Every holiday season, crowds pack into Midtown Manhattan to see one of the most famous Christmas trees in the world. It towers over the skating rink at Rockefeller Center, glowing with tens of thousands of lights and a sparkling star. But the tradition didn't start with a celebrity countdown. It started with a few construction workers and a modest little tree.
Here's the short answer. In 1931, during the Great Depression, workers building Rockefeller Center put up a 20-foot balsam fir on the construction site. The crew, made up of Italian, Greek, and Irish American workers, pooled their money for the tree, and on Christmas Eve they decorated it with strings of cranberries, paper garlands, and even a few tin cans. Their families made the garlands.
A Bright Spot in Hard Times
That first tree wasn't even lit. It simply stood on the busy construction site, decked out in homemade decorations, during one of the hardest stretches of the Great Depression. The workers building the complex were the ones who put it there and paid for it themselves.
Rockefeller Center later described the tree as having been, from the beginning, a gathering place and a reflection of what was happening in the world around it. That idea would prove true again and again.
From Work Site to Tradition
In 1933, the first official tree went up, standing 50 feet tall and lit for the public. It became what Rockefeller Center called a holiday beacon for New Yorkers and visitors alike. In 1936, a skating rink opened in the plaza beneath it, creating the scene we know today.
World War II changed the look of the tree. Decorations turned simple and patriotic, with red, white, and blue globes and painted wooden stars. In 1942, three smaller trees went up instead of one, each in a color of the flag. From 1944 until the war ended in 1945, the tree stayed dark because of blackout rules.
Growing Bigger Every Year
After the war, the trees grew larger and the decorating grew more complex. By the end of the 1950s, it took 20 workers nine days to dress the tree. In 1951, NBC televised the lighting for the first time.
Today, the tree is chosen by Rockefeller Center's head gardener, who searches nurseries and backyards for the perfect shape. The tallest ever was a 100-foot spruce from Killingworth, Connecticut, in 1999. Once in place, the tree carries about 50,000 multicolored LED lights and a 900-pound crystal star with three million crystals.
The tree has had its share of adventures. In 1998, one was flown in from Ohio on a giant Antonov transport plane. In 2020, workers found a tiny owl hiding in the branches after a 170-mile trip. Nicknamed Rocky, she was nursed back to health and released.
A Tree That Gives Back
The tree's story doesn't end when the holidays do. Since 2007, each year's tree has been milled into lumber after its display and donated to Habitat for Humanity to help build homes. Back in 2007, the switch to LED lights also cut electricity use by 1,200 kilowatt hours a day, enough to power a 2,000-square-foot home for a month.
So the next time you see that glittering giant on TV, think back to Christmas Eve 1931. A group of hardworking men with cranberries and tin cans started something that now lights up the whole season.
