The traditional Christmas decoration for centuries was always branches from evergreen trees and bushes and holly. In the late 19th century traditional holly and evergreen branches began to be replaced with paper decorations. Among these paper decorations were paper twists, made from crepe paper and paper chains made from coloured paper.
Paper chains became a favourite family Christmas decoration due to the simplicity of making them. Young children could each make a small chain then join them together to make a larger chain which would be hung as a Christmas decoration. Originally these chains were made from strips of papers about 1″ wide and 6″ long (that is 2.5 cm wide and 15 cm long) made into a slightly overlapping circle and joined on the overlap with glue.
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As the years progressed the home made strips of paper became to be manufactured with a gummed strip which was licked to join the ends. Many a young child sat for hours licking and joining to make Christmas paper-chains, even though their tongues ended up tasting of horrible glue they carried on licking and joining to their chain, it actually became a competitive game among many children, making a few links then comparing them to their rivals for length (a tale from happy childhood memories may be seeping through here).
In the early 1960s every home was full of Christmas paper-chains. As the 20th century moved on the paperchain started to fall out of fashion and homes became more style conscious, Christmas decorations became more elaborate and, rather than fill the room with paper decorations, a few ‘tasteful’ decorations were hung.
The good news is that Christmas paper chains are making a comeback! Slowly as adults (especially grandparents with a 6 year old grandson) remember the fun that they had making chains and pass it on to their children and grandchildren, retailers are catching on and they are becoming available. They may be a little more elaborate nowadays with printed designs on the paper, some are even self-adhesive and so no more licking, but the end result is just as much fun as ever. So for this coming Christmas search your local shops and reawaken a simple Christmas past time from years gone by.
