If there’s anything more iconic than the New York City skyline, it’s the New York City tradition of the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
With a flick of the switch, a 76-foot Norway Spruce officially became the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree Wednesday (December 04) night after it was illuminated for the first time this holiday season with some 45,000 lights in a ceremony that’s been held since 1933. The tree, which made the 70 mile journey to its new home on the bed of a tractor-trailer, will remain on display until Jan. 7.
Performers appearing at this year’s event were Mary J. Blige, Jewel, Mariah Carey, the Goo Goo Dolls and Leona Lewis.
The workers who were building Rockefeller Center set up the first Christmas tree in 1931 with the first tree-lighting official ceremony held in 1933.
The tree pictured above was erected during construction of the building, when workers decorated a 20-foot balsam fir tree with a “string of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tins cans.”