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New Year compositions in Brooklyn: fir that stays until 7 January
New Year compositions in Brooklyn are often meant for a recipient from Russia or the former USSR, and Brighton Beach holds the largest concentration of that community anywhere in the United States. The fir marks New Year rather than Christmas for that audience: a letter in Pravda on 28 December 1935 turned it into a secular New Year tree. The season itself runs from 31 December through Orthodox Christmas on 7 January to the old New Year on the night of 13–14 January. That two-week stretch decides the shopping list before anything else: what gets carried through a door in one evening, and what stands on a table until the fir finally comes down.
A wreath, a bouquet or a basket to carry to a Brooklyn door
Guests heading to a host in Greenpoint or Carroll Gardens need something that holds its shape on the subway or in a cab:
- A bouquet of noble fir — it will want a vase.
- A gold box — can be set down straight away.
- A floral bag — with noble fir.
- A fir basket — set down right away.
A wreath needs no vase at all, and noble fir is the usual branch for one. It is one of the firs best at holding its needles, and its stiff stems are what let a florist bend them into a ring rather than a bunch. Hotels, hospital wards and an order placed from outside the city each work a little differently, and the particulars sit on the hotels, wards and orders from abroad page.
Table pieces and branch trees are built the same way: noble fir branches are pushed into a block of wet floral foam rather than stood in a jug of water. Brooklyn's own run from Novy God to 7 January and on to the old New Year is set out on the New Year compositions in Brooklyn hub, so what matters here is simply keeping the foam wet for as long as the fir stays up.
The foam takes a thin stream of water poured over its whole exposed top every day, and the pot is never tipped to top it up. Once the foam has dried out, it stops taking water back almost completely, leaving the branches with nothing to drink from.
Branches carrying ilex berries belong on a high shelf where there are small children or pets in the house, since the berries bring on nausea if swallowed.
Bento cakes and New Year gifts for the evening itself
A bento cake is sized for one hand, boxed in cardboard, with a short greeting piped in cream on top. It is built for the evening the courier arrives, not for sitting alongside the fir through the following fortnight.
A cream cake should not stand at room temperature for more than two hours, so someone needs to be home to take it in. Order it alongside a composition from the same delivery through New Year gifts.
Thanking colleagues before the break: New Year corporate gifts
A company sending gifts to several colleagues can route them from one order to different desks or home addresses, with delivery costed separately for each address on the list rather than folded into a single flat fee. New Year corporate gifts can be invoiced to the company itself, and closing documents are prepared on request to the manager.
The florist photographs each composition before the courier sets off, and a card goes in with every order at no extra charge. Date and time are chosen at checkout for any zone, and the earlier the order goes in, the more slots are still open; the charge for the delivery zone appears before payment, on the delivery terms page.
Decorating a flat for the fortnight starts with tabletop arrangements, while New Year compositions in Brooklyn carried to a host's door are New Year bouquets, and an evening that wants a cake as well points to New Year gifts.