3. How Many Miles of Lights are On the Tree?
Just to put the size of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree into perspective, it takes more than 50,000 lights to fully decorate it. The wire that the lights are strung on, plugged in end to end, would stretch five miles, about the distance from 110th Street to 14th Street along Broadway, or from 30 Rock to Battery Park. As another point of reference: the perimeter of Central Park is 6 miles. The lights that make the tree sparkle are multi-colored LEDs.
Once the tree is lit, it usually stays that way until January. During World War II, however, the tree went unlit. Simple and patriotic red, white and blue globes along with painted wooden stars adorned the tree. The tree was dark from 1942 until the end of the war due to blackout regulations.