For the Kendall family of Norfolk, Christmas meant gathering to decorate an evergreen
tree in their home. If this sounds traditional, it wasn’t always so. Claude Kendall, the son
of Norfolk’s talented photographer Marie, recalled in a written reminiscence that his
family was the first in Norfolk to have a Christmas tree. Each year Marie invited the
children of the town to their house to sing carols around the tree, pictured here about
1890. Marie grew up in the Alsace-Lorraine region of Germany (now part of France)
where decorating trees had long been a holiday ritual, and so it would make sense that
she brought this custom with her to Norfolk. A 1605 diary from Strasbourg provides the
earliest record of a decorated Christmas tree, hung with paper roses, apples and candies.
It is likely that German settlers in eastern Pennsylvania introduced the tradition to this
country in the 18 th century. By 1850 it was no longer considered a quaint foreign custom,
and Christmas trees had become fashionable in New England.

By Ann Havemeyer