Dollar bill Christmas tree, 1953

2 images. Dollar bill Christmas tree, 18 December 1953. Eileen Gibson (waitress given tree with bills on by Pacific Electric Employees). Supplementary material reads: "Gershon. City desk. Early Monday. Illus. Caption only. Eileen Gibson who meets all the trainmen at her lunch-counter in the Pacific Electric Station, San Pedro, can verify that 'it does grown on trees'. Money, that is, and a Christmas tree specifically. Last year Eileen put a small Christmas tree on the counter. Trainman James Hefferin, 2623 West 79th Street, Inglewood, suggested that it would look better decorated with a dollar bill. The idea spread among the trainmen who hung dollar bills on the tree's branches as a Christmas 'tip'. Eileen, of 568 West 26th Street, San Pedro, countered by using the money for free 'sandwiches and cokes' Christmas Day for the trainmen as they terminated their runs in San Pedro. They're doing it again this year and photo shows Eileen watching as trainman Glenn Hagle, 936 Park Circle, Long Beach, adds his 'buck' to the branches."