New York Daily Photo Analytics

Saturday, December 23, 2006

National Tree

There are millions of Christmas trees in the US, but arguably the one at Rockefeller Center is the Unofficial National Tree. Click here for more photos. In a tradition that goes back to 1933, a near perfect tree is selected - nearly always a Norway Spruce, a non-native ornamental tree with a typical lifespan of 80-100 years. Growers who hope theirs will be selected submit photos; the top selections are surveyed and inspected by helicopter. The preferred tree is 75 to 90 feet tall and typically over 50 years old. This year's Norway Spruce is from the property of Rob Kinnaird in Ridgefield, Connecticut, who watched it growing up - their driveway was moved 4 times over the years to accommodate its growth. This year's tree is 88 feet tall, 45 feet in diameter and weighs 9 tons. It was trucked to the city on a custom, telescoping trailer, decorated with 30,000 lights and crowned with a custom made, 9 foot, 550 pound Austrian Swarovski crystal top! The tree lighting ceremony on Nov. 29 was nationally televised and included Christina Aguilera, Bette Midler, Lionel Richie, Sarah McLachlan and Sting as guests. It will be up until January 9th ...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

How fabulous! You lot really know how to do things well. And I just love those angels.

A very happy Christmas to you and yours.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful tree! I was wondering what happened to the christmas tree we have here in Trondheim, but when I see this tree I realize someone screwed up and sent the wrong tree to NY, again. I will be posting a photo of our tree on my blog on Christmas Day so you can see how lucky you are. :-)

Merry christmas!

Anonymous said...

This tradition is so wonderful...I really love it and I wish I could be there to see it with my own eyes. Happy Holidays from Germany to all of you!!

Anonymous said...

What a wondeful Christmas tree !
Considering the overall dimensions and the weight of such a tree, I just wonder how this tree will end after the Christmastime ...

Brian Dubé said...

Thanks all, and Happy Holidays to all you NYDP viewers.
I wonder also whats happens to the tree after - I imagine it is pulped. I will try to find out.
Brian