Did you know that our image of Santa in the US was invented in New York City? It’s true!

First, in 1837, native New York poet Clement Clarke Moore gave us St. Nicholas dropping down chimneys to deliver gifts in the middle of the night with a magical sleigh pulled by 8 flying reindeer in his poem A Visit From St. Nicholas. Then in 1863, Bavarian immigrant & New York cartoonist Thomas Nast gave us the image of a jolly red Santa in a red union suit.

Then, Coca-Cola picked up the overweight red-clad Santa for their holiday advertising and propagated the image across the U. S. Coca-Cola is located in Atlanta, GA, but the advertising firm that came up with the idea is in NYC!

*** This is an example of the types of tours we offer. ALL of our tours are private and customized to your specifications. ***

Here’s another fact, every year, over 750,000 people gather on the streets, in freezing weather, to watch a 3-ton crystal ball be lowered down a pole at midnight on Dec 31. So, New York City goes big for the holidays, and you’ll find beautiful, brilliant Christmas displays all over the city, especially the department stores. Let’s go see them together on this special seasonal walking tour of New York!

After starting in Times Square, we’ll take the subway to 61st St & 5th Av. We can pop into the lobby of the Plaza Hotel to view their beautiful Christmas tree. We’ll then walk down 5th Av to view the holiday windows of Bergdorf-Goodman, Versace, and Tiffany’s. And of course, we’ll see other designer flagship stores like Gucci, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, & Cartier.

Our next stop is St. Patrick’s Cathedral, home of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, completed in 1878. Then we come to Rockefeller Center, a complex of 19 buildings. The first 14 were built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. between 1930 and 1938. We’ll see the magnificent Radio City Music Hall, a part of Rockefeller Center, and of course, the legendary Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

The Rock Center Christmas Tree is a live tree that must be a minimum of 65 feet tall, and they are always donated by landowners, usually from within a 250-mile range of NYC. The tree is covered with over 40, 000 led lights and topped with a 9. 5-foot Swarovski crystal star!

If you have any questions about this Christmas customizable walking tour option, please don’t hesitate to contact us.