C. Sincere

C. SINCERE
11458 S. Halstead St.
Chicago 43, IL

What do golf and aluminum Christmas trees have in common? Why, that would be the self-described Henry Ford of Aluminum Trees, Zigfield Troy! Owner of Sheldon Heights Golf Range and Christmas Tree Land, Zigfield was an innovator of aluminum Christmas trees!
C. Sincere trees, in any size or color, are exceptionally rare.

Former Illinois PGA President Zigfield Troy was an early player in Chicagoland’s aluminum Christmas tree game. Zigfield’s son, Dennis, describes his father as “a handshake guy.” Early on, Zig and Chester Hankus partnered to market the Starlite, also advertised as Star-Light and Starlight Christmas Tree.

Zigfield Troy. Image courtesy of the Troy Family

The Company

In the mid-to-late 1950’s, Hankus was doing the manufacturing and Zig had exclusive distribution of Starlite trees at Christmas Tree Land, at the corner of 115th and Halstead in Sheldon Heights, on the golf range property. Around 1960, Hankus and Ziggy parted ways.
Undaunted, Ziggy doubled down and resolved to build a better tree, and the C. Sincere was born. Dennis sums up Zig’s can-do attitude thusly, “If you can accept what the game of golf throws at you, then you can handle the ethics of life. Dad translated that philosophy into business.”

Ziggy was no stranger to diversification. In addition to the golf range and Christmas Tree Land, Troy also established a hamburger joint on the Halstead property. Aptly named ‘The Putt-In,’ it had humble beginnings as an ice-cream stand.

After a time, Ziggy saw the opportunity to do some crossover marketing at the Putt-Inn and installed a picture window for the display of a C. Sincere Silver Noble Fir tree year-round. Son Dennis remembers having to crawl through the window to set up the outer side of the tree.
Dennis Troy offered a tasty bit of trivia regarding The Putt-In. According to Dennis, Zig was called on by a salesman by the name of Ray Kroc, who was selling malted mixers at the time. Kroc was using his contacts in the malted mixer game to “hit on the indie hamburger guys to partner with McDonald’s.” While Zigfield did not bite on the pitch, the local “meat man” ended up owning six McDonald’s franchises.

Christmas Tree Land, “A Big Happening”

Upon winter’s arrival, the Sheldon Heights Pro Shop was emptied, then filled with aluminum Christmas trees. Christmas Tree Land also carried fresh-cut trees. The pro shop would be surrounded by Scotch Pines from Michigan and Balsams from Nova Scotia, brought in by freight cars.

The Christmas tree sales were a spirited event. The high school kids who worked as caddies would also work at Christmas Tree Land. None of the fresh-cut trees would be priced, and the caddies would have to get a price from Zig. Dennis Troy describes the scene “like a cattle auction,” with the caddies holding up trees for Zig to call out a price, surrounded by exuberant tree buyers. As Troy called out a price for a tree, caddies would relay the amount to an interested party, who would have to decide on the spot whether to buy. If they passed, another buyer would have their money ready.

Family

Zigfield Troy and wife Edith had 3 children, Dennis, Tim, and daughter Edie. As a small child, Edie appeared in an early Starlight newspaper ad.

Dennis worked alongside his dad in the golf and Christmas tree enterprises from early childhood, and took over when Zigfield passed away. Mr. Dennis Troy’s acute memory was absolutely vital to finding out anything at all about C. Sincere.

Today, Dennis Troy shares the title of Head Golf Pro with his brother, Tim, at the Zigfield Troy Golf Range in Woodridge, IL. He is also the Grounds Superintendent. Dennis is a lifetime member of the Golf Course Superintendents of America, and a Quarter-Century member of the PGA. Dennis Troy still ships in fresh-cut trees for annual Christmas tree sales.

Dennis Troy describes Zigfield as always having big ideas, which were commonly discussed at the dinner table. Whether developing golf courses, selling burgers or Christmas trees, Zig was always thinking about the next big project.

Hallmarks of C. Sincere

QUALITY

The C. Sincere is of a caliber beyond compare. Zigfield Troy was an innovator. His trees were designed and marketed to surpass the Revlis standard, and Zig’s pride in his products is reflected in advertising.

C. Sincere offered customizable upgrades, such as woven-in ornaments. An example of this custom upgrade is on display at the Park Forest Historical Society in Park Forest, IL. The PFHS graciously contributed photos of their German Black Forest Brilliant Noble Fir to our gallery!

BRANCHES

Most C. Sincere models featured a unique bracketed branch system best illustrated with photos. The result of this configuration was 365 Branches, one for each day of the year!

POLES

The 1-pole design is another distinctive facet of C. Sincere trees. Metal reinforcements at the holes provided extra support for the heavy branches.

BOXES

Due to the intricate design of the branches, along with a tapered configuration, C. Sincere trees had a multi-box storage system.

Image courtesy Park Forest Historical Society

Production

C. Sincere aluminum trees were manufactured and assembled approximately 2 miles from the Sheldon Heights Golf Range. Dennis Troy remembers vividly that the Emerald Green was not palatable to Zig. He wanted a darker green. Eyeing the desired color on a golf cart at the driving range, Zig summarily peeled off a chip of the paint and sent it to Reynolds Aluminum to be matched.

Production models have been cataloged using Christmas Tree Land ads.

Brilliant Noble Fir is the first C. Sincere model, appearing in a 1960 ad as a “First Public Showing.”

Another ad exclaims, “Exclusive from Christmas Tree Land!”

By 1963, the Brilliant Noble Fir model was advertised as available in German Black Forest Green, along with the Scotch Pine in silver and green. It is unknown at this time if the Scotch Pine was a dual-colored tree, or a model offered in both green and silver versions.

In 1965, ads offered The Brilliant Noble Fir in custom sizes from 3 to 16 feet tall in Black Forest Green, Emerald Green, and Silver.

An economy model was offered called the Silver Scotch. It had a traditional configuration with only 1 branch stem per hole, but still featured a solid, 1-piece pole.

A mind-blowing anecdote that Dennis Troy recalled was that all Brilliant Noble Firs were imprinted with “Noble Fir” on every needle.

Do visit the C. Sincere Gallery of Ads!