Christmas traditions endure the ages
Kevin McClintock GateHouse Plus

Even in the most inhospitable places on Earth, Christmas traditions endure.

A wonderful example of this was seen during the waning hours of Christmas Eve, 1914. In the muddy trenches of central Belgium, British and German troops had paused in their efforts of killing one another for an exhausted sleep.

In the dark of night, the two entrenched armies began decorating their trenches - candles on trees; strings of colored lights propped up by trench shovels and rifle butts; green- and red-colored foil strips strung along the infinite stretches of trench.

The Germans tentatively began singing "Stille Nacht" (Silent Night). And then something wonderful happened: The British troop opposing the Germans joined them in song. Before long, hundreds of voices floated above the churned up mud of the Ypres region. Shouted Christmas greetings followed, and opposing troops soon met in "No Man's Land" to exchange handshakes, whiskey, jam, cigars and chocolate.

Whether it be times of war or peace, Christmas decorations have been ingrained on the American psyche. And of course, Christmas decorations were all the rage well before the "war to end all wars."

Charles Dudley Warner wrote about the Christmas holiday in 1884,

"We have saved out of the past nearly all that was good in it."

By good, he meant the holly, the ivy and the mistletoe. And all of these traditional items are just as important here today, in 2007, as they were in 1914 or 1884.

Even as far back as the 15th Century, Stow's of London noted the custom at Christmas was that "every household, parish and church be decked with items of ivy, holm, bays and other affordable seasonal greens." Churches were covered in sprigs of holly and yew, mostly stuck to the pews.

The décor extended outdoors, when the greens and the reds wound their way around city light poles and doorframes. These bygone traditions have morphed into today's visions of ribbon-laced

trees, snow-covered hills, carolers singing, ringing bells and houses ablaze with Christmas colors.

And evergreen bushes, holly, ivy and mistletoe are winter wonders still admired today.