Rich's Great Tree
Encyclopedia
The Rich's Great Tree, now the Macy's Great Tree (and briefly the The Great Tree at Macy's), is a large 70–90 ft (21.3–27.4 m) tall cut pine Christmas tree
that has been an Atlanta
tradition
since 1948.
department store
put a large pine
tree
atop its flagship
downtown Atlanta
store, lighting it
on Thanksgiving night. The idea was conceived by head of advertising
Frank Pallotta. Later, the tree was perched atop the four-story "Crystal Bridge" that connected the original Rich's department store with a new building addition on the opposite side of Forsyth Street. With the tree on the roof
of the complex, combined with its tall height, the Great Tree could be seen for tens of miles outside the downtown district of Atlanta. It was visible for decades, until Rich's downtown store closed in mid-1991 and the tree was moved to a smaller, less-imposing spot in Underground Atlanta
. From there it was later moved to Lenox Square
mall, but neither location provided as spectacular a view of the tree as when it stood on the Crystal Bridge.
As the tree became an Atlanta tradition, more was added to the display to create an attraction in its own right. This included Santa's Workshop
, complete with "reindeer
" on loan from the Stone Mountain Park Petting Zoo
that parents and children would walk through on the way to visit with Santa Claus
. Also, inside the store, was Santa's 'Secret Shop'. Off-limits to the adults, children entered an enclosed mini shopping area. All of this "spirit of Christmas" started at the street level with animated
window displays such as angel
s playing violins in the windows.
The Rich's department store chain was sold to Federated Department Stores
in 1975. After years of contraction, Federated closed Rich's main downtown store in the 1990s and moved the tree to nearby Underground Atlanta
. In 2000, the tree was once again relocated to the rooftop of Rich's Lenox Square
mall store, in the Buckhead
(uptown
) community, located north of the downtown and the midtown districts. Federated began a merger of the R.H. Macy's department stores with Rich's in the early 2000s, with the remaining Rich's stores being renamed Rich's-Macy's. On January 1, 2006, the Rich's name was dropped altogether in favor of the nationally-known Macy's moniker. The 2005 holiday season was touted as the last year of "Rich's Great Tree", even though the tradition continues on as "The Great Tree at Macy's".
, usually around 75 feet (23 m) tall, and contains several miles of electrical wiring
, thousands of Christmas lights, hundreds of basketball
-sized Christmas ornament
s and mirror ball
s, and dozens of strobe light
s for effect. It also has a huge lighted tree topper
seven feet (two meters) in diameter, previously a snowflake
, and now a color-changing LED
star since becoming Macy's. For 2009, it also had 125 snowflake ornaments and 125 metallic red Macy's stars, similar to the décor used inside its stores for the Christmas shopping season. It uptakes hundreds of gallons of water (well over a thousand liters) each day (depending on the weather
and humidity
), along with bottles of aspirin
to keep the tree fresh (though it is unclear how effective aspirin actually is). It is secured so as to withstand wind
gusts of up to 90 miles per hour (144.8 km/h).
The tree is selected over a year before it is actually intended to be cut and used, so that it can be used as the backup should something happen to the tree that was previously selected. It is generally picked from somewhere in North Georgia
. The 2009 tree was planted in late 1983 after being used indoors as a family's first Christmas tree.
sized for children. Adults would be hard-pressed to fit inside the enclosed cars that the children sat in as the ride operated. The original ride "flew
" from the ceiling of the toy
department. The pig was then moved outside the building to a rooftop Christmas village
that surrounded the Great Tree. The Pink Pig started outside under the tree, returned indoors to fly over the toy department before returning to its starting point. The original Pink Pig was named Priscilla. A second pig, named Percival was later added to meet the high demand to ride the pig. After completing their journey, riders received a sticker
that said "I rode the Pink Pig".
The ride moved to the Festival of Trees
event in the 1990s, and resided at the Atlanta History Center
. The ride was brought back to Rich's in 2004 when it reappeared at the Rich's at Lenox Square mall, the new location for the Great Tree. The new version of the Pink Pig is a conventional Zamperla Rio Grande storyline train ride with a miniature pink pig locomotive
pulling a set of pink child-sized passenger cars at ground level, instead of the original suspended monorail design. It has been speculated that the original monorail was retired because it could not be maintained as a viable and safe children's ride.
