--- description: The annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has been a New York tradition since 1933. title: See the Evolution of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt440ad6bf86a9ca6d/698873770a4a227c819c74a2/facebook-rockefeller-center-tree-lighting-history-09.jpg?branch=production ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [photography](/tag/photography/) ## photography Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See the Evolution of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree by [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 10:45 PM CUTPublished: Dec 2, 2015 5:54 PM CUT by [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 10:45 PM CUTPublished: Dec 2, 2015 5:54 PM CUT  On Christmas Eve 1931, a group of construction workers erected a 20-ft. tree on the muddy site of what would become one of the city's greatest architectural and commercial monuments.Two years later, a Rockefeller Center publicist organized the first official tree-lighting ceremony. AP  1934 Rockefeller Center Tree MCNY/Gottscho-Schleisner/Getty Images  1936 Rockefeller Center Trees, celebrating the opening of the ice skating rink. AP  1949 Rockefeller Center Tree John Lindsay—AP  1955 Rockefeller Center Tree AP  1966 Rockefeller Center Tree NBC NewsWire/Getty Images  1979 Rockefeller Center Tree Marty Lederhandler—AP  1985 Rockefeller Center Tree G. Paul Burnett—AP  1991 Rockefeller Center Tree Ed Bailey—AP  1996 Rockefeller Center Tree Evan Agostini—Liaison/Getty Images  2001 Rockefeller Center Tree Richard Drew—AP  2011 Rockefeller Center Tree Henny Ray Abrams—AP  2014 Rockefeller Center Tree Brad Barket—Getty Images  2016 The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree during the 84th lighting ceremony. Julie Jacobson—AP ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4132954/rockfeller-center-christmas-tree-lighting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4132954/rockfeller-center-christmas-tree-lighting/"},"headline":"See the Evolution of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree","datePublished":"2015-12-02T17:54:56.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T22:45:03.000Z","description":"The annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has been a New York tradition since 1933. Here's how it's changed over the years","url":"https://time.com/4132954/rockfeller-center-christmas-tree-lighting/","keywords":["photography","New York","christmas","tree"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt440ad6bf86a9ca6d/698873770a4a227c819c74a2/facebook-rockefeller-center-tree-lighting-history-09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt440ad6bf86a9ca6d/698873770a4a227c819c74a2/facebook-rockefeller-center-tree-lighting-history-09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Christmas Tuba Concert At Rockefeller Center","caption":"1996 Rockefeller Center Tree","creditText":"","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/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/photography/","name":"photography"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4132954/rockfeller-center-christmas-tree-lighting/","name":"See the Evolution of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree"}}]}] ```