Joanna Kelly

The Jolly Woodman: The True Story of the First Christmas Tree Market in America Joanna Kelly

Did you ever wonder when people started putting Christmas trees in their homes? Did you ever think about where all those holiday trees came from and who first thought of selling them? This heart-warming little story introduces us to Mark Carr, an enterprising New York State farmer who started the first Christmas tree market in America. The year was 1851 and Mark Carr and his young sons chopped down 36 shapely firs around their modest farm and sold them at the Washington Market, an open-air bazaar in New York City that began in 1812. The market was razed in 1967 to make way for The World Trade Center. The Jolly Woodman is a true story of risk and triumph and the belief that children everywhere should have a Christmas tree, even if they lived in a big city.