The world’s most beautiful Christmas trees

Why do we have Christmas trees? I have loved Christmas trees ever since I was a child. Christmas trees should remind us the reason for this season. In the early Middle Ages, the legend spread that when Jesus Christ was born on a cold winter night, all trees worldwide miraculously came to life with new green shoots.

The world’s first decorated Christmas tree was in Riga, Latvia in 1510, next was Strasbourg in 1521, then came the modern Christmas tree in Germany. By the 19th century, when Dr. Jose Rizal traveled to Europe, he marveled at the German tradition of Christmas trees, which our Philippines’ colonizers — the Spaniards — didn’t then have.

It is possible that Christmas trees and lights came to the Philippines in the early 20th century with the arrival of the American colonizers, especially with artificial Christmas trees being developed in Germany during the 19th century and later becoming popular in the United States? Today, 80 percent of the world’s artificial trees are manufactured in China.

Architectural Digest recently came out with two lists — “The Most Spectacular Designer Christmas Trees” and “The Most Beautiful Holiday Decorations” — while The Robb Report came out with its own “7 Magical Hotel Christmas Trees around the World.”

Some of those Christmas trees that I admire the most include the 16-foot-tall inverted tree with silver butter-leather feathers and snowflakes at Claridge's Hotel London which was designed by the legendary fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld, inspired by past Christmases of his youth; the Christmas tree at Peninsula Hotel Chicago; the tree in Shangri-La Hotel Paris; the outdoor tree of Lotte New York Palace Hotel; and the tree of the Beverly Hills Hotel. All of them are so elegant and awe-inspiring with exceeding beauty.

However, up to now, I have not yet seen any Christmas tree that exceeds the magic of the tree of my childhood, when I was just seven years old and my younger sister Marilou was six.

That year, our entrepreneur father died in February. Our once-idyllic life was turned upside down. From a huge place in Manila with big cars, drivers, maids, cooks, lots of dogs, big furniture, we had to move into a small rented apartment in Quezon City. Many years later, I read from an old handwritten letter that mom mailed her nephew (our cousin) saying her monthly salary as a teacher was less than the monthly rental for that apartment. But mom was a woman of indomitable faith and perseverance. She tutored rich kids after school to make ends meet.

I have no memories of earlier, abundant Christmases in our former huge house, but that first austere Christmas was unforgettably joyous and one of the reasons was our unique tree.

Like a magician, our persevering, prayerful, never-complaining mother used a walis tingting broom’s thin midribs of palm leaves — like barbecue sticks — to string together broken bits of white Styrofoam plus other simple colorful decor like stars.

Mom’s hands nimbly created a small tree, positioned it atop our television set, and placed our gifts below it. Even as a kid, I knew it was a work of love, and I was enthralled with what I believe then was (and still is) the world’s most beautiful Christmas tree.

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