Source: Futility Closet
In the late 1800s Chicago families bought their Christmas trees from the decks of schooners that had ferried them across Lake Michigan. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll meet Herman Schuenemann, known as “Captain Santa,” who brought Christmas to the city for 30 years until a fateful storm overtook him.
We’ll also peruse some possums and puzzle over a darkening phone.
Intro:
In 1991 a Yale physician proposed naming toes.
No one’s quite sure how cats navigate.
Photo: Herman Schuenemann, center, with W.K. Vanaman, left, and a Mr. Colberg, right, aboard a Christmas tree ship in the Chicago River, 1909. Sources for our story:
Fred Neuschel, Lives & Legends of the Christmas Tree Ships, 2007.
Larry Peterson, “The Legend of the Christmas Ship,” Wisconsin Magazine of History 96:2 (Winter 2012/2013), 28-39.
Glenn V. Longacre, “The Christmas Tree Ship,” Prologue 38:4 (Winter 2006), 6-12.
Shannon Marie Lange, Chicago Shipwrecks: Disasters and Their Impact on Maritime Law, dissertation, Southern New Hampshire University, 2017.
Fred Neuschel, “Sailors as Entrepreneurs in a Great Lakes Maritime Village,” Northern Mariner 8 (1998), 65-82.
Fred Hollister, “Loss of the Christmas Tree Schooner,” Sea Classics 39:5 (May 2006), 50-55.
Amy Meyer, “Rouse Simmons Mystery Still Relevant,” [Manitowoc, Wis.] Herald Times Reporter, Nov. 1, 2015.
Kevin Collier, “Is ‘Christmas Tree Ship’ a Ghost of Christmas Past?” TCA Regional News, Dec. 22, 2014.
“Lake Michigan Almost Canceled Christmas,” Battle Creek [Mich.
] Enquirer, Nov. 30, 2014.Doug Moe, “Film Tells Tale of Christmas Tree Ship,” Wisconsin State Journal, Nov. 29, 2013.
John Gurda, “‘Christmas Tree Ship’ Went Down on the Lake 100 Years Ago,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dec. 1, 2012.
Meg Jones, “Events Mark 100 Year Anniversary of Sinking of Christmas Tree Ship,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nov. 22, 2012.
Jordan Tilkens, “Centennial Celebration Commemorates Sunken Ship,” [Appleton, Wis.] Post-Crescent, Nov. 22, 2012.
Jordan Tilkens, “Two Rivers Museum Marks 100th Anniversary of ‘Christmas Tree Ship’ Sinking,” Green Bay [Wis.] Press Gazette, Nov. 21, 2012.
Tony…
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