7 Things That Happen Inside a Maine Wreath Factory Every November
In 2011, an experienced wreath maker in Washington County could turn out 150 to 200 wreaths in a day.
Here’s what happens inside a Maine wreath factory every November.
1. Buying Tips by the Pound
Whitney Wreath, which runs a wreath factory in Machias, expected to buy more than 1 million pounds of tips in 2012.
Tips run 12 to 20 inches long and sell by weight, and buyers specify the quality and stacking method they want.
At Gay’s Wreaths in Machias, the owner weighed in one lobsterman’s pickup load at 583 pounds, according to a 2011 profile in Yankee.
The going rate that year was 35 cents a pound, so the check came to $204.05.
A December 2024 report in the Sun Journal said tips can sell for about 75 cents a pound.
If you plan to sell tips, find a buyer before tipping season begins.
What the Tips in a 24-Inch Wreath Cost
A 24-inch wreath takes about four pounds of tips, a 2012 report said.
Wreath makers paid 30 to 40 cents a pound for fresh tips that year.
At those prices, the tips in a 24-inch wreath for your door cost a wreath maker roughly $1.20 to $1.60.
2. Wire Around a Metal Ring
At a Washington County wreath shop in 2011, one wreath maker tucked the tips around a metal ring and bound them tightly with wire.
She wore gloves and an apron to protect against pitch and bristles.
A 2010 Fox News report described Whitney Wreath’s 75,000-square-foot warehouse as complete with conveyor belts and wreath-binding machines.
If you’ve bought a wreath, you’ve likely carried home a ring of tips held together with wire.
3. 150 to 200 Wreaths a Day
In 2011, an experienced wreath maker in Washington County could turn out 150 to 200 wreaths a day and earn about $2 for each.
If you matched that pace, you’d earn roughly $300 to $400 a day.
That Harrington order lists a wage of $17.35 an hour for the wreath makers it requests.
A Maine JobLink listing for the same work lists $26.03 an hour for hours beyond 40 in a week.
4. Bows and Berries
In 2010, workers at Whitney Wreath’s warehouse could put together a finished wreath, bow and berries included, in roughly 10 minutes, or about six an hour.
Whitney developed a machine that places decorations on finished wreaths automatically, according to a Mainebiz profile.
The company ordered its decorations and made its bows in spring and summer.
So the bow on your wreath could be months older than the tips under it.
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5. Pine Cones, Mini-Trees and Centerpieces
In 2010, Whitney Wreath had 500 seasonal workers who made wreaths, mini-trees and centerpieces sold across the country.
In 2012, one Whitney worker was busy preparing pine cones of various sizes for the wreath production line.
That year, Whitney planned to employ as many as 600 seasonal workers at its 75,000-square-foot facility in Machias.
6. Memorial Wreaths
Worcester Wreath, a Harrington company, sold 325,000 wreaths in 2011 to decorate the graves of veterans, a 2012 Bangor Daily News report said.
Those wreaths went to more than 800 military cemeteries across the country.
In 2012, the company's owner expected six weeks of wreath making to begin in a big way in mid-November.
The company also supplied wreaths to Wreaths Across America.
7. Trailerloads Out the Door
On a busy day in 2012, Whitney Wreath said it would ship between eight and 16 UPS trailerloads of individually packaged products.
A 2013 radio report said Whitney would ship up to 12 tractor-trailer loads of wreaths a day during the Christmas season.
Whitney packed wreaths individually in plastic-lined boxes to preserve moisture.
When Tipping Can Begin
The tips in your wreath are ready to cut after three freezing nights, when the needles' waxy layer thickens, a University of Maine expert told the Sun Journal in 2024.
Tips harvested before that stage lose their needles quickly.
If you cut them in October, the wreath on your door could shed.
The Maine Christmas Tree Association's standards say to wait until after November 1.
Those standards require at least three straight nights at 20 degrees or colder first.
A 2011 Yankee profile put wreath making in Washington County in November and December.
Tipping season usually lasts until mid-December.
Seized Brush
Maine Forest Service rangers were kept busy each day from late October to mid-December confiscating wreath greens from trespassers, a 2013 public radio report said.
The tips in a wreath fall under Maine's evergreen bough law, which covers the boughs or tips of all species of coniferous trees cut for commercial purposes.
To cut them on someone else's land, you need written permission or a bill of sale from the owner.
You need the same paperwork to transport them, and cutting or hauling without it is a Class E crime.
A December 2024 report said the Maine Forest Service had about 13 complaints of illegal evergreen bough theft, eight of them in Washington and Hancock counties.
Rangers take seized brush to a nearby wreath maker.
If a court finds the suspect guilty, the money from that brush goes to the landowner.
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