--- description: The giant conifer resists mockery title: Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree History: A New York City Holiday image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc82717f3f0e2b979/69876b9055a8592952a8462c/tree.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Pop Culture](/tag/pop-culture/) ## Pop Culture Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # One Reason People Love the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 3, 2014 11:45 PM CUT  The Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center, 1996 The Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center, 1996New York Daily News Archive / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 3, 2014 11:45 PM CUT It’s easy to be snarky or cynical about holiday schmaltz like the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, which will be lit in a ceremony on Wednesday night. But, as TIME’s Richard Corliss pointed out in an essay that appeared in the magazine 20 years ago this month, it’s also easy to get swept away. That’s because the holiday festivities represent a way to pretend the world is a little bit, well, easier: --- > “” --- The big Christmas tree — like window shopping and productions of _The Nutcracker_ — is a symbol of that fantasy. **_Read the full essay here, in the TIME Vault:_** [I Like New York in Yule](http://time.com/vault/issue/1994-12-12/page/82/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3611912/rockefeller-center-christmas-tree/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3611912/rockefeller-center-christmas-tree/"},"headline":"One Reason People Love the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree","datePublished":"2014-12-03T23:45:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:28:30.654Z","description":"The giant conifer resists mockery","url":"https://time.com/3611912/rockefeller-center-christmas-tree/","keywords":["Pop Culture","New York City","christmas","tree"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc82717f3f0e2b979/69876b9055a8592952a8462c/tree.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc82717f3f0e2b979/69876b9055a8592952a8462c/tree.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Cente","caption":"Annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Cente","creditText":"New York Daily News Archive / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/pop-culture/","name":"Pop Culture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3611912/rockefeller-center-christmas-tree/","name":"One Reason People Love the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree"}}]}] ```