. Parents from around the South brought their children to downtown Atlanta expressly to experience this attraction and have their picture taken with the Rich's store Santa Claus. Millions of children and their parents made the annual migration during its tenure. The Pink Pig was an immensely popular attraction in its own right. Decades after the original Pink Pig was retired, many Atlanta natives who rode the pig as children fondly reminisce about their rides in the pig. The ride inspired the 2004 book I Rode the Pink Pig: Atlanta's Favorite Christmas Tradition (ISBN 1588180999). Today, much memorabilia can be found in the homes of Atlantans.
ceremony
occurs on Thanksgiving
night from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM, no matter the weather; and, since the 1980s, has been regularly aired on television station WSB-TV
, which now shows it in HDTV. Christmas carol
s are sung by various music celebrities and local groups, and at least one is usually chimed by a bell
choir
. The tree is lit near the very end of the hour on the highest note of "O Holy Night
", and remains lit every night at least through New Year's Eve
.
Originally, four choir
s sang from the north face of the Crystal Bridge, which connected all but the lower two levels of the downtown Rich's over Forsyth Street. Each of the four floor
s of choirs, ordered from bottom to top, sang during the program. Faux
stained glass
panels (still used by Macy's) were put in the bridge's windows on either side (left and right) of each choir, giving the ceremony an almost church-like effect. Street light
s were turned off in the area below so there was no glare for the thousands of spectators that gathered every year regardless of the weather. The host/storyteller
of those earlier days was Bob van Camp of WSB
Atlanta radio and television, and once the organist
at the Fox Theatre
.
The ceremony, in those days, was based on the reading of the traditional birth of Christ, i.e. the "Christmas Story", unlike today's more generic "holiday" themes and music.
Over the years the crowds grew. The venue expanded to include the south side of the bridge. Thus, four more choirs were added. Although heard by everyone, the ceremony of choirs alternated between the bridge facings. For the conclusion of the ceremony, all of the bridge choirs (of both musical eras) were lighted on every floor, and leading towards the soloist
's highest note in "O Holy Night", at which point the lights on the great tree burst alive to shine on downtown Atlanta.
Before rock and roll
became the predominant form of popular music
in the 1970s, the Christmas carol
s were sung in a traditional, even classical manner, but in more modern times, nearly all of them have tended to be performed in a gospel music
style, including "O Holy Night". In earlier years, for example, "O Holy Night" was performed by an operatic soprano
, while in 2006, it was performed by LeAnn Rimes
. The 2009 concert included country music
singer Josh Turner
and gospel singer Mandisa
(who sang the keynote
), and dance crew SoReal Cru
using remix
ed versions of classic Christmas songs from Merry Mixmas and other albums.
to lift it from the ground to the roof. Since the tree was rather late in being set up to begin with (November 14 was only 11 days before Thanksgiving that year), a replacement tree (always selected in case of an emergency such as this) was being rushed in from nearby Lithia Springs. In 2003, it took eight workers three weeks to accomplish the massive decorating task. The tree also snapped in 1974, the year before Federated bought Rich's from the Rich family, and some native Atlantans suspected that both times were a sort of "karma
" regarding the reduction and then complete loss of the store, an Atlanta institution since 1867. In 2011, the tree from Douglasville
cracked when being lifted off the flatbed
truck, after being picked in the first contest
to select the tree. Citing safety
concerns, another tree from near the first
was to be brought in, leaving barely over a week until Thanksgiving for the tree to be decorated.
After an announcement was made in 2004, Rich's stores became Rich's-Macy's in early 2005, and for Christmas that year and the next, the Rich's Great Tree became the "Great Tree at Macy's".
In 2007, the still-new name was dropped in favor of "Macy's Great Tree", after all Rich's stores became Macy's, eliminating the retailer after 140 years. The only visible reminders of Rich's are the Great Tree, and the façade
of the original (1924) part of the Rich's building, now attached to the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Building via another four-story bridge where the Crystal Bridge was. (33.75309°N 84.39322°W)
The tree and the bridge were featured on the cover of Time
magazine in 1961.
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
that has been an Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
since 1948.
