First Manhattan Christmas Trees

A story about how the Manhattan Christmas tree business began with a Dutch entrepreneur in 1851.

"In 1851, there was a Dutchman named Mark Carr who is considered the father of the Manhattan Christmas tree business. He was out of work when he realized he could chop trees from the forest and bring them into the city to sell to people, giving them a piece of nature in their homes.

When he told his wife the idea, she said it sucked - which is the great story of every entrepreneur. He went ahead anyway and got a permit for $1 to sell trees inside Washington Market, which was their wholesale bazaar. He started explaining to people that these were trees you could stand upright in your house to signify Christmas. He sold them for about a day, and that started the trend of indoor Christmas trees.

Before this, putting a tree inside your apartment would have been considered a bizarre decision. People thought 'this is supposed to be shelter from the outside, why would you bring a tree in?' Trees weren't even really associated with Christmas time until Carr started this business."