Tomorrow night, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will light the National Christmas Tree, marking the official start of the District’s holiday season.
The annual holiday tradition dates back to 1923, when President Calvin Coolidge lit up a 60-foot Douglas Fir from Vermont. While Coolidge may have lit the tree, the idea originated with Frederick Morris Feiker, an engineer from General Electric.
The Society for Electrical Development, an electrical industry trade group, wanted as many people as possible to use electric lighting during Christmas and thought the presidential ceremony would lend a certain caché to the idea.
While electrification in the U.S. was already well underway, the 20s were seen as the tipping point. The percentage of homes with electricity rose from 35% in 1920 to 68% by the end of the decade.
Planting the National Community Christmas Tree (December 17, 1924) (Library of Congress)
The next year, Coolidge gave a speech criticizing cutting down trees for Christmas, so the first lady suggested planting a live tree for the ceremony instead (pictured above). The tree has been replaced several times in the last hundred years, with the current one being planted in 2011.
While it’s too late to get tickets for this year’s lighting, you can watch the show live on CBS, which will include big-name performers like Samara Joy and St. Vincent along with some great D.C. views.