History
Beginning that year, the Rich'sRich's
Rich's was a department store retail chain, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated in the southern U.S. from 1867 until March 6, 2005 when the nameplate was eliminated and replaced by Macy's...
department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
put a large pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
atop its flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta is the first and largest of the three financial districts in the city of Atlanta. Downtown Atlanta is the location of many corporate or regional headquarters, city, county, state and federal government facilities, sporting facilities, and is the central tourist attraction of the city...
store, lighting it
Grand Illumination
A Grand Illumination is an outdoor ceremony involving the simultaneous activation of lights. The most common form of the ceremony involves turning on Christmas lights....
on Thanksgiving night. The idea was conceived by head of advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
Frank Pallotta. Later, the tree was perched atop the four-story "Crystal Bridge" that connected the original Rich's department store with a new building addition on the opposite side of Forsyth Street. With the tree on the roof
Roof
A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a building. A roof protects the building and its contents from the effects of weather. Structures that require roofs range from a letter box to a cathedral or stadium, dwellings being the most numerous....
of the complex, combined with its tall height, the Great Tree could be seen for tens of miles outside the downtown district of Atlanta. It was visible for decades, until Rich's downtown store closed in mid-1991 and the tree was moved to a smaller, less-imposing spot in Underground Atlanta
Underground Atlanta
Underground Atlanta is a shopping and entertainment district in the Five Points neighborhood of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States, near the intersection of the east and west MARTA rail lines. First opened in 1969, it takes advantage of the viaducts built over the city's many railroad tracks...
. From there it was later moved to Lenox Square
Lenox Square
Lenox Square is an upscale enclosed super regional shopping mall located in the Buckhead District of Atlanta, Georgia. Lenox Square comprises more than of retail space, with 250 stores on four levels, including a large food court. The mall is home to three anchor stores: Macy's, Bloomingdale's,...
mall, but neither location provided as spectacular a view of the tree as when it stood on the Crystal Bridge.
As the tree became an Atlanta tradition, more was added to the display to create an attraction in its own right. This included Santa's Workshop
Santa's Workshop
Santa's workshop may refer to:*Santa's workshop, the mythological workshop at the North Pole*Santa's Workshop , Wilmington, New York, USA*Santa's Workshop , an 1932 animated short by Disney...
, complete with "reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
" on loan from the Stone Mountain Park Petting Zoo
Petting zoo
A petting zoo features a combination of domestic animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, also called children's farms or petting farms, many general zoos contain a petting zoo...
that parents and children would walk through on the way to visit with Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
. Also, inside the store, was Santa's 'Secret Shop'. Off-limits to the adults, children entered an enclosed mini shopping area. All of this "spirit of Christmas" started at the street level with animated
Animatronics
Animatronics is the use of mechatronics to create machines which seem animate rather than robotic. Animatronic creations include animals , plants and even mythical creatures...
window displays such as angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s playing violins in the windows.
The Rich's department store chain was sold to Federated Department Stores
Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. is a department store holding company and owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores. Macy's Inc.'s stores specialize mostly in retail clothing, jewelery, watches, dinnerware, and furniture....
in 1975. After years of contraction, Federated closed Rich's main downtown store in the 1990s and moved the tree to nearby Underground Atlanta
Underground Atlanta
Underground Atlanta is a shopping and entertainment district in the Five Points neighborhood of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States, near the intersection of the east and west MARTA rail lines. First opened in 1969, it takes advantage of the viaducts built over the city's many railroad tracks...
. In 2000, the tree was once again relocated to the rooftop of Rich's Lenox Square
Lenox Square
Lenox Square is an upscale enclosed super regional shopping mall located in the Buckhead District of Atlanta, Georgia. Lenox Square comprises more than of retail space, with 250 stores on four levels, including a large food court. The mall is home to three anchor stores: Macy's, Bloomingdale's,...
mall store, in the Buckhead
Buckhead (Atlanta)
Buckhead is the uptown district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, comprising approximately the northern one-fifth of the city. Buckhead is a major commercial and financial center of the Southeast, and it is the third-largest business district in Atlanta, behind Downtown and Midtown...
(uptown
Buckhead (Atlanta)
Buckhead is the uptown district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, comprising approximately the northern one-fifth of the city. Buckhead is a major commercial and financial center of the Southeast, and it is the third-largest business district in Atlanta, behind Downtown and Midtown...
