‘The World’s Largest Decorated Christmas Tree’
By Michelle Quigley
Before there was a 100-foot tall Christmas tree in Delray Beach, there was the World’s Largest Christmas Tree at the National Enquirer headquarters in Lantana.
A 1988 Palm Beach Post story describes how Enquirer owner Generoso Pope began the 18-year tradition:
Pope, who died of a heart attack Oct. 2, 1988, inadvertently started the holiday tradition in 1971 after moving the tabloid to Lantana from Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Missing Northern Christmas traditions, Pope ordered a 45-foot tree for employees. But motorists on Dixie Highway soon noticed the tree and started jamming the roads around the Enquirer for a peek.
Over the years, as the crowds grew, so did the height of the tree and the size of the Spectacle of Lights. When the tree reached 117 feet in 1979, it was listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the “World’s Largest Decorated Christmas Tree.”
The last National Enquirer Christmas tree was lighted on December 16, 1988. The tree began its life in Beaver Creek, Ore., where it grew to be 126 feet tall before it was stripped of its branches to make the 3,600 mile train trip to Lantana where it was reassembled and decorated with more than 15,000 lights, 1,200 colored basketball-sized balls, 250 red bows, 180 3-foot candy canes and snowflakes, topped with a 6-foot lighted silver star, and surrounded by elaborate animated displays and model trains.
The tree is lifted out of the boxcar.
A worker directs the crane operator while other volunteers lift bundles of limbs.
Reflections of the tree just after its lighting in 1981.
This castle was part of the elaborate toy train display.
Palm Beach Post file photos
Tags: Christmas
That’s awesome! Brings back memories. I took my NOW 27-yr.-old son there…… when he was 2. It was one of the last years and I’m sure everyone misses it. Thanks for the trip down “memory lane”.
the tree was the best thing to happen to lantana since the tb hospital but next to railroad tracks was not good. The enquirer is now not as good as a newspaper.
I truly miss that tradition… My childhood was better for it.
My kids are missing out… Nothing better than a trip from Martin County to Lantana to see the lights and then dinner at A Bit O’ Nostalgia…..
Man do I miss it..
I remember this tree from my childhood vividly! I went for quite a few years and remember the last year I saw it (1988). It’s something that I wish I could bring my kids to see. I certainly do wish that the Enquirer still set this wonderful display up!
What fond memories. We used to drive up from Broward to see the tree when I was a kid and then soon moved to Boynton/Lantana in the early 80s - when it was still nice place to live. You could see the tree all the way to I-95. Say what you want about the Enquirer, at least Pope used to contribute to the community in some way.
I sure do miss so many things about Lantana…this is one of the many. I remember as a kid, seeing the lights, the train, and the display. What a wonderful sight to see. A huge loss since the tradition was taken away….
I remember visiting 2 years in a row.
Driving family from Miami to see display and tree.
Highlight of the season, spectacular.
Thank you national inquirer.
Visiting the tree and displays in Lantana was a yearly tradition…one that I miss…but Delray Beach now has a 100-ft tree each year, and that is even more fun, and a tradition my kids will enjoy remembering.
The Enquirer has long since moved from Lantana, but that site is now a good charter elementary school, name Chancellor.
i worked there for several years during the end of the tree and display time. it was so fun watching all the people rushing around and getting the tree on and off the train in record time. the last year the huge train display was there was so magical. you could just see the kids eyes light up. i think mr. pope enjoyed it as much as anyone! would love to know what all the folks who worked there during that time are doing now. I worked close with bobby stevens at the time too. he was so much fun.
I wish the National Enquirer or someone else would bring back the huge tree and accessory displays Christmas tradition again. I sure miss it.
oh ty !!
We would drive up from Miami to see the tree. I have a memory of a motorcycle group being involved in putting up the tree. I also remember the giant ornaments. What a sight!! Thank you for bringing back the fond feeling I have for that tree!!