History of Christmas Tree & Lights
The celebrations of Christmas remain incomplete without the ornamental Christmas tree and lights. The twinkling lights all around your Christmas tree nicely grabs the attention of the people around. This amazing combination of the well decorated tree and lights are true representation of your involvement in the preparations of Christmas and your love for your religious and cultural holiday. You may even take the Christmas Tree & Lights for granted as they can be seen everywhere, including homes, offices, stores, businesses, and public parks etc.
Have you ever tried to find about the exciting history behind the Christmas tree and light? If not yet, then this simple guide of step by step has the crux of the whole story that where they were basically originated:
Instructions
-
1
The beginning
Christmas tree has a mesmerizing history that goes back to more than a few centuries. This amazing tradition has been the part of the Christmas celebrations from the very beginning.
-
2
Candles as Christmas Lights
In the 16th century, the German Christians introduced the concept of decorating the evergreen Christmas trees. The finely embellished Christmas trees were welcomed into the homes and were considered as the essential part of the religious celebration. However, the Christmas trees were in very short supply during those days. Alternatively, the pyramid of wood and branches were used for this purpose.
-
3
Illumination of Christmas trees
The concept of decorating the simple Christmas tree was emerged in Germany in the 17th century. At the outset, candles were used for the illumination of the Christmas trees. Pins were used to attach the candles to the branches of the trees. However, this method was not safe at all as the risk of fire and the dripping of the melted candle wax into floor and carpets were there.
-
4
Invention of electric lights during 18th century
Late Edward Johnson, vice-president of the Edison Company for Electric Lighting, played a very vital role in bringing a great improvement to the lighting of Christmas trees. That is the reason why he is known as the “inventor and Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights.” Special thanks to such an amazing personality who took initiatives to shape the very first known electrically lighted up Christmas tree at his personal home in New York City in 1882. He used blue, white and red electrical bulbs to brighten up his Christmas tree, which was then made known in newspapers across the United States of America (USA).
-
5
The Presidential Tree
The US president of that time, Stephen Grover Cleveland took a great advantage of Johnson’s invention. He successfully grabbed the attention of the general public by adding the colorful electrical bulbs to the White House’s Christmas tree in 1895. The tree was nicely covered from all angles as it was boasted with more than 100 electrical lights.
-
6
American Eveready Company
Around 1903, the Christmas tree lights were made available for the public when the American Eveready Company and the General Electric Company stepped into the business of light bulbs for Christmas trees. The bulbs were safe and easy to use as it was just a matter of inserting the main plug of the bulbs into the wall socket. However, these sets of bulbs were not that reasonably priced for the general public and only the very well-off families and businesses were able to pay for them.
-
7
Albert Sadacca
Young and enthusiastic Albert Sadacca is another great contributor in the development of the Christmas tree lights. His family was running a novelty lighting company. Sadacca suggested his family business to expand their business by starting the production of strings for the Christmas trees and lights in 1917. His eager for improvement in the specific field increased with the passage of time and few years later, he along with his brother laid the foundation of the National Outfit Manufacturers Association (NOMA). This company conquered the Christmas light market until the 1960’s. In this way, the Christmas lights were produced in bulks and as a result, the prices went down for the general public.
-
8
Illumination of the National Christmas tree
In 1923, the National Christmas Tree was amazingly ornamented in Washington DC with 3,000 colorful electric lights, making the Christmas tree lights widely popular across the globe and increasing their demands. Since then, decoration of National Christmas tree is a tradition.
-
9
Present Day Trends
Today, the variety of Christmas tree lights is never-ending. They are inexpensively priced so everyone can select their tree according to their budget. These amazingly colorful and twinkling lights have become an enforced element in the ornamentation of the Christmas tree.
