Art, Family, holidays, Nature, Uncategorized

How Do They Do That?

29 Comments

I have mentioned before that we order a fresh Christmas tree every year from Williams-Sonoma.  I consider it a Christmas present to ourselves. It is always a Frasier Fir from North Carolina,  and it is delivered by UPS.  Ben, in the past,  has wondered how this is possible. Well, the tree arrived yesterday and I will now show the Baboons how this works.

I ordered an 8-9 foot tree this year. Last year’s tree was only 7 feet tall, and it wasn’t big enough in height or diameter for the ornaments I like to hang every year.  The tree arrived Tuesday in this box:

At about 12:00 Wednesday, Husband opened it up with a box cutter. The tree wasn’t tied or secured in any way in the box.

The tree always has a really straight trunk, but some trimming is usually necessary.  We took off about 5 inches at the bottom.

Then,  Husband dragged it into the living room:

I had to cut off about 4 inches from the very top of the tree, or else it would scrape the ceiling. By 12:30, we put it in the tree stand, and we waited for it to relax.  Our Tortie tried to help.

By 3:00 pm, it started to look pretty good.

We will let it relax for the next day or so, turn it so that its best side is facing forward, and decorate it on Friday.

How do you think they got  that tree into that box? Tell about some interesting experiences you have had with shippers and boxes. What has amazed you lately?

29 thoughts on “How Do They Do That?”

  1. If I were doing this, I’d funnel that baby in from one of the ends (if I were doing a bunch of them, as William-Sonoma surely is, I’d have a purpose built chute to make this happen).

    My first thought was, “wait, who orders a TREE by mail”, but then I remembered you are in North Dakota. My college roommate was from western North Dakota, and we used to give her such a hard time about the existence of trees.

    also sledding

    I briefly entertained the idea of a “real” tree this year, but your calico assistant reminds me we have 2 delinquents who would most likely really, REALLY enjoy a real tree.

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    2. The tree was interesting to Miss Millie for the first couple of hours, and now she and her kitty companion, Luna, ignore it. Where in Western ND was your friend from?

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    1. So do the elves travel in the box with the tree?

      How do they get home after reassembling the tree?

      Do they get per diem for the travel time?

      yes, I am seriously concerned about the working conditions for these elves!!!

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  3. I’m with M.I.G on this one. We’ve bought fresh “cut your own” trees from a nearby tree farm in years past. To secure the tree on top of our car for driving it home, the tree farmer puts the tree into a device, base first, that wraps it in elastic netting so it looks like Renee’s tree fresh out of the box. When we get the tree home, we cut off the netting, and the tree springs back to its proper shape. Williams-Sonoma probably does a similar maneuver but either pulls the netting off once the tree’s inside the box or doesn’t even need to use netting. . . .

    Or the elves thing.

    What annoys me is receiving packages that are incredibly overpackaged. A box within a box within a box for something that is nowhere near the same zip code as fragile. The package ends up weighing twice as much as it should, which ends up costing me twice as much in shipping.

    What also frosts my cookies are shipping charges that are as costly or more costly than the item I want to buy! Seriously?

    Chris in Owatonna

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  4. I’ve had trees baled – that’s what the tree guy calls it when they put it through that device. I suppose the device is called a baler. It makes them much easier to get tied onto the car, not to mention through the door when you get home. I think when I had my Buick station wagon it was actually big enough to put the tree in the back if it was baled. With he back seats down of course.

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  5. I like it when I get something shipped in a box with those little air pillows. It seems like a much better packing material that those annoying packing peanuts. The pillows can be reused, although they eventually deflate.

    There’s an idea if you are shipping a gift – get some latex balloons and partially inflate them for the packing material. The receiver can then inflate them all the way, making a balloon bouquet for a bonus gift.

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  6. That is impressive! I didn’t think you could fold up a tree to that extent. That is a nice looking tree too.

    I like the elves idea…
    The whole concept of the power of packaging is kind of fun. The strength behind some things when they’re all intact is amazing. Like that cardboard box. It’s all good, but once you start to split the top… it all gives way. It’s easier to get the tree out of the box than it is to put it back in!

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  7. We got our tree at Bachmans- they use the same bailer that has been described here although instead of the plastic that used to be used they now use a red and green mesh that is hopefully a like more eco-friendly. But I really like the elves idea better.

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  8. I guess my box memories aren’t about shipping boxes, but oh well.
    It’s no secret toddlers and kittens/cats love an empty box. We have home movies with my 18-month-old sister ignoring her big gift of a doll (with accessories and clothing) and going straight for the big box, eventually falling in. And my nephew’s after school program had connected a series of large appliance-sized boxes together to make the coolest play house that the kids loved – I even wanted to go in…

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  9. My son lives in a new multi building complex. Identical buildings labeled A to L. He is in apartment I-101. So there are 11 apartments numbered 101. The mailman’s the post office this morning commented on his I-101. Was it I- or 1-? I explained it to him. A mess especially for those in I he thought. Yup. He has had mail returned because the sender thought it was 1-101.
    Three days ago appeared outside his apartment a large box with nothing on it for sender or address. It is from a furniture outlet. He called. They have no record of anything being sent to that street address. My son had his groceries delivered to a house three blocks away. They brought them to him. So there sits the 5 foot square box on his door step. And he cannot lift things right now.

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    1. Update. The company told him to just keep it. Some big piece of furniture. The box has a sky number on it which the store says is not in their inventory. But he cannot lift it nor would he want apiece of furniture in his small apartment.

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  10. The denouement is unsatisfyingly prosaic. His ex wife came over to drag it into his apartment. Some scheme of her on no doubt. But they tipped it onto another side. There was the shipping labeling on the side that was down. Apt. G-202. So why was the company not able to find an order to the same street address different apartment number? Nate went to G 202, no one home but he had to climb up and down a flight when he is not supposed to doing stairs

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  11. Late to the Party, Baboons,

    Busy day, here. I cannot have a fresh pine in the house—allergic to them, and I am already being treated for a sinus infection, after (dramatic pause) needing to clean my own house after not allowing the cleaning lady in due to COVID risks (hand to forehead. Big sigh).

    Two years ago while in AZ, I ordered a large new area rug for the living room of the condo. We were going to be away for the weekend visiting friends in their camper in Quartzite AZ. I timed this order carefully because I did not want the rug to arrive while we were away, and the dog sitter needed to be able to get in and out of the condo, unimpeded by a delivered rug. Therefore, the rug was delivered early on exactly the day I did not want it delivered. The delivery man placed it immediately in front of the door, impeding the ability to open the door, although there was plenty of room to place it out of the way. The dog sitter and the dogs had to climb over the rug and squeeze through the partial opening for 2 days.

    At least I like the rug.

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