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| Text on Button | I HELPED THE MUNICIPAL TREE |
| Image Description | Black text around the outer edge with an illustration of Santa driving with a car with the back full of presents and a Christmas tee on a white backgroun |
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| Additional Information | Municipal Trees gained popularity in the United States during the Progressive Era (1890s-1920s) in part as a philanthropic effort to bring together people of different classes in the community through one central community Christmas Tree. The 1910s saw several cities adopt Municipal Trees and citywide tree lighting ceremonies in their town squares, including New York City, Boston, and Chicago. Municipal Tree and similar charitable organizations sprang up across the country. These organizations took up philanthropic efforts to ensure that the children of lower-income families were able to experience the magic of the holiday season, by establishing Public Christmas Trees and other funding for holiday meals and Christmas gifts. |
| Sources |
Explore Chicago. (2011). Daley Plaza Christmas tree. City of Chicago. https://web.archive.org/web/20111201032010/http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en/things_see_do/event_landing/events/mose/christmas_tree.html Flickinger-Patterson, S. (2014). 100th anniversary of Story City’s Municipal Christmas Tree. Museums of Story City. https://www.storycityhistory.org/news--updates/100th-anniversary-of-story-citys-municipal-christmas-tree Geberer, R. (2016). Christmas throughout the decades, as seen through the pages of the Eagle. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2016/12/27/christmas-throughout-the-decades-as-seen-through-the-pages-of-the-eagle/ Gooley, L. P. (2019). Community Xmas Trees: Historically rooted in the Adirondacks. Adirondack Almanack. https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2019/01/community-xmas-trees-historically-rooted-in-the-adirondacks.html Hake’s Auctions. (n.d.). Item 711: “I HELPED THE MUNICIPAL TREE” with Santa in bi-plane [Auction listing]. https://www.hakes.com/Auction/ItemDetail/80919/I-HELPED-THE-MUNICIPAL-TREE-WITH-SANTA-IN-BI-PLANE Martin City Telegraph. (2020). The history of the Mayor’s Christmas Tree. The Telegraph. https://martincitytelegraph.com/2020/12/20/the-history-of-the-mayors-christmas-tree/ National Park Service. (2019). National Christmas trees through the years. The White House and President’s Park; NPS.gov. https://www.nps.gov/whho/learn/historyculture/national-christmas-trees-through-the-years.htm Neyfakh, L. (2011). The people’s tree. Press Herald. https://www.pressherald.com/2011/12/23/the-peoples-tree/ (Reprinted from “The secret origins of the civic Christmas tree,” 2011, Boston Globe, https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2011/12/18/the-secret-origins-civic-christmas-tree/kuhxEExgx1QMHDrkFZLXAM/story.html) Prendergast, N. (2023). A brief Christmas tree history. The LEAFlet: From LEAF-Wisconsin’s K-12 Forestry Education Program. https://myemail-api.constantcontact.com/A-Christmas-Tree-History.html?soid=1105585926208&aid=e-60HzBaB-c Prendergast, N. (2024). The roots of the real Christmas tree: Conservation and public space in the twentieth century United States. Environment, Space, Place 16(1), 1-21. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/spc.2024.a951608 Smith, R. (2019). Unwrapping the 106-year history of Chicago’s Christmas tree lighting tradition. Curbed Chicago. https://chicago.curbed.com/2019/11/8/20955596/chicago-christmas-tree-lighting-history Spellen, S. (2012). Walkabout: Mrs. Sittig’s Christmas. Brownstoner. https://www.brownstoner.com/history/mrs-sittigs-christmas/ Wells, M. (2022). Why does Kansas City have a mayor’s Christmas tree? The tradition goes back to 1882. The Kansas City Star. https://www.kansascity.com/news/your-kcq/article269058897.html Wetmore, K. (2024). The history of the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Family Tree Care. https://www.wetmoretreecare.com/ftc-blog/the-history-of-the-christmas-tree-lighting-ceremony Yee, E. (2017). Boston lit one of the nation’s first public Christmas trees in 1912. Boston.com; Boston Globe. https://www.boston.com/news/history/2017/12/24/first-public-christmas-trees/ |
| Catalog ID | CL0197 |