Holiday Colors

A Festive Feature!

Original Red Lens used during the 1948-1949 Courthouse Holiday Lighting 

For the month of December we are featuring an artifact from the first Courthouse Holiday Lighting. The red lens displayed here was used to add a colorful flare along with large green lenses to the 1948 Courthouse lighting design. Today a plethora of shades of red and green can be found around the Courthouse and almost everywhere as a festive expression of the winter holidays. But where did the combination of red and green actually come from?

The use of red and green to celebrate during the winter months actual has ancient roots that go back centuries before the birth of Christianity and the other modern winter holidays celebrated today.

The use of red and green can be traced back to the Celtic celebrations of the Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) that started to emerge sometime in the 3^rd Century B.C.E. The keepers of the Celtic Winter Solstice traditions were the Druids, highly educated priests, teachers and philosophers in the ancient Celtic societies across Europe and Britannia. While there are very few records of the Druids, it is known that holly with its red berries and green leaves was an important symbolic plant for the ancients Celts, because it remained evergreen in winter and displayed vividness of the colors. Holly was used by the Celts to decorate their homes, in ceremonial rites, and to protect their families by warding off evil.

As Christianity grew in Europe, church leadership began to usurp the traditions, symbols, and holidays of the subjugated populations and assign Christian meanings to the ancient customs to encourage conversions. Holly became a symbol for Jesus’ crown of thorns with the color of the berries representing drops of his blood. Despite the religious turmoil throughout Europe and Britain from the 15^th Century to the early 18^th Century, the now established holiday of Christmas became the dominate winter celebration. The color combination of red green gained stronger footing with the advent of the Christmas tree in the early 17^th Century. Religious reformer Martin Luther of Germany is credited with the tradition of decorating an evergreen tree with lights and a range of different ornaments, including red apples. In 1800 the Christmas tree made its way to Britain courtesy of Queen Charlotte, the German wife of King George III.

It was during Queen Victoria’s reign that the Christmas tree and other familiar traditions began to cross the Atlantic and form the foundation of the modern holiday celebrated today. The color palette for Christmas was widely varied from the late 1830s through the turn of century, borrowing from other religious winter tradition such as Hanukkah. However, it was a man named Haddon Sundblom that would truly make red and green synonymous with winter and Christmas.

In the 1930s, the Coca-Cola Company decided to launch a new winter advertisement campaign featuring Santa Claus. The Company turned to Haddon Sundblom to create a more genuine and warm image of Santa as a white-haired, jolly, plump man outfitted in a Coca-Cola red suit. Although not the first person to depict Santa in red, something about Sundblom’s Santa with a bright green Christmas tree in the background resonated with adults and children alike. From the 1930s onward Santa has been in a red suit and the colors of red and green have been associated with the winter holidays.

If this information interests you, please contact us at 
740-670-5121 or archives@lcounty.com.

Happy Holidays

 Licking County Records & Archives Center