There is some debate about which is America's Christmas Tree. On the Mall in Washington DC, carefully aligned with the monuments and Oval Office, there is a ghastly looking conical shape plastered with green and orange lights. On closer inspection, you can actually make out leaves and branches inside.
On the plus side, the President of the USA switches on the lights each year. I might put in for tickets if Hillary is in charge (I could skip a Trump lighting ceremony). This year the tree is a 74-footer proudly supplied by Alaska and chosen (I presume) as the best specimen from all their vast forests.
But much better, in my view, is the real America's Christmas Tree: the one outside Rockefeller Center in New York.
Rockefeller Center is one of the timeless spots of New York, and this is a real tradition of the people. When you arrive, it's a case of wading through the crowds who mill at the base of the tree - not standing at a distance - and fending off photo touts with strong Queens accents.
This picture shows the monumental statue of Atlas, in a futurist style that Mussolini and his friends would identify with, framing a glowing 30 Rock behind it. (That is the biggest tower of the lot, which gives its name to a TV show, and has the famous Rainbow Room and less famous but unmissable 65 cocktail bar on its top floor.)
Throughout the Rockefeller Center, all 19 buildings of it, are statues and murals dedicated to progress and world peace. The building work might have stopped when the Great Depression struck but Rockefeller had deep pockets, and it carried on. The result is a futuristic, art deco stage set for the New York public ... with ice rink, flags and Christmas tree topping it off.
