Caption
The prickly-leaved, red-berried holly now putting in its annual appearance is as much a harbinger of Christmas as Santa Claus, greeting cards, and the living-room Yule tree. Dating from an early Teutonic custom of providing forest spirits with an evergreen refuge from the chill winter weather, the practice of hanging holly wreaths during the festive season still finds favour in the modern Canadian household. To meet the 20th century demand for this colourful traditional decoration, a thriving British Columbia holly industry annually airships thousands of holly boughs to florists across Canada to satisfy a growing domestic market.
Date
December 1, 1955
Accession Number
LAC-NFB75260
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011176131
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Workers on a small B.C. farm prune four-year-old holly trees. Ground is covered with 4 inches of sawdust to act as a mulch. Because of the seasonal nature of the demand for B.C.'s holly crop, most farms are small, run as a side-line by families, with everyone pitching in during harvesting.
Date
December 1, 1955
Accession Number
LAC-NFB75261
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011176132
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Everyone, from tots to oldsters, pitch in during harvesting. Here Dale Miller, 6, and 4-year old sister, Lynne, wheel a crate of holly boughs to packing shed for shipment. Packed in one, ten and 25-pound boxes, holly is air-shipped to florists across Canada to meet domestic needs.
Date
December 1, 1955
Accession Number
LAC-NFB75262
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011176133
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Harvesting this year's slim crop, which was hard hit by frost damage. Nancy Idiens and W. Miller are shown cutting boughs from a 30-year old tree, which will produce from 150 to 200 pounds of holly. Trees, sometimes reaching 50 feet in height, begin producing when they are ten years old.
Date
December 1, 1955
Accession Number
LAC-NFB75263
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011176134
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Photostory #37: British Columbia Holly Keeps Old Custom Alive
Photographers
,
Maker
National Film Board of Canada
Release Date
December 20, 1955
Collection
CMCP fonds
Credit Line
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives
Main Text
Budding holly tree is checked by W. Miller, Sr. Holly leaves are dipped in a hormone solution to prevent leaves and berries from dropping off after harvesting. Members of the holly growers association co-operatively pack and ship holly boughs assembled from farms in their region.
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