Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 73, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 April 1918 — XMAS TREE CUSTOM HAD ITS ORIGIN IN NEW YORK [ARTICLE]

XMAS TREE CUSTOM HAD ITS ORIGIN IN NEW YORK

The custom of placing an evergreen tree In the home on Christmas eve to be decorated and hung with gifts is of course a yuletide rite of ancient standing, but in its modern form as practiced in the United States it is comparatively young and had its origin in New York. Mark Carr Is the man who introduced the Christmas tree to New York city as New York knows it now. He was a Catskill woodsman. He had traveled a bit and was acquainted with the Christmas customs of various countries. He thus came''to see the possibilities of the evergreens of the Catskills. The more thought he gave to the little trees the more confident he was that they would make a fine Christmas decoration. He decided to try

them and came to New York before Christmas in 1851 with a lot of the evergreens. took up his stand in St. Mark’s place, which was then more or less of a shopping center. He decorated one of the trees with ribbons and tinsel and sparklers and other things until it was a riot of color. The sight Immediately struck the fancy of the ladies of the Stuyvesant section and lower fjiecond avenue, which were then vastly different from what they are now. Two hours after he had placed his trees on display he had sold out his cargo and was speeding hack to the Catskills as rapidly as conveyances .could take him. He returned the day before Christmas with a larger load and found New York waiting for him and his trees. He sold them all before they had been

In the city three hours and for prices which would compare favorable with those of today. This was the real start of Christmas trees in New York.