:: Rockefeller XMas Tree Facts ::

The search:
People from all around the country send photos of their trees offering them to Rockefeller Center. The manager of Rockefeller Center Gardens drives the back roads of the Northeast and elsewhere looking for trees. He then flies in a helicopter in an aerial survey during winter months, when most trees are leafless and evergreens stand out.

The tree:
Typically a Norway Spruce.
Norway Spruces are native to Northern Europe. They have been planted in the United States ornamentally and grow to large sizes.
They normally have a life span typical to humans, 80 to 110 years. They grow approximately one foot a year. In the US, they are not forest trees. In a forest, the trees grow together and are not full enough for our use. Our trees are usually planted as single specimen trees in front or back yards.
Desired dimensions are a minimum of 65 feet tall and 35 feet wide. They are dense and have "character." Trees 75 to 90 feet tall are preferred.
After months of careful preparation and weeks of trussing the tree for travel, the actual cutting takes less than two minutes. Most people watching have to look carefully to see when it actually happens because the tree is suspended from the tip of a giant crane that bears the tree's full weight when the cut is complete.
Once the tree is cut and moved carefully off its stump, the head gardener for Rockefeller Center counts the rings to get a more accurate measure of its age.
The tree travels on a custom-made, telescoping trailer, which can stretch to 100 feet and can accommodate a tree up to 125 feet tall. It takes 15-20 people and a 280-ton, all-terrain hydraulic crane to handle the tree. The same crane is used to erect and remove the tree from its place of honor at Rockefeller Center.
The tree is transported from its home to New York City and then travels in the middle of the night with a police escort on a carefully planned route so traffic is disrupted as little as possible.

Farthest distance traveled:
The farthest distance a tree has ever traveled to Rockefeller Center was approximately 518 miles in 1966. That tree was from Ottawa, Canada.
First time aired on television:
The first nationally televised Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting was in 1951 on the Kate Smith Show. It was again lit in 1954 on the Howdy Doody Show.