Real candles on Christmas tree

Glasgow. In the 1950's my school had clip on candle holders on the large tree in the foyer. The candles were lit during the Carol Service.

We too had candle holders on our tree in the 50's and Mum put small candles into them every year but I don't ever remember them being lit.

We also had some very delicate silver 'icicles' hanging under every brass candle holder.

Our baubles were made from the thinnest glass ever and quite often would break if not handled gently and then there were slivers of the stuff all over.
Mum packed them away in cotton wool.

Worcestershire 1950s. We never had them but some friends did. Husband also remembers them from his childhood. They were lit, briefly, on Christmas Eve. We have now inherited the candle holders, tiny metal clip on type. We sometimes put them on the tree but never light the candles.

I never knew that, I'm talking mid 60's onwards. I must have just missed it but I remember pictures with tree candles being lit in old story books.
I went to a church service and got candle wax dripped all over my coat from a leafy Christmas decoration perched on a window ledge by the pew. The coat was ruined, so no way would I go near a tree!

Never had them, but I do remember the very first time we had fairy lights - much bigger than any nowadays - on our tree, so exciting.
Our tree was always a very little real one, planted back in the garden every year - it never really recovered from the annual digging up and started to look a bit odd. I well remember the boy next door saying 'Has your Christmas tree had a heart attack?' ?
We still loved it, though. I think my folks did pension it off eventually, and allowed it to grow undisturbed.

Never. my mother was afraid of fire and it was not uncommon sadly for people to get burnt.
Children and night clothes and candles were a dangerous combination. And still would be.

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.

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.

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.