The tradition of bringing in a spruce to decorate for Christmas did not really spread popularly in Sweden until around the turn of the 1900s. In the wealthy homes, the Christmas tree had been around since at least the 1600s. At first, it was placed outdoors, but in the late 1800s and early 1900s it was moved into the cottage. If the home was crowded, you could solve it by placing the Christmas tree on a chair, a table or even hanging from the ceiling. In more spacious homes, it stood in a stand on the floor and reached up to the ceiling.
The decoration was often homemade, but there were also ornaments in glass, tin, glitter or bookmarks on the market, often imported from Germany. The finest and most modern Christmas trees in the noble homes were decorated only in white and silver. The classy withheld style was considered more grown up and aesthetically preferable over the more colorful Christmas tree with lots of different ornaments. Other descriptions tell of Christmas trees decorated with candles, apples, candies, homemade stars, festoons and the Swedish flag at the top. The lights were, of course, candles, so it was important to keep an eye on the flames so that the tree would not be set fire to.
Merry Christmas!
