Gingerbread Man Trimming the Tree

About this drawing

Hanging a cookie on a branch, as this gingerbread man by the tree seems to suggest, is one of the oldest Christmas customs around. Early German trees were covered with food: apples, nuts, wafers, and spiced cookies. Those decorations grew out of medieval paradise trees, which were hung with apples for plays about Adam and Eve.

Kids had every reason to look forward to the end of the season, since taking down the tree meant eating whatever was left on it. Hard spice cookies were ideal because they kept for days and could be strung on a thread. German immigrants carried the custom to Pennsylvania, and American families added popcorn strings and cranberries as cheap, cheerful garlands.

Glass ornaments came along in the mid-1800s. The story goes that a poor glassblower in Lauscha, Germany, could not afford fruit and nuts for his tree, so he made his own out of glass. Whether or not that is true, the town became famous for them. By the late nineteenth century, an American merchant was importing them by the crate, and they became a staple of American stores. Plastic later took over as a cheaper choice, but homemade gingerbread still has its fans, even if it rarely survives until New Year's Day.

• gingerbread man
• christmas tree
• ornaments
• snowflakes