Christmas Sticks were the twigs had been taken away and only left the top of the tree and sometimes with some sort of decoration cutouts in the bark. These were raised in pairs at the Tomas day (December 21) in front of farms. This were more common in the middle of Sweden and thou it was the village farmers who help each other with that they also took the opportunity to taste each others Christmas brandy, Christmas beer and of course the Christmas food.
In the beginning had the Christmas sticks probable another aim as for example it suppose having magical powers to stop the evil things at the doorstep (so to speak). But most of all it was a sign of Christmas and the peace that Christmas bring. The Christmas Sticks has its parallel in the Birch Sticks who was raised at for example weddings.
 You can follow the Christmas tree of today back to the late medieval trade guilds and feast Christmas decorations in Switzerland and in Alsace, where the tree not yet had candles. The first notices of a tree decorated with candles are from Pflatca 1660.
In Sweden the Christmas tree is not mentioned until 1740 in the high aristocracy homes as Wrede – Sparre and the Bonde family. Not until 100 years later the tradition starts to spread, and then thru vicarage and mansions to the farmers homes. Then it was often small trees that were placed on a table or hanged up in the ceiling or put in pots. The Christmas tree we know about didn’t break thru until the middle of the 1800 and then first in the better homes were the height to the ceiling was higher. The first decorated trees were decorated with apples, Pringles, nuts and candy and the adults decorated them. That did so the children looked at the tree with excitement and with a great expectation. The public trees become common between the big wars and today you will find them everywhere.