This is a feature article that I wrote for a journalism class. The project involved interviewing managers of two different wreath making businesses in northern Wisconsin. I also toured one plant for the purpose of taking pictures.
Wreath Making
Where do Christmas wreathscome from? Who makes them and what are they made from? When are they made? Hereare some of the answers.
People in ancient Rome hung decorative wreaths as a signof victory; some people believe that this is where the tradition of hangingwreaths on doors came from. Pre-Christian Germanic people gathered evergreenwreaths in December and lighted fires as a sign of hope for the coming spring.These were called Advent wreaths. Christians kept these popular traditionsalive and by the 16 th century Christians in Germany were using thewreath as a symbol to celebrate their Advent hope in Christ.
The people who make wreaths live where balsam fir growlike weeds. Northern Wisconsin is one such place. Wreath making businesses arelarge operations and also one man jobs in the Phillips, Wis. Area. Rose WreathL.L.C. is one of the larger wreathsmaking businesses in the area. Dave Barber the production manager of Rosewreath says “balsam fir is used because of its fragrance, durability, and itsdark green color, other types of trees are used such as spruce but balsam isused for because it smells better. Spruce has a pungent odor, who would wantsomething with a pungent odor hanging on their door.” Rose Wreath does use redand white pine for trimming some of their products.
Baroka Wreath, ofFifield. Wis. Is another family owned wreath making business in their 30 thyear. Jean Baroka says, “We use balsam, cedar, hemlock, spruce, red and whitepine in our wreaths. Our wreath is a combination of these species ofevergreens.” Jean also adds that, “balsam fir is the most used species becauseof its durability and its prevalence in the area.” Both wreath makers agreethat balsam fir is also the easiest to work with. Baroka’s customers are deerhunters, and other walk ins, but the bulk of their business is from fundraising groups like churches and Boy Scouts.
Thesebusinesses provide seasonal employment for people living in the area. Some ofthese people are retired, some are young people, and some people are lookingfor a little extra money for Christmas. Rose wreath employs up to 30 seasonalemployees and Baroka Wreath employs from 15 to 20 people during the wreathmaking season which is October through November. There are people who cutbalsam boughs, people who make the wreaths themselves, and there aredistributors who bring the wreaths to the customers. There is also a localbusiness that supplies the wire forms to all of the local wreath makers.
The wreath making business starts in March with aninventory of what is left over from last year. List of material are made. Wirerings for wreaths and forms for other shapes such as schwags and canes arepurchased for the wreath making season. Red velvet bows, and pine cones are ordered. Flyers and brochures aresent out to potential and previous customers are sent out. Their customers aremainly non-profit organizations like church groups and Boy Scouts that sell thewreaths to raise money for their charities. They also have a mail orderbusiness that sells ornamental trees and table center pieces.
Balsam boughs are purchased in Oct., they are selectedfor their freshness because Christmas is still three months away and if theyare not fresh the needles will be falling out of the boughs by then. Boughcutters pay a $100 license to cut boughs on state land. Cutters are paid around25 cents a pound. Dave Barber said “two people came in and sold Rose Wreath 1ton of boughs for a day’s work.” That comes out to about $250/day per person.Rose Wreath buys about 20 tons of boughs a year.
The wreath makingitself is piece work in others words the makers are paid by the wreath insteadof hourly. Each type of wreath has aprice according to size and difficulty in making. Wreath sizes vary from 20inches in diameter to 4 feet in diameter. The best wreath makers make $100 aday.
The wreath seasonends around the first of December. At this time the wreaths have all beendelivered and after the long days and weeks from October through December thepeople who run the wreath making businesses are ready for a break.
People in ancient Rome hung decorative wreaths as a signof victory; some people believe that this is where the tradition of hangingwreaths on doors came from. Pre-Christian Germanic people gathered evergreenwreaths in December and lighted fires as a sign of hope for the coming spring.These were called Advent wreaths. Christians kept these popular traditionsalive and by the 16 th century Christians in Germany were using thewreath as a symbol to celebrate their Advent hope in Christ.
The people who make wreaths live where balsam fir growlike weeds. Northern Wisconsin is one such place. Wreath making businesses arelarge operations and also one man jobs in the Phillips, Wis. Area. Rose WreathL.L.C. is one of the larger wreathsmaking businesses in the area. Dave Barber the production manager of Rosewreath says “balsam fir is used because of its fragrance, durability, and itsdark green color, other types of trees are used such as spruce but balsam isused for because it smells better. Spruce has a pungent odor, who would wantsomething with a pungent odor hanging on their door.” Rose Wreath does use redand white pine for trimming some of their products.
Baroka Wreath, ofFifield. Wis. Is another family owned wreath making business in their 30 thyear. Jean Baroka says, “We use balsam, cedar, hemlock, spruce, red and whitepine in our wreaths. Our wreath is a combination of these species ofevergreens.” Jean also adds that, “balsam fir is the most used species becauseof its durability and its prevalence in the area.” Both wreath makers agreethat balsam fir is also the easiest to work with. Baroka’s customers are deerhunters, and other walk ins, but the bulk of their business is from fundraising groups like churches and Boy Scouts.
Thesebusinesses provide seasonal employment for people living in the area. Some ofthese people are retired, some are young people, and some people are lookingfor a little extra money for Christmas. Rose wreath employs up to 30 seasonalemployees and Baroka Wreath employs from 15 to 20 people during the wreathmaking season which is October through November. There are people who cutbalsam boughs, people who make the wreaths themselves, and there aredistributors who bring the wreaths to the customers. There is also a localbusiness that supplies the wire forms to all of the local wreath makers.
The wreath making business starts in March with aninventory of what is left over from last year. List of material are made. Wirerings for wreaths and forms for other shapes such as schwags and canes arepurchased for the wreath making season. Red velvet bows, and pine cones are ordered. Flyers and brochures aresent out to potential and previous customers are sent out. Their customers aremainly non-profit organizations like church groups and Boy Scouts that sell thewreaths to raise money for their charities. They also have a mail orderbusiness that sells ornamental trees and table center pieces.
Balsam boughs are purchased in Oct., they are selectedfor their freshness because Christmas is still three months away and if theyare not fresh the needles will be falling out of the boughs by then. Boughcutters pay a $100 license to cut boughs on state land. Cutters are paid around25 cents a pound. Dave Barber said “two people came in and sold Rose Wreath 1ton of boughs for a day’s work.” That comes out to about $250/day per person.Rose Wreath buys about 20 tons of boughs a year.
The wreath makingitself is piece work in others words the makers are paid by the wreath insteadof hourly. Each type of wreath has aprice according to size and difficulty in making. Wreath sizes vary from 20inches in diameter to 4 feet in diameter. The best wreath makers make $100 aday.
The wreath seasonends around the first of December. At this time the wreaths have all beendelivered and after the long days and weeks from October through December thepeople who run the wreath making businesses are ready for a break.
This is the end of the assembly line.
This is a finished cane.
This is the begining of a cane .
