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{12}
Pyramids, without lights apparently, were known in England before 1840.
In Hertfordshire they were formed of gilt evergreens, apples, and nuts,
and were carried about just before Christmas for presents. In
Herefordshire they were known at the New Year.{13}
|267| The Christmas-tree was introduced into France in 1840, when
Princess Helene of Mecklenburg brought it to Paris. In 1890 between
thirty and thirty-five thousand of the trees are said to have been sold
in Paris.{14}
In England it is alluded to in 1789,{15} but its use did not become at
all general until about the eighteen-forties. In 1840 Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert had a Christmas-tree, and the fashion spread until it
became completely naturalized.{16} In Denmark and Norway it was known in
1830, and in Sweden in 1863 (among the Swedish population on the coast of
Finland it seems to have been in use in 1800).{17} In Bohemia it is
mentioned in 1862.{18} It is also found in Russia, the United States,
Spain, Italy, and Holland,{19} and of course in Switzerland and Austria,
so largely German in language and customs. In non-German countries it is
rather a thing for the well-to-do classes than for the masses of the
people.


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