Christmas Tech

This special episode of the History Channel series Modern Marvels eschews antiquated, Victorian Era images of Christmas for a look at some of the contemporary innovations that continue to define the yuletide season across America. The program first leads viewers to Rockefeller Center in Manhattan for a behind-the-scenes glimpse of that establishment's legendary Christmas tree preparations, then treks off to Macy's to examine exactly what goes into the design and implementation of that department store's iconic Christmas widows. Following a look at the technology that enables the 3,300-pound UNICEF crystal snowflake to be hoisted aloft each year in the Big Apple, the program whisks the audience off to the Yule Tree Farms in Oregon (the seller of 30 million Christmas trees perennially) and a bakery in Texas consumed with manufacturing and shipping out 33,000 fruitcakes on a daily basis.