It’s one of those mundane chores that annoys even the most cheerful Christmas enthusiast but is quickly forgotten shortly after completion in the glow of the holiday spirit: watering the Christmas tree.
Everyone knows the drill. Fill up whatever container that has been designated to do the job year after year with water, get down on your hands and knees and fight your way through prickly pine needles and boxes of neatly wrapped presents, all the while tryng not to spill the sloshing pan of water before reaching your goal: the tiny stand at the base of the tree.
Now there’s an easier way to keep your tree hydrated. It’s the HandyCane, the brain child of John Arena and his business partner Erik Dieknann.
The HandyCane, a 41-inch long plastic candy cane shaped funnel, makes the daily watering of the tree a snap, and the tool doubles as a holiday decoration.
“I used to live in Boston and had a Christmas party every year and just got sick of getting on my hands and knees to water the tree,” said Arena, who left Boston four years ago to come to Nantucket and work in real estate.
The product works by using the bent part of the candy cane, which detaches from the stem, to hold a quart of water. The stem is then placed in the base of the tree and the water is poured from the bent section into the stem and into the base.
Photo by HandyCane.
annalaura brown on November 23rd, 2007 at 5:02 pm
what a clever idea. I really like the fact that it even looks like a candy cane which of course fits right in with the Christmas season.
Santa on December 4th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Is it a holiday tree? Because to me, it REALLY looks more like a Christmas tree.
Bill on December 8th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Yeah, but who invented the “holiday tree”?