Starting as early as 1933, New York City has continued to grow the tradition of the Rockefeller Christmas tree which still lasts to this day. Some people visit year after year as a tradition, while others add it to their lifelong bucket list of places to visit. Since 1952, the lighting of the iconic tree has been broadcasted by NBC which receives hundreds of millions of views from the American people every year.
The tree goes through many decoration changes and doesn’t remain the same often. During the years of World War II, the decorations on the tree looked a little different. Instead of one massive tree, there were three smaller trees placed in New York to honor the troops that were fighting. The war caused blackout regulations and forced all three of the trees to remain unlit for four years! The tree at this time was simply decorated with red, white, and blue colored globes and wooden stars to represent patriotism during a dark time. It wasn’t until 1945 that the tree was completely lit up again. While in 1955, when Christmas passed the tree was chopped up and turned into mulch that was donated to the Boy Scouts of America for years and the tree trunk was sent to the U.S. Olympic Equestrian team to use as obstacles for their horses to jump over. Later in 1980, a sixty-five-foot tree saw excitement after a 19-year-old boy from New York made efforts to climb the tree but was soon arrested afterwards. The tree topper that was updated in 2018, weighs 900 pounds and is covered in over 300 million crystals! Also, Erik Pauze the head gardener at the Rockefeller Center says that the tree guzzles at least ninety gallons of water when it is first set up! Overall, you can see that the Rockefeller tree is always adapting and obtaining new decorations and ideas each year!
The Rockefeller tree arrived in New York City on November 9th and the tree lighting ceremony is set to take place on December 4th. With millions and millions of people watching each year, the ceremony never fails to bring joy and a sense of unity to the people. Who knew that the sound of a switch from off to on, and hundreds of lights illuminating the city’s streets could bring so much happiness to the people?
