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By raulskinner1982, November 27, 2009 3:51 pm

Are you able to reckon Christmas without lights? How would the youngsters find their direction in the darkness, so early on Christmas dawn without them? One would believe that Christmas lights exist for the same time as Christmas itself. But the history of Christmas lights is elaborately connected to the beginning of the modern era, when houses got to be provided with electrical energy.

Thomas A. Edison manufactured the first working lightbulb in 1879. In 1882, a few years after, an associate foremost engaged the function of lights on his Christmas tree. Edward Johnson was the foremost to electrically illuminate his home Christmas tree in his New York place. His house was situated in one of the first sections of the city to be connected for electricity.

“Last evening I walked over beyond Fifth Avenue and called at the mansion of Edward H. Johnson, vice-president of Edison’s electric company. There, at the rear of the beautiful parlors, was a large Christmas tree delivering a most gorgeous and special scene. It was brightly lighted with many colored globes almost as enormous as an English walnut and was turning some six times a minute on a little pine box. There were eighty lights in all encased in these fragile glass eggs, and virtually evenly segmented between white, red and blue. As the tree turned and the colors switched, all the bulbs going out and being relit at every turn. The final result was a uninterrupted glittering of changing colors, red, white, blue, white, red, blue – whole evening.”, reported a visiting newsperson from Detroit in the “The Detroit Post and Tribune”.

In 1890, Edison released a promotional brochure which may have been the foremost mention of commercially available electrically powered Christmas lights. It stated that “There is hardly a form of decoration more enjoyable and admirable than miniature lit lamps sited among bushes, or tangled in garlands or festoons; for decorating Christmas trees or indoor gardens…”.

They became synonymous with the Christmas tree and soon every family got them. From there, the popularity of Christmas lights set off. Mr. Edison, you made us all a present we will always treasure! I tap my fuzzy red cap to you. are you able to think of Christmas without Christmas lights?

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