© 2024, Christian Cassidy
Lighting a civic Christmas tree at Winnipeg's city hall is a tradition that dates back 99 years to a much darker time in history. Here's a look back at how it began.
December 22, 1915, Winnipeg Tribune.
On Tuesday, December 21, 1915, at 7:30 p.m., Mayor Richard Waugh lit Winnipeg's first official civic Christmas tree. It was described in one newspaper article as a 69-foot fir (another article pegged it at closer to 50 feet) with 1,000 to 2,000 red, white, and green lights and decorated with little flags of the allied nations. The Free Press wrote that it would "Stand with majestic stateliness in supreme command of the entrance to the city hall."
The tree was a fundraiser for the Returned Soldiers' Association of Winnipeg, an organisation created six months earlier with the help of Waugh who acted as its first chair.
The Returned Soldiers' Association's first mandate was to look after soldiers who had returned from the war, which in the early years were mostly the injured.
Volunteers met every train carrying soldiers that arrived in the city to provide greetings, tea, and sandwiches, even for those who were continuing further west. (This is a job that Harriet Waugh, the mayor's wife, took very seriously as she attended many of these arrivals at all hours of the day and night.) For those who got off at Winnipeg, automobile rides were arranged to bring them home or temporary lodging was found for those who had no family here and had to start all over.
The organisation also worked with clinics and hospitals to ensure that those who were invalided had companionship and could go on organised patient outings, such as theatre nights or sports days. Over time, it began offering skills training and used its network to find employment opportunities for them.
The second mandate of the organisation was to look after those left behind; the wives and children of the living and the widows and orphans of the dead. Throughout the year they were treated to activities such as theatre outings and picnics, and, if required, extra groceries and other necessities such as coal or wood would be provided.
Christmas was an especially tough time for those left on the home front, particularly the children. As Waugh said at the tree lighting, "Many kiddies will miss their daddies this Christmas and we are going to make them as happy as is possible under the circumstances."
Tree on display circa 1929, (commercial postcard image)
By late Christmas Eve, $959 (around $25,500 in today's money) had been collected. This exceeded the expectations of the organisers as they knew wartime household budgets were tight and they were competing against many better-known charities for funds at that time of year.
The money meant that seven tons of food was purchased and delivered to families on Christmas Eve by volunteer drivers. Each hamper included a bag of flour, a bag of sugar, a bag of oatmeal, a roast of beef, several pounds of sausages, fruits, vegetables, and other grocery items plus some small toys for the children.
In the first run of the day, 109 hampers were delivered. A second, smaller run had to be arranged as drivers were told of other families in need while on their rounds.
December 20, 1915, Winnipeg Tribune
The Women's Volunteer Reserve was hosting a Santa Claus party at the CPR's Royal Alexandra Hotel on Main Street at Higgins Avenue on the Saturday evening before the city hall event. When organisers showed up that morning to decorate the ballroom, the Christmas tree they ordered had not arrived.
The women asked around about the missing tree and were informed that there was an extremely large fir lying behind the Industrial Bureau building, which was located near present-day Main Street and Graham Avenue about a mile south of the hotel. A group went to investigate, found no one on duty, and concluded that it must be their tree.
They commandeered several men and a wagon off the street and together they pushed, pulled, and dragged the tree up Main Street causing traffic jams as they went.
When the party arrived at the hotel, they realised just how big the tree was. It was too long and wide to fit through the front doors. An axe was obtained but before the tree could be cut down to size, officials caught up with them and demanded that the tree be brought back down Main Street to city hall.
December 9, 1916, Winnipeg Tribune
The first civic Christmas tree was such a success that in 1916 it was erected ten days earlier on Monday, December 11th and the gathering space around the tree was improved to attract bigger crowds.
The main tree was a little smaller, only 40 feet in height, but it was flanked by two smaller trees and the entire city hall square was lit up with decorations. A canopy was built for the musicians and speakers and Boy Scouts manned the coin box.
The tree lighting ceremony was again led by Mayor Waugh but this time it was also attended by a large gathering of soldiers who did a march past in front of Premier Bracken at Portage and Main.
The fund was more popular than ever. Rather than relying on individual donations, many organisations got involved by donating proceeds from plays, movie showings, concerts, bonspiels, hockey games, raffles, dinners, and teas. By the time the tree was lit, there was already $6,000 raised, around $146,000 in today's money.
The additional money was greatly needed as by Christmas 1916, some 2,500 soldiers had returned from the war and thousands of others were overseas. The additional time allowed for a better coordinated distribution of food and the addition of more toys, some of them made by returned soldiers themselves in special toy workshops.
Circa 1950, City of Winnipeg Archives
The civic Christmas tree tradition seems to have lasted until Christmas 1918. By then, the war was over and 8,112 soldiers had returned to the city. Other funds, such as the Christmas Cheer Fund, had grown in size and scope to provide hampers to struggling households and other soldiers' charities and associations took over hosting of Christmas events for families.
The tree was brought back in 1928 by Mayor Daniel McLean and appears to have carried on through the Depression and Second World War until around 1950. Newspaper stories do not mention any fundraising component to these later trees, but the city hall square was decorated and choirs and bands performed.
The tree was brought back in 1928 by Mayor Daniel McLean and appears to have carried on through the Depression and Second World War until around 1950. Newspaper stories do not mention any fundraising component to these later trees, but the city hall square was decorated and choirs and bands performed.
Civic Christmas tree in new city hall courtyard, 1967 (City of Winnipeg Archives)
Newspaper mentions of a civic Christmas tree disappeared again in 1951, but in 1957 Mayor Stephen Juba combined the lighting of a tree with the lighting of the new downtown Christmas lights.
There was no tree in 1962 and 1963 due to the construction of the current city hall, but it returned in 1964 with the tree originally located inside the new city hall's courtyard and has been an annual event to this day.
A major change to the tradition came in 2019 when the city switched from a natural tree, usually donated by a homeowner who needed it removed from their property, to an artificial one. It originally stood at 28 feet tall but in 2021 the additional bands were added to bring it to the 50-foot mark.
The new tree cost $175,000 and is expected to last for 40 years. It includes more than 8,000 decorations and 64,000 lights.
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