John D. Rockefeller, Jr. grew up with Christmas firmly a part of his family’s culture. An 1885 school essay speaks of Christmas being celebrated with family and sleigh rides. But Christmas was never on his mind years later as he envisioned the “city within a city” that would become Rockefeller Center.
In 1928, about a year before the famed market crash of October 1929, Rockefeller leased land in the heart of New York City intending to build a showcase development that would have the Metropolitan Opera as its centerpiece. But with the market crash the Opera backed out and Rockefeller hesitated due to his own losses of the times.
But after giving it lots of thought Rockefeller re-drew his plans envisioning what would become the largest private construction project in history up to that time, a dream that the place would become the jewel of New York City and a grand stage for all that came culturally from New York.
Started in May of 1930 and completed only after 9 years and hundreds of millions of dollars, the Rockefeller Center has indeed become all John D. Rockefeller, Jr. hoped it would.
But in 1931 few had the vision of Rockefeller held.
Over time the project would create 75,000 jobs and after the crash of 1929 and the uncertainty of the early 1930s those who worked the project were just grateful to be employed.
Construction workers on the project found a large, 20-foot unsold Christmas tree from a local lot and erected it spontaneously on the lot of the project, decorating the tree with cranberry garlands, paper decorations and old tin cans found about the lot.
It was a classic New Yorker moment of humanity. Workers united in holiday cheer famously making a symbol of hope during times of hopelessness – a kind of precursor to the great human efforts made post-9/11 in New York decades later.
It would be a romantic twist to the tradition that has become the Rockefeller Christmas Tree to say that this was the first of what has become an annual tradition of glorious Christmas trees.
But the truth is far from that. In fact, in 1932, there was no Christmas tree at all.
Most historians stop right there in telling the story of the world’s most famous Christmas tree. And that’s too bad. The Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center has continued to make history through the decades.
Perhaps the 1931 tree inspired the events of 1933, when the not-yet completed Rockefeller Center opened the first Christmas season with a lighted tree in front of the Art Deco RCA building, complete with a tree lighting ceremony. The tree featured 1200 lights that year, an unheard of amount at that time.
A few years later in 1936 two 70-foot trees were erected for the opening of the Rockefeller Plaza Outdoor Ice Skating Pond. A skating pageant was held as part of the official lighting ceremony, which had now become a New York holiday tradition.
In the years since the tree has kept up with the concerns and the politics of the times. In 1942, with the U.S. now involved in World War II, three large trees were erected, one each in red, white and blue. These trees were unlighted and decorated with “non-essential” materials, all in support of the war effort and dedicated to the troops marching off to war.
In 1951 the tree became a television star. The Kate Smith Show made the lighting ceremony a showcase and began the tradition of television coverage of the event. That annual televised event not only made the tree famous it turned Rockefeller Center into one of the most sought after tourist attractions in New York, especially at Christmastime.
Decorations on the tree have varied over time. Animal shaped ornaments were popular in the 1930s while 10 foot long metal icicles adorned the tree in the 1950s which sometimes caused some hazards in stormy weather.
In 1966 the tree used in the center came from Canada, the first time and the longest distance from New York a tree has ever traveled to be part of New York’s Christmas. The tree was in honor of Canada’s 100th anniversary of its Confederation.
During the oil embargo in 1973 Rockefeller Center announced that they were using fewer lights, and kept them on for fewer hours than in other years
Rockefeller Center has always looked for new ways to showcase the tree. In 1983, Bob Hope was on hand for the 50th anniversary of the Tree lighting. And in 1999 the tallest tree ever showcased, a 100-foot beauty from Connecticut, was erected, setting a record.
In 2004 a Swarovski-designed star, which measures an astounding 9.5 feet in diameter and weighs 550 pounds, became the largest star to sparkle on the tree.
And in 2007 the tree went completely green when it was lit with 30,000 LED lights fueled by solar panels on top of the Rockefeller Center buildings. Later, after the season ended, the tree was milled, treated and cut into lumber used by Habitat for Humanity – a tradition that has continued since that time.
The tree these days traditionally holds more than 5 miles of Christmas lights. It is selected from a months-long process of tree hunting all over the American north east. When found it is usually held up by a crane while it is cut by hand at a specially scheduled time and carefully transported to New York, often under the glare of media spotlights.
The tree is international in fame, with fans tuning in over the Internet for the lighting ceremony and coming to New York from around the world to see it at Christmastime. The tree goes up the first Wednesday after Thanksgiving every year and sparkles each season until January 6th, the traditional end to the 12 days of Christmas.
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