The Tradition Behind the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree
Workers excavating the site for Rockefeller Center are lined up to receive their wages. The Christmas Tree in the photo was the first to be mounted there on December 24, 1931. Photo Credit . . . Associated Press
During the Depression, when Rockefeller Center was being built, the construction workers pooled their money and bought a 20-foot balsam fir tree to put on the construction site on Christmas Eve. After all, what better way to bring cheer to the city’s residents who were already struggling during hard economic times! Little did these workers know that their fun idea would go on to become an annual tradition.
What did they use as ornaments?
The workers’ families made the garlands out of paper and strung cranberries. Ornaments included tin cans as well. In other words, whatever was available.
Was there a tree in 1932?
The tree was to be a one-time thing so none was erected in 1932. The idea of a tree resonated with the public and with officials. So in 1933, after the completion of the early buildings of Rockefeller Center, an official tree, 50-feet tall, was selected and was decorated to celebrate the first holiday season. It was lit with 700 electric lights.
How have the decorations changed over the years?
Since 2004, the first 550-pound Swarovski Star adorned the top of the tree. It featured 25,000 crystals and 1 million facets and was 9.5 feet in diameter. The following year, the addition of LED lights made the star look as if it were radiating light from its core to its tips. The most recent Swarovski Star was designed by architect Daniel Libeskind. The star tops the tree and is backlit by LEDs, with three million Swarovski crystals across seventy triangular spikes.
When was the first tree lighting ceremony?
It was in 1951 that NBC televised the tree lighting with a special on The Kate Smith Show.
In 1969, wire herald angels were added by the artist Valerie Clarout to the Channel Gardens at the Fifth Avenue Promenade entrance opposite the tree..
The 1971 tree, a 65-footer from East Montpelier, Vermont, was the first to be mulched and recycled.
The tree usually makes its journey on a truck bed. But in 1998 it was flown in from Richfield, Ohio, on the world's largest transport plane.
1999 was Rockefeller Center's tallest tree, a 100-foot spruce from Killingworth, Connecticut.
In 2001, following the September 11 attacks, the tree was again decorated patriotically in red, white and blue.
In 2007, the tree converted to energy-efficient lighting with LEDs. Each year since 2007, the tree has been milled into lumber and donated to Habitat for Humanity.
The tree lighting ceremony starts with a five-second countdown that is followed by the singing of Joy to the World sung by the Main Street Gospel Choir. The lighting takes place the last ten minutes of the program.
On November 16, 2020, the workers discovered a northern saw-whet owl within the wrapped branches during its installation.. The owl was dehydrated and hungry. The bird was nicknamed Rockefeller (Rocky) and was subsequently taken to a wildlife center for a check-up and nursed to full strength before being released on the grounds of the wildlife center in Saugerties, NY.
What is this year’s tree — 2021?
The 2021 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, donated by a family in Elkton, Maryland. is a 79-foot Norway Spruce. It arrived at Rock Center on November 13th and will be lit on December 1st . This is the first time that the Tree originates from Maryland. It will be on display until January 16, 2022.
Here is the link for information about the Tree Lighting:
🎄 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting | NYC Winter Events