Yesterday we discovered that one of our two-man crosscut saws (#3355) had been ordered last Friday and was en route to its destination somewhere in New England.
Nothing unusual about that – we ship orders all over the world every day. However, due to a minor routing problem with the delivery, the customer informed us that this saw is intended for a very unique and honorable purpose: cutting down the 84-foot Norway Spruce destined to be this year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree!
Now, if you’re not familiar with this American tradition, here are a few fast facts, courtesy of the Rockefeller Center website:
- The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is often called “the world’s most famous Christmas Tree.” It is typically a Norway Spruce, approx. 75-90 feet tall and weighing up to 9 tons.
- The first tree was put up in 1931, and the first formal lighting ceremony was in 1933. The famous ice skating pond opened in 1936.
- Last year’s tree (2006) featured 30,000 lights on 5 miles of wire! (We want to know who went insane trying to untangle THAT!)
- Since 1974, the tree has been recycled, with the mulch given to the Boy Scouts of America and the largest portion of the trunk to the U.S. Equestrian Team to use as a practice jump. How green of them!
- The largest tree in Rockefeller Center history was put up in 1999 – a 100-foot Norway Spruce from Killingworth, Connecticut.
Lehman’s is honored and excited to have one of our pro
ducts put to such an amazing use. We’ll keep you posted on the further adventures of 2-man crosscut saw #3355, and we’ll do our best to post some pictures of it in action on this huge tree! (Learn more about this saw here.)
How cool! Please do keep us informed.
Well, the tree has been cut and is now in Manhattan being prepared to be decorated. We found out that the landscape company (Torsilieri’s) that cut down the tree is a multi-generation family-owned company, just like Lehman’s, and they actually ordered 2 saws and several saw handles from us for this project. This year was the first time the tree was cut using no power tools, so it took much longer to actually cut the tree. Here is a slide show with several pictures of the saw in action – how exciting!
I think that’s so neat. You should see if you can use the picture of where they were using the crosscut saw. That would be a neat catalog cover (or something!) :)
Yes, it would Pat! At the very least we should add it to our website with the crosscut saw info. Good idea.