Christmas Tree Catalogue Archive Collection
The Christmas Tree Lab is conducting research on changes that have occurred in the Christmas tree market over the past few decades, and we have been seeking any historical catalogs or product brochures that Christmas tree growers have and are able to share with us. We are working to build a public digital archive to document these catalogues across the industry overtime. Below are the archive documents that we have collected to date:
Royal Botanical Gardens Archives:
The following archive collection has been provided to us thanks to the Royal Botanical Gardens library and archival collections. Within their archive library, they were able to retrieve 57 documents containing Christmas tree information, with dates spanning as far back as 1908. The documents within their archive collection derive from the 5 following sources:
McGuire Evergreen Plantation
The Canadian Florist
If you are a Christmas tree grower who would like to provide us with your historical catalogs or product brochures to help us build this record keeping of Ontario tree price changes, please feel free to connect with us at christmastree.lab@uwaterloo.ca
Richardson’s Pineneedle Farm
Catalogues of deciduous and evergreen seedlings and transplants ranging from 1966 - 2018.
Somerville Nurseries
Catalogues of wholesale pricing for deciduous and evergreen seedlings and transplants ranging from 1982 - 2010.
H. Richardson Farms
Catalogues of nursery stock available for tree seedlings and transplants, in addition to services provided ranging from 2003 - 2009.
McGuire Evergreen Plantation
Catalogues of containerized seedlings and transplants varieties ranging from 1996 - 2010.
The Canadian Florist
Magazine articles from 1908 reporting on a range of Christmas tree related topics, such as regional based reports on growing conditions, information on pest control measures, and the relationship between growers and retailers.