Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Facts

The search:

People from all around the country send photos of their trees offering them to Rockefeller Center. The manager of Rockefeller Center Gardens drives the back roads of the Northeast and elsewhere looking for trees. He then flies in a helicopter in an aerial survey during winter months, when most trees are leafless and evergreens stand out.

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Images: Stars Shine At Lighting Ceremony

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The tree:

• Typically a Norway Spruce.
• Norway Spruces are native to Northern Europe. They have been planted in the United States ornamentally and grow to large sizes.
• They normally have a life span typical to humans, 80 to 110 years. They grow approximately one foot a year. In the US, they are not forest trees. In a forest, the trees grow together and are not full enough for our use. Our trees are usually planted as single specimen trees in front or back yards.
• Desired dimensions are a minimum of 65 feet tall and 35 feet wide. They are dense and have "character." Trees 75 to 90 feet tall are preferred.
• After months of careful preparation and weeks of trussing the tree for travel, the actual cutting takes less than two minutes. Most people watching have to look carefully to see when it actually happens because the tree is suspended from the tip of a giant crane that bears the tree's full weight when the cut is complete.
• Once the tree is cut and moved carefully off its stump, the head gardener for Rockefeller Center counts the rings to get a more accurate measure of its age.
• The tree travels on a custom-made, telescoping trailer, which can stretch to 100 feet and can accommodate a tree up to 125 feet tall. It takes 15-20 people and a 280-ton, all-terrain hydraulic crane to handle the tree. The same crane is used to erect and remove the tree from its place of honor at Rockefeller Center.
• The tree is transported from its home to New York City and then travels in the middle of the night with a police escort on a carefully planned route so traffic is disrupted as little as possible.

Farthest distance traveled:

The farthest distance a tree has ever traveled to Rockefeller Center was approximately 518 miles in 1966. That tree was from Ottawa, Canada.

First time aired on television:

The first nationally televised Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting was in 1951 on the Kate Smith Show. It was again lit in 1954 on the Howdy Doody Show.

Decorations throughout the years:

• In 1939 the tree was untrimmed except for a lighted star on its top and was illuminated by floodlights each evening after dusk. That year marked the Christmas caroling debut of the Rockefeller Center Choristers, composed of men and women who worked at the center.
• World War II brought several changes to Christmas celebrations at the center. The 1941 tree lighting ceremony called for hundreds of lights on the giant tree as well as candles placed in every window of the 70 story RCA Building. Because of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the candles were never lighted because they couldn't be extinguished quickly enough in the event of a blackout. The tree's lights were controlled by a single switch, so it was allowed to remain illuminated each night. In accordance with wartime restrictions on electricity, none of the subsequent trees were lighted until 1945, when lights on the tree were once again illuminated.
• In 1945, the tree was decorated and lighted in a fashion never before employed on an outdoor tree. More than 700 fluorescent globes were illuminated with "black" light (ultraviolet rays). The effect was so spectacular it was repeated by popular demand the following year.
• In 1949, the tree was sprayed with a silvery paint. By day, carnival-colored globes provided a festive effect; at night, more than 7,500 sparkling multicolored bulbs gave the tree its shimmering glow.
• In 1950, garlands of red and white plastic globes provided an effect of strung cranberries and popcorn.
• In 1952, the tree was decorated with translucent globes illuminated from within, sparkling firefly lights and more than 3,000 feet of golden garland made of aluminum foil.
• In 1953, 6,000 shimmering aluminum icicles, each 18-inches long, spangled the tree along with thousands of sparkling firefly lights and batteries of giant red floodlights.
• In 1965, red, green, gold and blue illuminated Christmas bells molded from plastic were complemented by 4,000 clear lights.
• In 1973, thousands of multicolored reflective discs illuminated by a reduced number of miniature bulbs were used in keeping with energy conservation efforts that were underway nationwide. Today, more than 25,000 multicolored 7.5 watt bulbs are strung on more than five miles of electrical wire to decorate the tree. Each branch is individually wrapped to achieve the full lighting effect, and there are no other ornaments on the tree except for the star on top.

The angels:

Between 1937 and 1974, 22 different Christmas displays appeared in the Channel Gardens. The most popular display has been Valerie Clarebout's 12 herald angels -- wire-sculpted figures that were first introduced in 1954. The Clarebout Angels have been refurbished and displayed every Christmas for the past 20 years.

The Christmas Cadets:

Six Christmas Cadets posed with musical instruments were introduced to the Rockefeller Center decor in 1989. Inspired by the renderings of Norman Rockwell, the male and female figures were crafted from reinforced resin and display a diversity of ethnic characteristics. Each cadet is approximately 13 feet tall. There are two drummers, two buglers, a flutist and a cymbalist.

Recycling:

In 1971, the tradition of recycling the tree began. Since 1974, the mulch has been donated to the Boy Scouts of America and used at their camps as ground cover to combat soil erosion and to create paths. Each year's tree provides almost 3 tons of mulch.

In addition, every year the largest part of the trunk at the base of the tree is offered to the U.S. Equestrian Team, headquartered in Gladstone, NJ, for use as an obstacle jump. Team members happily point out previous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree trunks to visitors to their training grounds.