Blast from the Past: Moravian Candle Tree

Antique Christmas rugs are rare in southcentral Pennsylvania. The Plain people did not celebrate Christmas but other German settlers, such as the Lutherans, Reformed, and Moravians, did bring some old German Christmas customs to Pennsylvania.

The cut Christmas tree was not used by Moravians because it took too much room and wasted precious timber. Instead, Moravians devised a candle tree, a unique feature of their Christmas celebration.