) community, located north of the downtown and the midtown districts. Federated began a merger of the R.H. Macy's department stores with Rich's in the early 2000s, with the remaining Rich's stores being renamed Rich's-Macy's. On January 1, 2006, the Rich's name was dropped altogether in favor of the nationally-known Macy's moniker. The 2005 holiday season was touted as the last year of "Rich's Great Tree", even though the tradition continues on as "The Great Tree at Macy's".
The tree
The tree itself is an eastern white pineEastern White Pine
Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...
, usually around 75 feet (23 m) tall, and contains several miles of electrical wiring
Electrical wiring
Electrical wiring in general refers to insulated conductors used to carry electricity, and associated devices. This article describes general aspects of electrical wiring as used to provide power in buildings and structures, commonly referred to as building wiring. This article is intended to...
, thousands of Christmas lights, hundreds of basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
-sized Christmas ornament
Christmas ornament
Christmas ornaments are decorations that are used to festoon a Christmas tree.Ornaments take many different forms, from a simple round ball to highly artistic designs...
s and mirror ball
Disco ball
A disco ball is a roughly spherical object that reflects light directed at it in many directions, producing a complex display...
s, and dozens of strobe light
Strobe light
A strobe light or stroboscopic lamp, commonly called a strobe, is a device used to produce regular flashes of light. It is one of a number of devices that can be used as a stroboscope...
s for effect. It also has a huge lighted tree topper
Tree topper
A tree topper is a decorative star, angel, santa or other item which is placed on the crown of a Christmas tree. The most popular tree topper is the angel, followed by the star...
seven feet (two meters) in diameter, previously a snowflake
Snowflake
Snowflakes are conglomerations of frozen ice crystals which fall through the Earth's atmosphere. They begin as snow crystals which develop when microscopic supercooled cloud droplets freeze. Snowflakes come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Complex shapes emerge as the flake moves through...
, and now a color-changing LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
star since becoming Macy's. For 2009, it also had 125 snowflake ornaments and 125 metallic red Macy's stars, similar to the décor used inside its stores for the Christmas shopping season. It uptakes hundreds of gallons of water (well over a thousand liters) each day (depending on the weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
and humidity
Humidity
Humidity is a term for the amount of water vapor in the air, and can refer to any one of several measurements of humidity. Formally, humid air is not "moist air" but a mixture of water vapor and other constituents of air, and humidity is defined in terms of the water content of this mixture,...
), along with bottles of aspirin
Aspirin
Aspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...
to keep the tree fresh (though it is unclear how effective aspirin actually is). It is secured so as to withstand wind
Wind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...
gusts of up to 90 miles per hour (144.8 km/h).
The tree is selected over a year before it is actually intended to be cut and used, so that it can be used as the backup should something happen to the tree that was previously selected. It is generally picked from somewhere in North Georgia
North Georgia
North Georgia is the hilly to mountainous northern region of the U.S. state of Georgia. At the time of the arrival of settlers from Europe, it was inhabited largely by the Cherokee. The counties of North Georgia were often scenes of important events in the history of Georgia...
. The 2009 tree was planted in late 1983 after being used indoors as a family's first Christmas tree.
The Pink Pig
The Pink Pig was an amusement park ride of sorts that was a miniature suspended monorailMonorail
A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...
sized for children. Adults would be hard-pressed to fit inside the enclosed cars that the children sat in as the ride operated. The original ride "flew
Flying pig
The phrase "when will pigs fly" is an adynaton—a figure of speech so hyperbolic that it describes an impossibility. The implication of such a phrase is that the circumstances in question will never occur.Because of the historical importance of the pig industry to the city, prominent in the local...
" from the ceiling of the toy
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
department. The pig was then moved outside the building to a rooftop Christmas village
Christmas village
A Christmas village is a decorative, miniature-scale village often set up during the Christmas season. These villages are rooted in the elaborate Christmas traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch...
that surrounded the Great Tree. The Pink Pig started outside under the tree, returned indoors to fly over the toy department before returning to its starting point. The original Pink Pig was named Priscilla. A second pig, named Percival was later added to meet the high demand to ride the pig. After completing their journey, riders received a sticker
Sticker
A sticker is a type of a piece of paper or plastic, adhesive, sticky on one side, and usually with a design on the other. They can be used for decoration, depending on the situation. They can come in many different shapes, sizes and colours and are put on things such as lunchboxes, in children's...
that said "I rode the Pink Pig".
