A Harebrained Scheme to Sell Christmas Trees on the Streets of New York

Every week, The Friendship Files features a conversation between The Atlantic’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship.

This week she talks with a group of friends about the holiday season more than 30 years ago when they bought a bunch of Christmas trees in New Hampshire and drove them down to New York City, thinking they could join the vibrant street-corner tree market and turn a tidy profit. Things didn’t go quite as planned, but the adventure bonded them for life. Patty and Todd, and Donna and Tom, who were dating at the time, have since married, and all the friends enjoy reminiscing about their scheme, and arguing about exactly what happened.

The Friends:

Patty Adams, 56, a publishing director who lives in Beverly, Massachusetts
Brad Anderson, 58, who owns a surfboard company and lives in York, Maine
Kevin Baker, 61, a writer who lives in New York City
Todd Balf, 58, a writer who lives in Beverly, Massachusetts
Tom Balf, 61, an environmental consultant who lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts
Jack Hitt, 62, a writer who lives in New Haven, Connecticut
Donna Heaney, 57, a veterinarian who lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Let’s set the scene. It was Christmastime on the East Coast. What year was it? Whose idea