Blog

It’s been a very long time since I was a child. But something about the holiday season in New York City conjures up that childlike sense of wonder, hopefulness, and anticipation that I remember feeling as a little girl. There is so much to see and never enough time or stamina to do it all, but a visit to Rockefeller Center to see the tree is a must for me. Today, the lighting of the tree and the over-the-top performances that go along with it are seen by millions on television and the event is pretty much taken for granted. But it wasn’t always like this. PICTURE THIS:
It was December of 1931. The country was in despair after the stock market crash of 1929. One-third of the USA manufacturing companies had closed and the unemployment rate was at 16 percent, reaching 24 percent in 1932. In the midst of this environment with many people unable to buy food or clothing or shelter for their families, suddenly there was hope – a chance to find work. A new, massive, construction project had just begun in NYC, breaking ground the previous spring and construction was getting underway. Work was moving ahead feverishly on the new Rockefeller Center complex and workers were flocking there desperate to find work. Experienced and inexperienced alike, men who would do any job, no matter how risky or back-breaking to be able to buy food for their families. Within a short time more than 40,000 workers would be employed to construct the 14 buildings and the infrastructure to create this innovative new NYC neighborhood. But at that time, times were hard and those who had begun work were grateful to have it. Many were immigrants who were supporting parents, wives and families. Many of the workers were away from their families and were lonely, but they had hope and spirit and belief in the future. And there at the excavation and construction site, the very first Christmas celebration took place at the location – a celebration that would become a tradition to be upheld every year under the best and worst conditions that the country would go through.
As the story goes, on Christmas Eve of that year, a group of the workers got together and chipped in to purchase and erect a balsam fir Christmas tree on the property to boost morale. The tree was decorated with home-made garlands of paper and tin cans – whatever was available - supplied by the workers’ families in the area. The men would line up by the tree to receive their paychecks. It was such a success that it was repeated the next year and the following year Rockefeller Center made the tree an annual tradition and erected a 50 ft tree with lights. Since then, with modifications, the Christmas Tree has been erected on the same site.

Stay tuned for Part II coming soon of the story of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree tradition. For photographs of this year's tree and the holiday decorations at the Rockefeller Center Channel Gardens mall, visit my website at https://regina-geoghan.pixels.com/