Back When America Hated Christmas Trees?
By H. Shive

Americans before 1850 never used Christmas trees!  Only German immigrants used Christmas trees and only in the privacy of their homes.

Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Abe Lincoln lived their entire lives without a Christmas tree!

In 1851, the first publicly displayed Christmas tree in America was presented by a German immigrant and Lutheran pastor named Henry Schwan in Cleveland, Ohio.  The uproar was immediate!  Citizens in Cleveland protested!  They hated the tree.  It was called a “pagan throwback.”

America – as a whole – would not embrace the Christmas tree until the 20th century.

The Christmas tree was a custom brought to America by German immigrants, and - like most immigrant customs - it made the natives wary. 

Christmas Tree Origin

The ancient Europeans used evergreens to celebrate the winter solstice.  The fact that evergreens are still vibrant when all other plants are leafless made the ancients ascribe magical properties to these plants.  Trees - including evergreens and the oak - were worshiped by the Celts and ancient Germans.  Incidentally, mistletoe (an evergreen that grows on oaks) was used in fertility rites – hence the custom of kissing under the mistletoe.

But all accounts agree that Christmas trees are German in origin!  Early Church saints and popes tried to destroy the practice…and failed.  By medieval times, the Germans were cutting only small fir trees (due to Europe’s chronic lumber shortage) and those small trees were kept on tables with fruits and candies hanging from the branches. 

British Christmas vs German Christmas

European Christmas celebrations were boisterous affairs (maybe too boisterous) – filled with drinking and carousing.  So when the Puritans took control of England, they waged a war on Christmas!

To the Puritans, Christmas traditions had obvious pagan roots, were excuses for debauchery, and had no biblical origin.  Christmas decorations were banned and destroyed.  Puritans fined those who celebrated Christmas – even fined businesses that were closed on Christmas Day! 

Puritans controlled England and the early American colonies for 50 years.  When the Puritans left, Christmas returned, granted with a more subdued tone.

British Christmas and early American Christmas were low-key affairs.  Holly, wreaths, and mistletoe were still there. But no Christmas trees!

Christmas was a working day.  Interestingly, the U.S. Congress met on Christmas Day for business from 1789 to 1855!

American Tree Haters?

Henry Schwan’s first public tree in Cleveland changed everything.  Christmas trees could now be in the public’s eye!

And the public fell in love...eventually.

In 1851, the first Christmas tree lot was established in Washington Market in New York City. 

The rest is history.

The “New” American Tradition

Some say Franklin Pierce was the first President to use a Christmas tree.  Even if he did, the tradition did not take hold.

However, Benjamin Harrison was more likely the first President to use a Christmas tree in the White House.  This time the tradition stuck. 

Calvin Coolidge was the first President to make the lighting of the White House Christmas Tree an annual Presidential tradition. 

According to The Christmas Encyclopedia, around the year 1900, only one in five American family homes featured a Christmas tree.  By 1930, the practice was universal.

So maybe there is magic in an evergreen tree. At the very least, the tradition has a magical stamina!

Sources:

Crump, William D.  The Christmas Encyclopedia.  McFarland & Company, 2001.
Forbes, Bruce David.  Christmas: A Candid History.  University of California Press, 2007. 
 
 
 

Gift Giving Psychology (Part 2): The Door-In-The-Face Technique
By Heath Shive

In the last blog we talked about the norm of reciprocity – a societal rule that says: you have to give me something if I give you something. 

This next mind trick is a variation of the norm of reciprocity.

This mind trick is called the door-in-the-face technique – or in other words, when you reject my ridiculous offer, you will be more likely to agree to my second offer.

Sound impossible?  To the science!

The Science

In 1976, psychologists Robert Cialdini and Karen Ascani performed a study at the University of Arizona. 

They asked people to donate blood as part of a blood drive, but they were asked in 2 different ways: (1) one group would be asked if they would donate blood sometime tomorrow, but…(2) a second group would be asked to donate once every 2 months for 3 years! 

If people in the second group refused to donate blood every 2 months for 3 years, only then would the researchers ask them to donate just once sometime tomorrow. 

The results showed that more people agreed to give blood (and actually gave blood) when they received the more extreme request first! 

When people reject the first proposal (“shut the door in your face”), they are more likely to agree to the second (lesser) request. 

Door-in-the-face technique!

How It Works

The door-in-the-face technique makes use of 2 basic psychological processes.
 
First, the large request sets up a contrast effect – for example, contrast the one time blood request to a blood donation over 3 years! 

Second, the immediate concession by the requester invokes the norm of reciprocity.  The requester implicitly says, “Hey!  I’m giving a little; now you give a little.”

And many people do!

Car dealers often artificially inflate the asking price for a car.  During negotiation, the seller “graciously” will concede a little on the car price.  But now it is your “turn” to raise your buying price!

Have you ever had a sales agent say something like: “So can I write your name for a $100 donation?” or “…for a 2-year lease?” or “…for 20 boxes of units?” 

They ask high to set an artificially high standard – so that you will settle (or reciprocate) at a higher number than normally.

Conclusion

As explained in the great persuasion manual, Age of Propaganda: “The norm of reciprocity is successful as a persuasion device because it directs our thoughts and carries its own motivation to act on those thoughts.  We are directed to think “How can I repay my obligation?” as opposed to “Is this a good deal?”

So this Christmas, if your daughter asks for a pony…beware.  She knows you will say no.  It is the second gift on her list that she really wants. 

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Sources:
Cialdini, R. B., & Ascani, K. (1976). Test of a concession procedure for inducing verbal, behavioral, and further compliance with a request to give blood.  Journal of Applied Psychology, 61, 295-300. 

Pratkanis, Anthony, & Elliot Aronson.  Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and abuse of Persuasion.  W.H. Freeman and Company, 1991.