Before the grand Tannenbaum, there was the Weinachts pyramide, or lightstock. This holiday tradition can be traced to Dresden, the largest city in the Erzibirge region of Germany, where in 1168 AD silver and tin were discovered. Hundreds of miners flocked to the Ore Mountains to make their fortunes. But foreign competition and warfare resulted in many miners losing their jobs. To compensate, many took up woodcarving, incorporating mining symbols and religious elements into their designs. Thus a reputation for intricate woodwork was established in the region.
In the middle ages Christians began associating the evergreen with Christmas, borrowing the symbol from the pagan winter solstice celebration. Bringing trees into their homes, villagers hung fruit and cookies from the branches to symbolize the fruits of redemption. At the same time, woodcarvers in the Erzebirge region fashioned the first lightstock, a pyramid-shaped stand made from 2-5 wooden rods and 3 shelves holding candles and Christmas-related figurines. Eventually someone thought to attach a pinwheel to the top of the central rod. The heat from the candles rose, rotating the pinwheel and the shelves. Small lightstocks (average pyramids stand about 50 cm) were placed beside Christmas trees in some homes, although many poor woodcarvers could not afford trees, and thus the lightstock came to be known as the "poor man's Christmas tree." Unlike the glass ornaments of Lausche, the lightstock was not originally made to satisfy customer demand, but was established first as a genuine folk tradition. Other seasonal objects fashioned by the woodcarvers of the Erzibirge region include schwiboggen, an arch-shaped candle holder that lights the windows during Advent; rauchermann, a wooden ornament shaped like a smoking man with a hollowed out mouth where incense is burned; and the popular nutcracker, inspired by the storybook on which Tchaikovsky's ballet is based.
Originally the candle-lit pyramid was a symbol for light, a prayer for the miners to return safely home from the danger of the mines. As it became associated with Christmas, the candles on the lightstock came to represent Christ, who is the light of the world.
Lightstocks gained popularity in Dresden and the surrounding villages, and multi-storied pyramids began appearing in town markets, as villagers competed for the best town pyramid. Lightstock shelves were filled with scenes illustrating their village's history, the story of Christmas, or other holiday themes. This tradition continues on today, and the world's tallest pyramid stands in the Striezelmarkt in Dresden.
The Christmas tree tradition was not accepted by Americans until much later, brought by Hessian soldiers fighting in the Revolutionary War and later by German immigrants. But it is said that in 1747 in a church colony in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, German settlers displayed wooden pyramids covered with evergreen branches and decorated with candles.
Lightstocks are available today in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and are the continuation of a tradition over 300 years old.
Christmas 2 Year Old
By using an online Christmas wish list template, you can make gift buying and giving low-stress and a guaranteed success for your friends, family and extended family.
Who hasn't had themselves or family stress out and even freak out over the twin pressures of gift buying and keeping within ever tighter family budgets? Not to mention the near impossible challenge of figuring out a gift that will make Uncle Bob happy.
The solution is not hard, it's implementing a simple online “Christmas Wish List”, by which each family member can note down their wishes. By posting the wish list online, other family members can access it online, buy the gifts they want, and then mark the online list so the rest of the family or friends know that gift idea has been taken. It's the online equivalent of passing a list around a room, but by using the Internet and private web-sharing to do the “passing around”.
Here are the five keys to a low-stress Christmas:
Start early. Ideally you will post your wish list 6-8 weeks before Christmas, giving everyone time to see the wishes and start on their shopping.
Sell the family and friends on the idea with a couple personal emails and phone calls – tell them that this year “we're doing things differently” and everyone is encouraged to put their wishes on the list ASAP. Tell them how this will make the actual holidays lower-stress and happier.
Choose a good online tool to host your wish list. Don't email the list around – you'll go crazy with all the different versions and responses! Instead use an online web sharing site such as www.keepandshare.com, which is leading example of modern group sharing sites that make it easy to privately share a document, file or calendar with friends and family.
Build momentum and success early. Check up on progress in the first few days and, if a few folks aren't participating, follow up with them. If necessary, just have them tell you their wishes on the phone or by email and you can add them to the list.
If appropriate, incorporate budget limits and institute selective gift giving. You can require or suggest that folks be sure to note at least several ‘wishes' that are very affordable. This can make it much easier on the younger generation to afford gifts for their rich uncles. Another great idea is selective gift giving – this is a way to avoid the trap of everyone having to give a gift to everyone else, which can be kind of ridiculous and very stressful and costly. Just pick a system – e.g., every cousin will give a gift to just one other cousin this year (you pick who gives to whom), and then next year the giving will rotate so Sally isn't always stuck giving to Johnny.
That's all there is to it. By organizing, using web software to good effect, and starting early, you can get your extended group of friends, associates or family off to a good start on this holiday with smart use of online Christmas wish lists.
Both Emma Snow & Gary Hayduk are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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