Top 25 Facts about the Rockefeller Christmas Tree

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The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is well known worldwide. In Australia we are familiar with the Rockefeller Center because of TV shows broadcast from the NBC studios (The Today Show, Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Saturday Night Live), TV shows based at the Center (30 Rock) and the Radio City Music Hall, the largest indoor theatre in the world.

Mariah Carey Rockefeller Christmas Concert 2012
[youtube]http://youtu.be/4jN6nvuWIWc[/youtube]

The Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings in midtown Manhattan, bounded by 52nd St, Fifth Ave, 49th St, and 7th Ave. Since 1933 the Rockefeller Plaza area has been famous because of the giant Christmas Tree, the Tree Lighting Ceremony and Christmas Concert. An ice-skating rink was added in 1936, familiar worldwide because of the many movie scenes shot there.

Rockefeller Christmas Tree History

  1. The first Rockefeller Tree was put up in 1931 by Rockefeller Center construction workers. It was decorated with garlands of paper, strings of cranberries and a few tin cans.
  2. There was no tree in 1932
  3. This is the 80th annual Tree Lighting Ceremony, the first was in 1933, the year 30 Rockefeller Plaza opened.
  4. The 1933 was 50 foot tall and held 700 lights. The Lighting Ceremony was broadcast live over NBC Radio.
  5. In 1936 two, 70-foot-tall, trees were lit to celebrate the opening of the skating rink.
  6. In 1942, there were three small trees  (one trimmed in red, one in white and one in blue), dedicated to the war effort.
  7. In 1944, because of wartime blackouts, the trees was not lit.
  8. The ceremony was televised for the first time by NBC in 1951 on the Kate Smith Show.
  9. The trees have been recycled since 1971.
  10. In recent years the trees have been donated to Habitat for Humanity, for wood to go into building houses.
  11. The largest tree was in 1999: a 100-foot-tall, 100 year old, ten-ton Norway Spruce.
  12. The tallest a tree could possibly be is 110 foot. If it was higher than this it could not be transported through the streets of New York.
  13. The Swarovski Star that has been used on the top of the tree since 2004 is 9.5 feet (2.9 m) in diameter and weighs 550 pounds (250 kg) and contains  25,000 crystals
  14. Energy saving LED lights were first used to light the tree in 2007.

Rockefeller Christmas Tree Facts

  1. The first Rockefeller Tree was put up in 1931 by Rockefeller Center construction workers. It was decorated with garlands of paper, strings of cranberries and a few tin cans.
  2. There was no tree in 1932
  3. This is the 80th annual Tree Lighting Ceremony, the first was in 1933, the year 30 Rockefeller Plaza opened.
  4. The 1933 was 50 foot tall and held 700 lights. The Lighting Ceremony was broadcast live over NBC Radio.
  5. In 1936 two, 70-foot-tall, trees were lit to celebrate the opening of the skating rink.
  6. In 1942, there were three small trees (one trimmed in red, one in white and one in blue), dedicated to the war effort.
  7. In 1944, because of wartime blackouts, the trees was not lit.
  8. The ceremony was televised for the first time by NBC in 1951 on the Kate Smith Show.
  9. The trees have been recycled since 1971.
  10. In recent years the trees have been donated to Habitat for Humanity, for wood to go into building houses.
  11. The largest tree was in 1999: a 100-foot-tall, 100 year old, ten-ton Norway Spruce.
  12. The tallest a tree could possibly be is 110 foot. If it was higher than this it could not be transported through the streets of New York.
  13. The Swarovski Star that has been used on the top of the tree since 2004 is 9.5 feet (2.9 m) in diameter and weighs 550 pounds (250 kg) and contains 25,000 crystals
  14. Energy saving LED lights were first used to light the tree in 2007.

Rockefeller Christmas Tree Facts

  1. The tree is donated. Anyone in USA can submit their tree for consideration if it is a Norway Spruce over 75 feet tall, 45 feet wide
  2. A massive crane supports the tree while it is cut down.
  3. The tree is moved into place each November on a custom telescopic tractor trailer.
  4. Scaffolding is erected around the tree until it has been decorated.
  5. The tree is supported by four guy-wires attached at to its midpoint, and by a steel spike at its base
  6. The tree is a Norway Spruce.

2012 Rockefeller Christmas Tree

  1. The 2012 tree is 80 feet tall, 50 feet wide
  2. The tree is strung with 30,000 multi-colored, energy-efficient LED lights
  3. 5 miles of wiring are used for the lights.
  4. Some of the power for the lights is provided by solar panels on top of one of the Rockefeller Center buildings.
  5. It comes from Mount Olive, New Jersey, 50 miles from New York city.