Winter decorations are actually older than Christmas. Here's the full history of Christmas decorations.

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• Anne Lawrence-Mathers is a professor in medieval history at University of Reading.
• Winter decorations date back to the ancient Roman feast of Saturnalia. And in the sixth century Pope Gregory the Great reinvented winter solstic celebrations, and adorned churches with greenery.
• The Industrial Revolution reshaped traditional holidays, so social reformers reinvented traditions, and made decorations more prominent. Christmas trees — a German custom — also began to catch on.
• F W Woolworth played a major role in creating affordable decorations, importing glass baubles and stars.
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The idea of hanging up decorations in the middle of winter is older than Christmas itself. Decorations are mentioned in ancient descriptions of the Roman feast of Saturnalia, which is thought to have originated in the 5th century BC.

Some 900 years later, a Christian bishop in Turkey wrote disapprovingly about members of his congregation who were drinking, feasting, dancing, and "crowning their doors" with decorations in a pagan fashion at this time of year.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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