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Birds and All Nature, Vol. IV, No 6, December 1898

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<h2>CHRISTMAS TREES.</h2> FRED. A. WATT. OUR Christmas tree is a relic of the old heathen times and came down to us as a part of the Yule festival. It seems to have originated in Germany and can be traced back as far as the year 1604 with certainty, and as it was an established custom at that time it is evidently much older. How the early man conceived the idea is open to dispute, but in my opinion it is due to an old superstition which has some believers even to this day. It is said that any maid who is not kissed under the Mistletoe at Christmas will not be married during the year following. I have no doubt that the anxiety of the young ladies to be always found under the Mistletoe on that day has led to the profuse green decorations, from which it is only a step to the Christmas tree. It was introduced into the Court of St. James in 1840 by Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Cobourg, and the custom spread rapidly through the aristocratic families of London and was almost immediately adopted by all classes throughout England. It was introduced into the court at Paris in 1830 by the Duchess of Orleans and is now a French custom. It seems, however, that in our own country it has taken deepest root. Here, by reason of the democratic nature of the people, it may be said to be distinctively American, as the German who first introduced it undoubtedly became an American citizen long ago and his successors are probably numbered among our best citizens even to the present time. Our people of all nationalities have adopted it and we find it installed in our churches, our family gatherings, our schools, and private clubs. Our nineteenth century inventor has even tried to change it into an affair of cast iron, through whose hollow trunk and branches gas pipes are conducted and gas jets among the branches take the place of candles. One of the results of all this is that the demand for Christmas trees and Christmas greens has grown to enormous proportions in our larger cities and furnishes employment during the latter part of September and through November and December to a number of people who make a business of gathering the gay green branches and transporting them to market. While traveling through the southern part of Maine a few years ago, I was struck by the symmetry and beauty of a tract of Evergreen Trees and remarked that they would make good Christmas trees. I afterward found that such was likely to be their fate, as men who make a business of "clam-whopping" and fishing during the summer months turned their attention during the fall to the business of gathering these trees and shipping them to New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. In looking the subject up to determine what became of all these Trees I found an industry which I had not dreamed of. I find that the Christmas greens for New York City were first shipped from Keyport, N. J. That as the demand for them assumed larger proportions the raw material was exhausted in that neighborhood, but the inhabitants having become interested in the business, and finding it a source of profit, have continued to advance into the surrounding country, little by little, until now they are gathering Spruce from Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, Princess Pine from Vermont, White Pine from Michigan and even Wisconsin, Laurel and Holly from the South, and in fact they can now gather only Balsam on the home grounds in paying quantities. In addition to the above-named evergreens, quantities of Ground Pine, Cape Flowers, Fir, Hemlock, the plants of the Club Mosses, berried Black Alder, Quill Weed, and Mistletoe are sought out and gathered wherever found and shipped—the Christmas trees to New York where they lie piled up by thousands along West street facing the dock lines, for several weeks before the holidays, and the other greens to Keyport [Pg 221] and vicinity where they are made up into stars, anchors, crosses, wreaths, hearts, triangles, horseshoes, and miles of roping for decorative purposes. For the entire length of Monmouth county the families within a mile of the bay shore are nearly all engaged in the business of making these decorations at this season. Four miles from Keyport is the town of Keansburg which now surpasses the former place in this industry. Neighbors are referred to as "making" or "not making" and numbers of new faces appear in the town, attracted by the industry from the north, south, and west. The wages paid are not high but anyone who can "make" can always find a position during the busy season. The small villages along this strip of country now present a pretty appearance. The houses are almost hidden behind stacks of evergreens of all kinds. A peep into a detached summer kitchen will disclose a group of girls gathered around a long table piled high with evergreens, and at first glance they appear to be principally engaged in pleasant conversation, but you will not have to watch them long before you are aware that their busy fingers are turning out Christmas decorations at an astonishing rate. Or, if you should happen to look in at night, you might see the tables and evergreens pushed to one side and gay groups of girls and young boat-builders, oystermen, and fishermen engaged in a lively neighborhood dance. Materials other than evergreens are used in this industry to a considerable extent; laths are used to make frames for the stars and crosses. Willows are gathered in quantities from the marshes with which frames for wreaths are made, but the trade in rattan is probably the most benefited, as nothing else will give such satisfaction in making the frames for hearts, anchors, and other decorations of this kind. The completed decorations are shipped to New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, but not to Chicago. In Chicago we find a different state of affairs. We are so near the evergreen forests of Wisconsin, where Christmas trees may be had for practically nothing, that the cost of transportation alone from New Jersey would be greater than the price realized would amount to. Numbers of hulks of condemned vessels lie in and around Chicago which are practically worthless. These boats are taken in the fall by seamen who are out of employment up along the Wisconsin coast and there loaded with evergreens, are brought back to the Chicago river and docked, and lie there until the load is disposed of to the holiday trade. The decorations are mainly manufactured in the city in the store-rooms of the dealers. That the business of bringing these trees down from the north is not without serious danger and hardship is evidenced by the wreck of the schooner S. Thal, which occurred off the coast near Glencoe, Ill., a short time ago, in which five lives were lost. Five lives yielded up that our children may enjoy an hour of pleasure! Do they ever think of the cost? <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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