Christmas Lights
Why do we hang Christmas lights every year? I mean, I always get the warm and fuzzies when staring at a well lit house at Christmas--it is actually one of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season. But why do we do that?
The short answer to that is that we don't know. There are multiple theories: the fir tree was a sign of God; or, the lights were simply to light up gloomy houses; or, the lights were so that St. Nicholas could see his way into the house. But, all of these are just theories.
What we do know is that the tradition started in the 17th century, and was firmly taking grasp within a hundred years. At that time, the Christmas tree would be lit by candles. Around 1890 is when candleholders were first used to attach the candles to the tree (before this, they were melted onto the tree). The first building to be lit entirely by electricity was the Savoy Theatre in London in 1881. The first electrically lit Christmas was owned by Edward Johnson in 1882--he was Vice-President of the Edison Electric Light Company, so the newspapers ignored it, thinking it was a publicity stunt. After President Cleveland sponsored an electrically lit Christmas tree in 1895, Christmas lights started sweeping the nation, and by 1930, the lights had become affordable for most people. Over this time, they had slowly started being used to decorate more areas as the price dropped, leading to what we see today, such as this truck. Merry Christmas!
Why do we hang Christmas lights every year? I mean, I always get the warm and fuzzies when staring at a well lit house at Christmas--it is actually one of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season. But why do we do that?
The short answer to that is that we don't know. There are multiple theories: the fir tree was a sign of God; or, the lights were simply to light up gloomy houses; or, the lights were so that St. Nicholas could see his way into the house. But, all of these are just theories.
What we do know is that the tradition started in the 17th century, and was firmly taking grasp within a hundred years. At that time, the Christmas tree would be lit by candles. Around 1890 is when candleholders were first used to attach the candles to the tree (before this, they were melted onto the tree). The first building to be lit entirely by electricity was the Savoy Theatre in London in 1881. The first electrically lit Christmas was owned by Edward Johnson in 1882--he was Vice-President of the Edison Electric Light Company, so the newspapers ignored it, thinking it was a publicity stunt. After President Cleveland sponsored an electrically lit Christmas tree in 1895, Christmas lights started sweeping the nation, and by 1930, the lights had become affordable for most people. Over this time, they had slowly started being used to decorate more areas as the price dropped, leading to what we see today, such as this truck. Merry Christmas!
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