Cheers to 30 years! This month, TODAY is celebrating three decades of its iconic plaza in New York City. Former co-anchors Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel first took the show outdoors on June 20, 1994, with a crowd of about 100 people watching. This day turned out to be the start of something special — it kicked off a tradition for the iconic show.
Since then, the TODAY Plaza has been home to the Citi Summer Concert Series, celebrity sightings, college decisions, proposals and more. The Plaza has welcomed thousands of visitors, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and first-timers to New York City.
All week, the anchors have been reminiscing on the past 30 years- whether it’s return visits from the first ever visitors of the Plaza, to officially claiming the space with a street sign featuring it’s moniker.
Now that the Plaza has an anniversary of its own to celebrate, we’re commemorating the famous space within Rockefeller Center with a candle that embodies the spirit of the show.
Collaborating with the popular brand Homesick, TODAY created a product that, with three different layers of scents and notes, aims to capture the essence of the show.
Overall, the candle smells like a “morning cup of coffee,” most often consumed while watching the TODAY Show. The first and topmost layer includes hints of espresso bean, brewed coffee and brick, while the second layer features notes of caramel, steamed milk and vanilla bean.
Finally, the bottommost layer boasts scents of mocha, sugar cane and heavy cream. No matter how you take your cup of joe, this candle promises to brighten up any time of day with its coffee-related scent.
The brand describes this as a must-have for every morning by saying: “There are certain things a day just needs. A sunrise, that first cup of coffee, and of course, your favorite morning show. Because every great morning starts with TODAY.”
History of the TODAY Plaza
The TODAY x Homesick Sunrise Candle pays homage to the history of the Plaza, where former anchors Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel first integrated the now well-known and recognized space into their segments.
Whether it’s gearing up for football season with finger-licking foods, shopping exclusive deals, or revealing the latest Read With Jenna pick, the Plaza has been home to all of these moments and more.
Studio 1A is also notorious for having “windows to the world,” opening up the studio to the public within its Plaza and offering a view that Couric first described as giving the hosts a “giddy” feeling.
She recounts anchoring more serious news segments paired with zany diversions to the Plaza as pillar moments that come with live television. And over the course of 30 years, it’s clear that many of these moments were pivotal in the world of media. After all, history was made on the TODAY Plaza.
Interested in snagging one of these nostalgic candles for yourself? We have good news: When you add a TODAY candle to cart with a second candle, you can get 25% off from your order when you use the code TODAY25 at checkout. But be sure to act fast, as supplies of the TODAY x Homesick Sunrise Candle are limited, and we foresee this fan favorite selling out.
