During the Advent season, poorer families sold Christmas trees in the main square of Gyergyószentmiklós, while their clientele consisted of the well-off, affluent citizens of the town. The custom of setting up a Christmas tree originated in the West and began spreading in rural Hungarian areas only in the second half of the 19th century. The worldly and well-traveled citizens of Gyergyó also started putting up Christmas trees during the Dual Monarchy period, and by the 20th century, the practice became popular and widespread among local Székely farming families as well.