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Christmas, Christmas tree, National Christmas Tree, photography, Washington DC, Washington Monument, White House
U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, DC – December 2015
I’ll spend Christmas in Washington, DC this year, away from home. I have seen plenty of gorgeously – or outrageously – decorated houses in north Virginia, but of course the big attraction is the National Christmas Tree near the White House.
Although nice, I must say that the tree paled in comparison to the Rockefeller Center tree and its decorations in NYC, or even the decorations I could see in Texas (I’m pretty sure Austin’s Capitol’s Christmas tree last year was at least the same size).
Here are some pictures and a little bit of history behind the tradition.
Ninety-two years ago, the Ellipse, south of the White House, received its first Christmas tree.
In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States, lighted the National Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve in front of 6,000 visitors. The 48-foot fir tree was decorated with 2,500 red, white, and green electric bulbs.
Every year after that, in times of peace and war, Washington, DC would repeat this tradition.
This year, the National Christmas Tree is decorated in honor of the National Park Service Centennial, in sparkling gold and silvery white, the colors used for milestone celebrations.
For the 7th year in a row, it is illuminated by LED lights. There are about 600 LED net lights and icicle lights for a combined 6,000 watts. The lighting has been provided by General Electric for 53 years.
The lighting ceremony took place on December 3rd this year, and is available online if you are interested.
There were also model electric trains all around the tree.
The National Christmas Tree is surrounded by smaller Christmas trees decorated with ornaments made by “ordinary Americans, representing every U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia.”
Here is the Christmas tree for New York, and an ornament.
And here is the Christmas tree, along with ornaments, for Texas.
Not too far, there was also a Nativity scene, and of course, the White House.
The trees and decorations were nice but I was a bit disappointed. But I guess after experiencing this and this, I’m a little demanding ;-)
Books, cupcakes and cats chasing chipmunks... 
Joyeuses fêtes Carine! Si tu viens à NY, cela me ferait plaisir de te revoir:)
Corinne
(Je serai en France jusqu’au 11/1)
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Merci Corinne ! Joyeuses Fetes a toi aussi !
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Interesting take on the National Christmas Tree. You are correct that the experience here is less awesome than the extravanganza in NYC’s Rockefeller Center. What’s not to like about the skating rink below the massive tree and its wonderful decoration? And right acrioss the street is St. Patrick’s Cathedral (whose exterior was recently cleaned and restored to a beautiful cream white color). And the food trucks on the nearby NYC sidewalks are far superior to those that lie in wait for the tourists here in DC. But there are some upsides to the tree here in DC, one being that it is a live tree and is not “recycled” in January. But we have also one lthat is “harvested” for the occasion, up on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building. You can walk right up and touch it. No skating rink, though. Maybe we should do that with the Capitol Reflecting Pool which usually is drained for the winter. Or possibly the Refelction Pool over by the Lincoln Memorial. Another nice touch, at least for photographers, is that tripods can be used in certain locations around the National Tree and the US Capitol Police usual allow tripods anywhere on the lawn of the Capitol during the month of December. And if you are still in the area, there is that very interesting tree over on the plaza of the Canadian Embassy and the enormous illuminated wreaths at the entrance to Union Station. And if you liked the light show in Austin, you might want to check out the Mormon Tabernacle grounds out in Maryland. But don’t get me wrong, I love New York City during the holidays. It’s a photographic paradise at night.
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Thanks for the additional information for interesting places to see here :-) I think what might have made the National Christmas tree less impressive too was that it was almost isolated in the Ellipse, with a lot of “empty” space around, and barriers here and there. So in the end it looks smaller than it is. It may look better during the day. I must say though that it is probably the area (mostly north Virginia where I live) where the decorations on houses were most impressive. I don’t feel very comfortable taking pictures of other people’s houses, so I barely took any, and decided not to post about them, but this is lovely.
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