Each holiday season, an estimated 125 million people make the pilgrimage to Rockefeller Center in New York City to catch a glimpse of the iconic Christmas tree. Having just made the journey ourselves, we can tell you that wading through the near-impenetrable wall of tourists, holiday shoppers, and tree-gazers descending upon Midtown Manhattan feels more like a punishment for not having made it onto the nice list. For those who choose to fight the Bah Humbugs and brave the crowds and cold in pursuit of some holiday spirit, the reward is a frankly uninspired tree housed within a metal barrier, which you can view through the throngs of families taking selfies from forty feet away.
If that doesn’t sound appealing, the tree lighting ceremony began airing on NBC in 1997, and you can gawk at the tree from home through the screen of your choosing. Now a show of unabashed opulence, the nationally televised event features performances from pop stars alongside presenters and commentators. This most recent ceremony was hosted by Kelly Clarkson and featured performances by Jennifer Hudson, the Backstreet Boys, Raye, Thalía, and the Rockettes. NBC favorites Hoda Kotb, Al Roker, and Savannah Guthrie also stopped by during the broadcast.
Though the spectacle holds all of the standard markers of a production produced by and for capitalism — not least because it bears the name of America’s first billionaire family — its origins are quite the opposite. The very first Christmas tree erected in Rockefeller Center was actually a gift from working people to themselves.
On Christmas Eve of 1931, Italian American construction workers building out New York City’s Rockefeller Center put up a twenty-foot evergreen tree in the middle of their job site. Despite…
Auteur: Ashley Bishop
