Chattanooga-area enthusiasts explain why fireplaces are the hot item around Christmastime

Nobody needs a chimney more than Santa Claus, but even he can make do without one. So why are fireplaces so central to our celebration of Christmas?

We hang wreaths above them and heap garlands of greenery on their mantels. We situate Christmas trees close to their hearths. We fight winter’s chill with glowing embers, even if they’re created by LED lights instead of actual flames, and invite guests to gather around the fire in houses climate-controlled by central heat and air.

“In the olden days, the fireplace was where the warmth was. You’d always gather the family together around the place where it was warm. That’s where that tradition came from,” says Kevin Roberts, an art and design professional from Cleveland, Tennessee.

Familial warmth seems to radiate in such settings, he says, recalling Christmases made special by shared activities amid the season’s main sources of illumination.

“I remember it was always about those moments gathering around the fireplace,” he says. “The flickering of flames and the Christmas tree lights, doing something together as a family.”

In greeting cards and family photos, the fireplace is the classic backdrop for the Christmas tree. The image is so ingrained that blazing yule logs are broadcast on television on Christmas Eve, and video tutorials on social media show how to create stand-in fireplaces from cardboard boxes and packing tape.

These nods to tradition are holdovers from a way of life not that long ago removed. Only about half of American homes had electrical power in 1925. By 1960, virtually all of them did.

“I remember when my grandmother didn’t have electricity in her house, and when she did, it was just a light bulb with a wire hanging down in the center of the room,” says Eddie Moore, owner of Eddie’s Garden Center & Florist in Henagar, Alabama.

“In those days, the fireplace actually gave light in the room and offered heat, too,” he says. “Of course, your Christmas tree was always in the living room. Back then, you didn’t have dens. Everything was cozy.”

Those cozy vibes are still at play in American homes. Although including fireplaces in new builds declined in the 2010s, numbers are rising again, likely fueled by the cocooning brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and also due to the architectural presence they add to a room.

Industry experts say nostalgia still plays a role in the desire to have a fireplace, even in states where temperatures are mild year-round. Electric fireplaces fuel some of the attraction since they have the option of heat or no heat, providing ambience without the discomfort of an open flame in warmer weather.

(READ MORE: Fire features become popular additions for Chattanooga area homes during pandemic)

Conner Tinsley, manager of the Cleveland location of Hearthside Hearth & Home, credits some of the renewed popularity to innovations that would flabbergast a caveman. Namely, fire at the touch of a button.

“It’s like turning on your TV,” he says of the gas and electric fireplaces the company sells.

Tinsley says Hearthside’s customers generally are looking to install a new fireplace, replace an older gas appliance or “more often than not, they’re looking to convert from wood to gas.”

Besides the supercharged warmth associated with gas heat, gas fireplaces are prized as an alternative fuel source in the event of a power outage. Newer models have “all the bells and whistles,” he says, including adjustable ambient lighting, upgraded fans to better circulate warm air, remote-controlled thermostats with timers, even automated functions that respond to digital voice assistants such as Alexa and Siri.

Although the interior ambient lighting has little practical use, the improved flame effects are startlingly realistic.

“It’s been a pretty big feature [with customers] the last couple of years,” Tinsley says.

At Moore’s floral shop, fireplaces provide backdrops for the more than 200 fully decorated Christmas trees displayed during “Christmas at Eddie’s,” the annual show and sale of Christmas merchandise. Moore says fireplaces anchor five vignettes in the main building and greenhouses, offering homey respites within the explosion of accoutrements that define the rest of the space.

(READ MORE: Where else can you see a Christmas tree with a dipstick?)

“They’re not actually [working] fireplaces,” he says, “but one has a TV screen in it that looks like a fire burning, with crackling and popping sounds.”

For all their atmospheric and architectural charm, fireplaces may serve their most important function on Christmas Eve. The fireplace is where Santa traditionally leaves some of the presents.

“Everybody knows to make sure their stockings are hung by the chimney with care,” Moore says.

For more information, go to the Christmas at Eddie’s Florist Facebook page or hearthsidehearthandhome.com.