The ride moved to the Festival of Trees
Festival of Trees
Festival of Trees is the name taken by a number of charity events/organizations that hold annual events around Christmas time to raise money for some local charity These events seem to be becoming more common in North America as of this writing and are centered around the decoration...
event in the 1990s, and resided at the Atlanta History Center
Atlanta History Center
The Atlanta History Center is a history museum located in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia. The Museum was founded in 1926, and currently consists of 12 exhibits. There are also historic gardens and houses located on the grounds, including the Swan House and Tullie Smith Farm...
. The ride was brought back to Rich's in 2004 when it reappeared at the Rich's at Lenox Square mall, the new location for the Great Tree. The new version of the Pink Pig is a conventional Zamperla Rio Grande storyline train ride with a miniature pink pig locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
pulling a set of pink child-sized passenger cars at ground level, instead of the original suspended monorail design. It has been speculated that the original monorail was retired because it could not be maintained as a viable and safe children's ride.
Fame of the Great Tree
During the time the Great Tree was at the downtown Rich's store, it was undeniably the biggest Christmas-time attraction in the Southeastern United StatesSoutheastern United States
The Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....
. Parents from around the South brought their children to downtown Atlanta expressly to experience this attraction and have their picture taken with the Rich's store Santa Claus. Millions of children and their parents made the annual migration during its tenure. The Pink Pig was an immensely popular attraction in its own right. Decades after the original Pink Pig was retired, many Atlanta natives who rode the pig as children fondly reminisce about their rides in the pig. The ride inspired the 2004 book I Rode the Pink Pig: Atlanta's Favorite Christmas Tradition (ISBN 1588180999). Today, much memorabilia can be found in the homes of Atlantans.
The Lighting of the Great Tree
The grand illuminationGrand Illumination
A Grand Illumination is an outdoor ceremony involving the simultaneous activation of lights. The most common form of the ceremony involves turning on Christmas lights....
ceremony
Ceremony
A ceremony is an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin.-Ceremonial occasions:A ceremony may mark a rite of passage in a human life, marking the significance of, for example:* birth...
occurs on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving (United States)
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...
night from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM, no matter the weather; and, since the 1980s, has been regularly aired on television station WSB-TV
WSB-TV
WSB-TV, virtual channel 2.1 , is the ABC affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship television station of Cox Enterprises and its Cox Media Group subsidiary...
, which now shows it in HDTV. Christmas carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
s are sung by various music celebrities and local groups, and at least one is usually chimed by a bell
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
. The tree is lit near the very end of the hour on the highest note of "O Holy Night
O Holy Night
"O Holy Night" is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" by Placide Cappeau , a wine merchant and poet, who had been asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem...
", and remains lit every night at least through New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
.
Originally, four choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
s sang from the north face of the Crystal Bridge, which connected all but the lower two levels of the downtown Rich's over Forsyth Street. Each of the four floor
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
s of choirs, ordered from bottom to top, sang during the program. Faux
Fake
Fake means not real.Fake may also refer to:In music:* Fake , a Swedish synthpop band active in the 1980s*Fake?, a Japanese rock band* Fake , 2010 song by Ai featuring Namie Amuro...
stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
panels (still used by Macy's) were put in the bridge's windows on either side (left and right) of each choir, giving the ceremony an almost church-like effect. Street light
Street light
A street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate...
s were turned off in the area below so there was no glare for the thousands of spectators that gathered every year regardless of the weather. The host/storyteller
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
of those earlier days was Bob van Camp of WSB
WSB (AM)
WSB — branded AM 750 and 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB — is a commercial radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia broadcasting a news/talk format. The station transmits with 50,000 watts of nondirectional power day and night, enjoying clear-channel status on its broadcast frequency according to the U.S...
Atlanta radio and television, and once the organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
at the Fox Theatre
Fox Theatre (Atlanta)
The Fox Theatre , a former movie palace, is a performing arts venue located at 660 Peachtree Street NE in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, and is the centerpiece of the Fox Theatre Historic District....
.
The ceremony, in those days, was based on the reading of the traditional birth of Christ, i.e. the "Christmas Story", unlike today's more generic "holiday" themes and music.
