for South Australia, where most people put up their tree after the Adelaide Credit Union Christmas Pageant in early November.[citation needed] Some traditions suggest that Christmas trees may be kept up until no later than the 2nd of February, the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Candlemas), when the Christmas season effectively closes.[16] Superstitions say it's a bad sign if Christmas greenery is not removed by Candlemas Eve.[17]]

[Erin_25]

hmmm interesting. I've never know anyone to do it Christmas eve...guess that's one way of keeping little hands away from it. Though we do open our presents Christmas eve. But did know there was a date in Jan to take it down. I remember this as when my sis got married she was horrified to find the Christmas tree still up in the Church at the night before...she was married 4th Jan so it still had a couple days to go & it was huge LOL.

Gotta love SA.......going with the Christmas pagent LOL!

[Laranna]

I'd heard of some friends putting it up Christmas Eve for the 12 days of Christmas but I've always put it up on the 1st December and take it down in the first week of January. I figure December is the Christmas month so I'd like to make the most of my tree and decorations for the whole month and feel Christmassy

[Daydream Believer]

Im thinking next year I might start putting it all up on the day of the Christmas parade, which in Vic is generally the second weekend in Nov

[ss_storm]

My parents always used to do it the weekend that school finished for the year. We had a real tree, so it was always taken down on New Year's day or the day after as by then it looked pretty sad!

Last year was the first time we had a tree of our own, the couple of years DF & I were together before then we didn't worry about buying a tree as we were never home for christmas anyway. This year don't know when we will do it, we might be moving so will have to wait and see, won't beputting it up in this house if I just have to take it down for moving!

I can't wait for christmas this year though, normally it's like meh..another day...but with DD, I know she won't understand anything but it's just going to be much more special

[~breeze~]

I grew up putting up the Christmas tree & all decorations after watching the Adelaide Pageant on telly with Mum, we lived in SA until I was 7yrs old. So once we saw Santa "arrive" we were able to start our Christmas season IYKWIM.

When I moved in with XH I was told by him that "his" family put it all up on the 1st Dec & that's what we would be doing, so for the past 11yrs thats what I have been doing..... this year I would have done it after the pageant but not only could I not find it on any of the channels but we are currently staying with XH trying to find a place to live & all our stuff is in storage

When we move into our own place we will be setting it up after the pageant (as long as we can somehow watch it) otherwise I'll prob just choose a date, like the 2nd weekend of Nov, which is around the time the pageant is on

[mrsmac]

We put our up on the first weekend in Dec, not sure why except we have always done that LOL As kids we always had to take it down on 12th Night, now I am a bit slack.

DD2 is keen to get all the decorations up ASAP.

[indie24]

I always put it up 1st Dec... because like I said mum would never let us do it before. Isn't it funny I have lived in my own place for quite some time now and I still do the same. Even though I am chomping at the bit to put them up in November. (can you tell its starting to get to me now )