The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be lit tonight with hundreds of thousands of spectators in attendance and performances by Ariana Grande, Leona Lewis, and Toni Braxton.
The first Rockefeller Center tree, however, was not quite as snazzy (via @TIME).
AP has the first photograph of the tree from 1931, and it was pretty dinky compared to more modern versions.
This, however, was not the first "official" Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, which was completed in 1933. The tree pictured above was erected during construction of the building, when workers decorated a 20-foot balsam fir tree with a "string of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tins cans," according to Daniel Okrent in his book, "Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center."
And here was last year's tree. We've definitely upgraded.
