New York est toujours une bonne idée…

Are you one of the many people who go to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree each year? It is an annual tradition for many and a special part of the holiday season. In 1931, as construction was ongoing at Rockefeller Center a group of workers pooled their money to buy a 20 foot balsam fir and their families made decorations of paper garlands, tin cans and strings of cranberries for the first Rockefeller Center Tree. In 1933 as some of the buildings were opening, the first tree lighting took place with a 50-foot tree. The opening of the skating rink in 1936 added to the festive atmosphere. In 1942, instead of one large tree, three smaller ones were decorated in the red, white and blue of the flag and it was decorated with no materials essential to the war effort. In addition, from 1942 through the end of WWII, no lights were used to decorate the tree to comply with wartime blackouts. After the war it was lit with lighted globes and projectors. Scaffolding used to decorate the tree started in the 1950s. The first televised tree lighting was in 1951 on, of course, NBC. The average tree height is 70-100 feet tall, not so big that it can't fit through Manhattan streets. Trees are decorated with 50,000 multicolored LED lights and a 900-pound Swarovski crystal star on top (which is kept in a climate-controlled storage facility along with the plaza angels). The trees are donated from various farms each year and transported by a special Brooklyn transport company. When the tree is taken down, it is turned into 2x4 & 2x6 beams that are donated to Habitat for Humanity. Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season!