Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-21
DECORATIONS ron CHRISTMAS.


!
| ENcrRrccns.
| The careless man who never consults the
almanac has just one landmark to tell him
that the holidays are at hand. lie looks
at the skies that glow with almost sum
mor haze and sunshine and then at the dry
pavemonts and mucky looking grass plots
and is moved to think that his reckoning
has failed him and carried him months
ahead. He is disposed to hunt up his cast
off summer clothes and get ready to spend
| the autumn in comfort until his glance rests
on the commission houses and shop windows
all aglow with holly and evergreen and mis-
tletoe, with red and green and white, and
from these never-failing emblems of Christ
! mas discovers that 1t is the weather and not
! his dates that are at fault. Ever since the
Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock Ameri-
cans have made these decorations play part
in their holiday festivities In the old New
England villages whore the snow lay four
feet deep on the level and numbered the
mountains and valleys with huge banks and
drifts, the green trimmings afforded pretty
suggestion of life and beauty against the
monotunous stretch of white. And even here
In omaha, where Christmas day more often
finds muddy streets and warm sunshine, the
evergreen and holly play no unimportant
part. Two weeks before Christmas the trees
and branches begin to arrive at the big COM
mission houses and later they are parceled
sttute a considerable feature of the Christ
mas trade for it is estimated that about
half dozen car loads are brought here
every Christmas. The various ingredients of
these decorations are drawn from every di-
rection. The green from the north and the
mistlCtoe from the south and east. While
the magnificent evergreens of the Maine
woods are not seen so far west, the Omaha
dealers obtain a very satisfactory substitute
from the Black Hills and from the north
Crn forests of Wisconsin and Michigan. This
year the bulk of the trees come from South
Dakota. They are of all sizes but are very
similar in quality. The smallest evergreens
run three or four feet high and the largest
that have been shipped in this year are
eighteen feet. The wholesalers charge from
33l5 cents to 50 for these trees, according
to size, and from the retailers they are pur-
chased at prices ranging from 30 cents to
A. The big trees find market in the
churches and Sunday schools and at family
reunions, while the others are used for dec
orations and for Christmas trees in smaller
gatherings
But while Christmas trees are gradually
finding less general use than in years past,
the demand for holly and kindred decorating
materials is constantly increasing. The
staple in this line are the wreathings, which |
play part in every form of holiday deco |
ration. Vast quantities of these are used |
in the big stores and other business estab- |
lishments, as well as in the family celebra- |
tions. The wreathing is shipped in from
the north and generally comes in punches |
containing about twenty yards each. These !
are disposed of by the wholesalers at 81 |
each and the retailer makes whatever profit |
he can
The holly comes in immense boxes, from |
which 1t Is ladled out to the retailers in |
such quantities as they desire. The best |
that reaches this market comes from Mary |
land. but many of the dealers are using a |
species that comes from Oklahoma. This
is slightly inferior to the Maryland prod
pose. The holly is sold by the jObbers at
$3.50 a box, or Sl25 a barrel
The bulk Of the mistletoe that is being
used here this year comes from Oklahoma
and sells at from 90 to 30 cents a bunch.
small quantities of this are
sold as a very small bunch hung in a CON
venient section of the parlOr furnishes an
excuse for just as many osculatory incidents
as whole barrel.
A novelty in this line known the Gal
lis wreath is finding a ready sale this year
The leaves resemble the mulberry and
these are entwined with a sort of wreathing
of a much lighter shade of green
and dotted with immortelles. The effect
Is very striking and picturesque. These
wreaths sell for about SO dozen.
A number of the commission houses are
handling punches of needle pines, which
make n very agreeable variation when COM
lined with other forms Of decoration. Very
lew of these are on the market however,
md the demand is confind to a few home
decorations. e.