Over the years the crowds grew. The venue expanded to include the south side of the bridge. Thus, four more choirs were added. Although heard by everyone, the ceremony of choirs alternated between the bridge facings. For the conclusion of the ceremony, all of the bridge choirs (of both musical eras) were lighted on every floor, and leading towards the soloist
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
's highest note in "O Holy Night", at which point the lights on the great tree burst alive to shine on downtown Atlanta.
Before rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
became the predominant form of popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
in the 1970s, the Christmas carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
s were sung in a traditional, even classical manner, but in more modern times, nearly all of them have tended to be performed in a gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
style, including "O Holy Night". In earlier years, for example, "O Holy Night" was performed by an operatic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, while in 2006, it was performed by LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...
. The 2009 concert included country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer Josh Turner
Josh Turner
Joshua Otis "Josh" Turner is a country music singer and actor signed to MCA Nashville Records in 2003, Turner has released four studio albums for the label. The first of these was 2003's Long Black Train, whose title track was his breakthrough single release...
and gospel singer Mandisa
Mandisa
Mandisa Hundley is an American gospel singer, who was the ninth-place finalist in the fifth season of American Idol.-Early life:...
(who sang the keynote
Keynote
A keynote in literature, music, or public speaking establishes the principal underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address...
), and dance crew SoReal Cru
SoReal Cru
SoReal Cru is a hip-hop dance crew from Houston, Texas who gained fame as the runner-up on the second season of America's Best Dance Crew . Before ABDC, they won first place at the World of Dance competition in Pomona in 2008. After the second season of America's Best Dance Crew was over, they...
using remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ed versions of classic Christmas songs from Merry Mixmas and other albums.
Other history
In 2004, the tree from Snellville snapped about two-thirds of the way up while workers were attempting to use a craneCrane (machine)
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
to lift it from the ground to the roof. Since the tree was rather late in being set up to begin with (November 14 was only 11 days before Thanksgiving that year), a replacement tree (always selected in case of an emergency such as this) was being rushed in from nearby Lithia Springs. In 2003, it took eight workers three weeks to accomplish the massive decorating task. The tree also snapped in 1974, the year before Federated bought Rich's from the Rich family, and some native Atlantans suspected that both times were a sort of "karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
" regarding the reduction and then complete loss of the store, an Atlanta institution since 1867. In 2011, the tree from Douglasville
Douglasville, Georgia
The city of Douglasville is the county seat of Douglas County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 30,961...
cracked when being lifted off the flatbed
Flatbed
Flatbed may refer to:* Flatbed digital printer, the reproduction of digital images on physical surfaces* Flatbed editor, a type of machine used for the editing of a motion picture film...
truck, after being picked in the first contest
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
to select the tree. Citing safety
Safety
Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...
concerns, another tree from near the first
Douglas County, Georgia
Douglas County, Georgia has been experiencing numerous natural disasters over the most recent decades. Being located in the South Eastern United States the county experiences strong storms and tornadoes often because of its location in Dixie Alley....
was to be brought in, leaving barely over a week until Thanksgiving for the tree to be decorated.
After an announcement was made in 2004, Rich's stores became Rich's-Macy's in early 2005, and for Christmas that year and the next, the Rich's Great Tree became the "Great Tree at Macy's".
In 2007, the still-new name was dropped in favor of "Macy's Great Tree", after all Rich's stores became Macy's, eliminating the retailer after 140 years. The only visible reminders of Rich's are the Great Tree, and the façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
of the original (1924) part of the Rich's building, now attached to the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Building via another four-story bridge where the Crystal Bridge was. (33.75309°N 84.39322°W)
The tree and the bridge were featured on the cover of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine in 1961.
See also
- General Grant treeGeneral Grant treeThe General Grant tree is the largest giant sequoia in the General Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park in California and the second largest tree in the world.-History:...
- National Christmas Tree
- New Georgia EncyclopediaNew Georgia EncyclopediaThe New Georgia Encyclopedia is a web-based encyclopedia containing over 2,000 articles about the state of Georgia.The Georgia Humanities Council, the Office of the Governor of Georgia, the University of Georgia Press, and the University System of Georgia/GALILEO have collaborated in the funding...
- Rockefeller Center Christmas TreeRockefeller Center Christmas TreeThe Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a large Christmas tree placed annually in Rockefeller Center in mid-town Manhattan in New York City. The tree is erected and lit in late November or early December. In recent years, the lighting has been broadcast live nationwide on NBC's Christmas in...