Destination Real Estate

The first “official” Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting took place in 1933 with a 50ft balsam fir as a publicity stunt to draw attention to the new RCA Building (30 Rock) which opened the May prior. A publicist from Rockefeller Center said the event would become a tradition calling the tree “a holiday beacon for New Yorkers and visitors alike.”

TWO trees were lit in 1936 to celebrate the opening of the new ice skating rink on the plaza.

During World War II, THREE smaller trees decorated in red, white, and blue were put up but not lit because of black-out regulations. No materials essential to the war could be used so they were decorated with painted wooden stars and globes.