Date of Award
Summer 2023
Degree Type
Restricted to Claremont Colleges Dissertation
Degree Name
History, PhD
Program
School of Arts and Humanities
Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair
Janet Farrell Brodie
Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member
JoAnna Poblete
Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member
Joshua Goode
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2023 Kerri Dean
Keywords
Christmas, Christmas tree, culture, evergreens, holiday, labor
Subject Categories
History | United States History
Abstract
Christmas trees are culturally significant symbol of Christmas and embedded within American culture. This dissertation uses the Christmas tree as an object to make historical connections to cultural, environmental, and economic changes. By connecting the meanings endowed to the Christmas tree, I argue that a new agricultural enterprise formed and transformed Christmas tree farms into a thriving twentieth-century industry. As Americans created a modern Christmas celebration, the Christmas tree became a central feature, and transformed a natural object to a valued cash crop and prompted a new industry. This dissertation tells the untold history of Christmas tree labor and provides deeper meaning of how Christmas trees became embedded in American culture and economy.
ISBN
9798380479509
Recommended Citation
Dean, Kerri. (2023). Commodifying the Conifer: The Rise of the Christmas Tree Industry in the United States. CGU Theses & Dissertations, 582. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/582.
