Christmas trees appear in Milwaukee by the tens of thousands every December, but only one is official. The tradition of a municipal evergreen began in 1910, when Emil Seidel, the city’s newly elected Socialist mayor, read an article in some forgotten magazine about a schoolteacher who had decorated a tree in her hometown’s village square “to cheer the sojourner who could not be home for Christmas.”
The story “fired my imagination,” Seidel recalls in his memoirs. A tree was hastily erected in the Court of Honor at Ninth and Wisconsin, directly in front of the Central Library, and it was dedicated on Christmas Eve with carols, a band performance and a “Merry Christmas talk” by the mayor himself. The event was a rousing success, setting the precedent for every celebration that followed.
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For many years, Milwaukee’s tree was actually a composite creation: a wooden armature stacked with hundreds of cut conifers, forming a perfect cone shape seldom found in nature. The Telephone Company assembled it – they had the ladders – and the Electric Company provided the lights. This photo shows the 1949 specimen, towering above the Court of Honor. The annual lighting ceremony regularly attracted crowds of 25,000 or more.
After nearly a half-century on Wisconsin Avenue, the tree pulled up roots, moving first to the courthouse lawn, then to what is now UW-Milwaukee’s Panther Arena, then Red Arrow Park, and finally outside City Hall. This year, for the first time, it will stand outside Fiserv Forum. The composite tradition ended in 1981, when public-spirited residents began to donate real trees that had grown too big for their front yards.
The details of the tradition may have changed over the years, but not its spirit. Ever since 1910, the underlying message of the city Christmas tree has been the same: A light shines in the darkness, and it beams forth peace on earth, good will to all.
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK:
- The Schroeder Hotel, now the Milwaukee Hilton, opened in 1928 as the city’s most prominent Art Deco building.
- The statue of George Washington has stood silent sentinel in the Court of Honor since 1885.
- Babushka headscarves and fedoras were popular fashion choices in 1949.
- Dedicated in 1868, St. James Episcopal Church was a major Wisconsin Avenue landmark for decades. It is now an event venue.
- Fur coats were occasionally seen in those pre-PETA days.
IN COLLABORATION WITH MILWAUKEE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
