The Holly - Tree Inn

The first of three Holly Trees opened in Chicago in June 1872, and Gollin says that *over the next few years dozens of other Holly Trees opened in other cities, many of them after consultation with Annie.* An 1874 New York Times article refers to a *Holly-Tree Coffee-house Movement.* The name was a tribute to Charles Dickens. It echoed the title of a Charles Dickens story, *The Boots at the Holly Tree Inn.* The story merely names the inn in passing; the 1855 issue of Household Words was entitled The Holly Tree Inn and was a collection of pieces and stories about the fictitious inn. Gollin notes that Fields heard Dickens read the story on an 1867 visit to Boston, and Fields was touched by the *cheerful Christmas story about warm relationships that cross class divisions.* The name was also a reference to the beneficent holly tree at [Dickens`] graveside.