History of the Christmas Star Patent

Holiday tree decorations originated and grew in popularity from the 1400s to the 1500s in the Holy Roman Empire (modern day Germany). The first trees, at the time called “Paradise Trees” were more heavily decorated than modern trees, containing communion wafers, cherries, and decorations of stars, bells, and angels.

 

In the late 1500s and early 1600s, Christmas trees in Germany were being decorated with edible items such as gingerbread and gold covered apples, and eventually, many placed an angel at the top of their tree to remind people of the angels that announced Jesus’ birth. 

European Christmas Tree

The first Christmas tree in the UK was set up by the German wife of King George III, Queen Charlotte. Queen Charlotte’s action led many other wealthy families in the UK to adopt the tradition. 

Queen Albert Tree

After entering British popular culture in the mid-1800s, Christmas trees became very popular in the US. In 1882, Edward Johnson, Thomas Edison’s colleague, hand-strung 80 red, white, and blue bulbs together and put them on his NYC apartment Christmas tree, beginning a popular modern tradition. Placing stars on the top of Christmas trees has also become a popular tradition. 

Edward Johnson Christmas Lights

In 1936, Millard Pretzfelder of New York patented a novel Christmas star design. His ornamental design is a conical 5 pointed star with a light in the middle and a convenient way of mounting it to a tree. Pretzfelder went on to patent a couple of other Christmas star designs.

Check out the patent

Christmas Star Patent


You may also like

View all