Einstein: The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is typically lit the week after Thanksgiving.
Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony is one of New York City's most celebrated events for over 75 years, and a world-wide symbol of the NYC holiday season. In recent years, the lighting has been broadcast live nationwide on NBC's Christmas in Rockefeller Center show.
Juan: Where is Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree located?
Einstein: The tree is located at Rockefeller Plaza, between West 48th and West 51st Streets and 5th and 6th Avenues, Manhattan.
Juan: Is it lit the whole time?
Einstein: The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is typically illuminated from 5:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. daily, except on Christmas and New Year's Eve. On Christmas, the tree is illuminated for 24 hours and on New Year's Eve the lights are turned off at 9:00 p.m.
Juan: How big is the tree?
Einstein: The tree, usually a Norway spruce, is about 69 to 110 feet (21 to 33 m) tall. It has been put up, with the exception of 1932, every year since 1931. The tallest Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center was a 100 foot spruce from Killingworth, Connecticut erected in 1999.
Juan: Where do these trees came from?
Einstein: Many Rockefeller trees were given to Rockefeller Center by donors. The late David Murbach, Manager of the Gardens Division of Rockefeller Center, scouted in a helicopter for the desired tree in areas including Connecticut, Vermont, Ohio, upstate New York, New Jersey, and even Ottawa, Canada. Once a suitable tree is located, a crane supports it while it is cut, and moves it to a custom telescoping trailer that can transport trees up to 125 feet (38 m) tall, although the width of New York City streets passing through Rockefeller Center limits the height of the trees to 110 ft.
History of the Rockefeller Center Tree:
1931 - Workmen put up a 20 foot balsam fir Christmas tree on a muddy Rockefeller Center construction site.
1933 - First formal Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony. The 50 foot tree was decked with 700 lights in front of the eight-month-old RCA Building and the lighting ceremony was broadcast over NBC radio.
1936 - Two trees, each 70 feet tall, were erected. For the first time the Lighting Ceremony included a skating pageant on the newly opened Rockefeller Plaza Outdoor Ice Skating Pond.
1942 - Three trees were placed on Rockefeller Plaza, one decorated in red, one in white and the other in blue to show support for our troops serving during World War II.
1949 - The tree was painted silver, to look like snow.
1951 - The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree was lit for the first time on national television on the Katie Smith Show.
1963 - After the 1963 Christmas Tree had spent three weeks on holiday display, its 60 feet of Norway wood was donated to a Boy Scout troop.
1966 - The first tree from outside the United States was erected. It was given by Canada, in honor of the Centennial of its Confederation. This is the farthest distance a tree has traveled to Rockefeller Center.
1980 - A 70 foot-tall Norway Spruce came from the grounds of the Immaculate Conception Seminary of Mahwah, N.J. Bob Hope participated in the Lighting.
1999 - The largest tree in Rockefeller Center history - a 100 foot high, 100 year old, 10 ton Norway Spruce - was chosen from Killingworth, CT.
2004 - The Swarovski-designed star is created. It is the largest star to ever grace the tree, measures 9 1/2 feet in diameter and 1 1/2 feet deep, and is adorned with 25,000 crystals and one million facets illuminated by 720 LED bulbs make the star shine bright. It weighs 550 pounds.
2007 - The 75th tree marked the start of a new eco-friendly tradition in 2007. It was cut down with a two-person handsaw, and illuminated by 30,000 LEDs that used a fraction of the energy of normal bulbs. When the time came to take the tree down, Rockefeller Center partnered with Habitat for Humanity, which milled and treated it for future use as “green” lumber.
2010 - The Norway spruce towers 74 feet and weighs 12 tons. The tree is approximately 75 years old. 30,000 multi-colored LED lights wrapped on 5 miles of wire make the iconic tree glow.
More Tree Facts:
The Rockefeller Center's Christmas Tree draws millions of visitors from across the globe. 2.5 million spectators visit the tree each year.
The tree drinks up to 90 gallons of water a day at the outset, which lessens over time.
In 2007, the tree goes green with energy-efficient LED lights that save 2,213 kilowatt hours per day – as much as a single family would use in a month to power a 2,000 square foot house. Now, the tree consumes 1,297 kilowatt hours of electricity per day.
Although the official Christmas tree tradition at Rockefeller Center began in 1933 (the year the 30 Rockefeller Plaza opened),the unofficial tradition began during the Depression-era construction of Rockefeller Center, when workers decorated a small 20 foot balsam fir tree with "strings of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tin cans" on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1931, as recounted by Daniel Okrent in his history of Rockefeller Center. Some accounts have the tree decorated with the tin foil ends of blasting caps.
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