Glenda Bartle stepped from her car Sunday morning, strode onto Bob’s Tree Lot on the North Side and made a beeline for a row of Fraser firs.
After a quick perusal, she pulled a tree from its resting place, shook the branches down, and gave a powerful sniff.
“Beautiful,” she exclaimed.
In expert fashion, Bartle then ran her hand across the branches, making sure no needles fell to the ground. Satisfied, she plucked a needle from a branch and broke it in half.
“I like it,” she said, a smile creeping across her face. “Oh wait. Look at those broken branches on the bottom.”
Back went the tree.
And so it went for the next half hour at the North Halsted Street lot. The Lakeview couple–already visiting their third lot of the day–was performing an annual ritual: searching for that “perfect Christmas tree.”
They weren’t the only ones.
Although Christmas is just a mere five days away, residents in Chicago and the suburbs were out in force Sunday picking over the few tree lot remains, and–despite the tardiness of their actions–still being picky.
“You only buy one a year, so you want it to look just right,” said Patrick Bartle, a Chicago banker. “We’d spend all day looking for the right one if we had to.”
In Bartle’s case, the “right one” turned out to be the evergreen his wife had first selected. After scrutinizing another dozen trees on the lot, Glenda Bartle decided a slight trim off the bottom would fix her first choice right up.
When you’re looking for the “right one,” beauty, as they say, is in the eyes of the beholder.
Some shoppers opt for big and bushy, others favor tall and thin. Some like prickly needles, others go for soft. A luscious green hue appeals to some, while others seek a bluish tint. Short needles, long needles. Aromatic, fragrance-free. Perfectly straight. A bit askew.
“It’s like picking a wife,” joked tree lot worker Brent Levy. “Everybody is looking for something a little different.”
At one time, most buyers opted for the traditional Christmas tree–a smooth, soft, bristled evergreen shaped like an upside-down ice cream cone. These days, though, the spikier look seems to be in vogue, say local tree lot owners.
And the hottest seller this year is by far, the Fraser fir. In fact, by Sunday afternoon several tree lots in Chicago were sold out.
The Fraser fir, native to South Carolina, is popular for several reasons. It has a two-toned hue of green and blue. It is very symmetrical, extremely aromatic and doesn’t shed needles. And though the needles are smooth, the tree holds ornaments well.
Of course, popularity comes at a price. Fraser firs can run as much as $13 per foot.
“It’s the Cadillac of Christmas trees,” explained Ted Kamberos, who for 25 years has run the LaSalle Maple Tree Lot on the city’s Near North Side. “It’s the trendy tree and everybody wants one.”
Well, not everybody.
Rick Alvarado and Kristen Lietzau sought a more modest type of holiday decoration. The Bucktown couple, who typically buy a 6- to 8-footer, opted for a hip-high Christmas tree this year.
“It’s not the most beautiful tree we’ve ever bought, but there was just something about it that made us stop and say `that’s the one,’ ” Alvarado explained.
Well truth be told, the lateness of their shopping spree played a small role.
“We don’t have time to decorate a big one,” joked Lietzau.
