Christmas 2025 musings: Can Christmas trees be measured with harps?

The Christmas tree at The Raffles Hotel stand about 4-5 Harps tall

While the Christmas tree at The St Regis is about 2.5 Harps tall

I was taking a break in between my performing sets at St Regis’ afternoon tea, when I found myself staring at the Christmas tree across the bar. I appreciate how hotels have begun setting up their Christmas trees. It’s an announcement that my favorite time of the year has come (which explains my large Christmas repertoire), and the lights, fake presents, ribbons and shiny baubles give the whole space a very tangible festive look.

Because I’m usually only in posh hotel lobbies with a harp, it suddenly occurred to me that I could use my harp as an XL ruler to estimate tree heights. The indoor courtyard at Raffles Hotel’s Tiffin Room is about 3 stories tall, and every year they install an mammoth Christmas tree that’s roughly 4-5 Harps tall (the photo has a bit of a perspective distortion; it looks smaller than it actually is). It’s so huge that the crew actually places a fire extinguisher next to where the harpist plays beside the tree. The whole thing feels as if the space was built around the tree; as if the surrounding afternoon tea affair sprouts from the life of this mystical tree.

The tree at St Regis is more modest, standing at about 2.5 harps tall. Here, it actually feels more like the tree was intended to sit within the space.

Size regardless, have you ever wondered how erecting pine trees became an end-of-year tradition? A quick google says that it began in ~16th-century Europe, where Christians brought evergreen trees (the only evergreen ones in winter must have been pine) into their homes to symbolize everlasting life amid bone-chilling winter. Candles (and now lights) on the tree represent Christ as the “Light of the World”, and the star at the top represents the Star of Bethlehem .

That’s all the musings I managed in my 30-min break. Back to performing I go :)