Real candles on Christmas tree

Nope, Шёму never tried it and I don`t think I ever will. We have a lot of relatives and I can`t imagine them coming with their babies to our house with real Christmas tree candles

We always had candles on our tree in the 50s. They were lit every evening over the holiday and the heat from them released the beautiful smell of the first tree. We had a Jewish neighbor who used to celebrate Hannukah with a tree smothered with candles. As far as I know he never had any accidents.

Agnurse look at my link further down this page. It takes you to a site where you can buy electric candle lights. I’ve succumbed to the lure and bought some. I just need a tree to put them on now,

I've heard of them being done, but we never had any. With a real tree + 6 children + 2 cats, adding in real candles = immediate fire hazard.

Where we did use real candles was in our Advent wreath. To this day, the smell of candles freshly extinguished reminds me of evening prayers during Advent as a child.

Out of sheer curiosity, how would you keep the candles on the tree? I would be concerned that the weight of the candle and the holder would make that a non-viable option, as it would bend the branches down too far.

I do think that hearkening back to the use of candles raises some intriguing ideas about battery-operated tealights that resemble candles. I wonder if there are any that have clips on the back so that they could be put onto a tree, in lieu of string lights?

In the late 50s an old aunt gave us her glass babbles , candle holders and half used candles.
My parents were horrified at the potential fire risk. My mother said she had electric lights after the war. My Dads family didn’t have a tree ever . Only people in big houses tended to have them ! He used to go and look through their window.

we tend to go to UK for Christmas as it is much easier for us to travel at that time, before and after the rush- and they come here to ski in Feb. But if ever in next few years they come here- real candles it will be.

Tree only comes in on 22nd and is sprayed daily, placed in a gripper container with water, and water spray and extinguisher hidden just behind... and of course candles placed VERY carefully to avoid being below another branch or any flammable decoration. This old 16C house is all made out of stone and wood- so it would go woooosssshhh- as it did in 1663 (because it housed the communcal bread oven).

Snowing like crazy btw.

ah grannie- glad you remember the magic of real candles - just as our young girls did all those years ago- feeling it made Christmas so special.

I have only once seen real candles on a tree.

When I was six years old (1962) our elderly teacher lit a few real candles and clipped them on to the classroom Christmas tree. We sang carols for a short time, then she extinguished them. It is one of the happiest memories of my childhood. There was something so magical about those lights.

Our parents would not even allow fairy lights because of the fire risk, as there was a lot of trouble from imported electrical goods then. Oh, I am feeling tempted to buy the candle shaped LED lights today.

P.S. The elderly teacher might have been younger than I am now.

Maggiemaybe! I'd buy some myself if I wasn't going to my DD's for Xmas this year.

Thank you, SueDonim! They get really good reviews. I think I’ll be treating myself. To paraphrase the chap in Jaws though, and the Calendargirls, I think I’m gonna need a bigger tree.

Maggiemaybe I fell down a rabbit hole of looking at Christmas lights and they also sell these, which are much better value. Honestly, I could have spent a fortune on lights. . www.lights4fun.co.uk/products/50-warm-white-christmas-tree-candle-lights

I'm a bit surprised to find myself in a minority of one here - I always have candles on my tree. I have one for each family member and they are lit only once when we gather for the Christmas meal. The little ones choose a carol to sing and then we make a wish. The candles are then blown out. I've never been overly concerned about fire as its a real tree and doesn't go up till a couple of days before Christmas

I like the look of those. Pricey though. And 10 wouldn’t go far on a decent sized tree.

Someone is obviously concerned that Gransnetters are going to be setting fire to themselves with candles on trees and so they've produced these!
www.lights4fun.co.uk/products/10-warm-white-led-christmas-tree-candle-lights

Yes, we always had real candles as well as fairy lights because my mother was Danish and couldn't imagine a Christmas tree without real candles, but willingly combined her Christmas traditions with the ones my British father had grown up with.

Apart from our own tree, I only ever saw one other with candles on it. It was in the home of a schoolfriend whose mother was German. Their candles were green, ours red and white.

It was incredibly hard to find Christmas tree candles in Scotland - my grandmother sent us ours, and I imagine the other family either bought theirs while on summer holiday in Germany like we sometimes did, or had a relative who sent them.

I remember having them on the tree when I was very young in the 1950’s. Metal clips with spiral candles. They were never lit - my Dad was in fire insurance! One Christmas he came home with a string of electric lights, round, slightly smaller than tennis balls, opaque on the top and coloured on the bottom. They lasted for years

We only had electric fairy lights on the tree when I was growing up. I had never seen real candles (except on pictures on Christmas cards) until I came to Germany. They were the normal thing, as Roxie says, well into the 90s.

We lit them practically every day over the Christmas period (no tree allowed till Christmas Eve, but it stays up till 12th night). They were only on the top half of the tree because the children were small at the time. Towards the end, as the tree dried out, we only lit them for a short time.

Don't think anyone has them nowadays, though. We certainly have electric ones now, on a timer.

Went to visit my brother and his German wife in South London in the early 90s and they had a huge tree with, yes, real candles.
Safety fanatic Mr H. Nearly had a fit, but apparently it was very common in Germany at the time.

I remember them from my early childhood, in the 1940s, and into the 1950s. They were only lit for a short period and always with someone in the room.

I am fascinated to learn so many British households and schools did use real candles as I thought it was something my parents had brought from central Europe. Obviously Prince Albert's influence lasted a very long time.

London, 1950s. Our real tree was always decorated on Christmas Eve, always red candles. Only lit Christmas night while we opened our main presents, and then again on New Year's Eve, with lead pouring after, at midnight.

The candles were always positioned carefully by my father, and 2 buckets of water standing ready, just in case, but thankfully we never had any disaster.

When the children were little our electricity was cut off for a day during Christmas week. We were all using candles and one neighbour had put one too close to the Christmas tree and set it alight. Fortunately the fire brigade got there quickly, but I decided to take ours down just in case (it’s usually up till Twelfth Night). As I took the last bauble off, the lights came back on. The perfect end to a miserable day!

I remember stories about real candles on Christmas trees .
But never saw them myself.
Id`e be frightened to death tbh.

I had real candles on my family tree in the 50s, 60s, 70s etc. They were lit briefly on Christmas Eve.

I inherited the little brass holders when my parents died and I confess I do still light a few of them briefly every year for just a few minutes when the tree is dressed. I love them. They are battered and old but hold dear memories.

I have a new little stack of red candles that I use with them now - though I did have to resort to pink twisty ones a few years ago as couldn't find replacements.

When I was a child, in the 50s, there were candles on the tree, held in little spring clips, but I don't remember them ever being lit.

Yes, candles lit for a short time on Christmas Eve in the 40's and 50's and we lived in Hertfordshire.
In fact the Christmas Tree was usually only decorated on Christmas Eve.