Untangling the History of Christmas Lights - Deepstash
Untangling the History of Christmas Lights

Untangling the History of Christmas Lights

Curated from: smithsonianmag.com

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The first electric Christmas lights

The first electric Christmas lights

  • Edward Hibberd Johnson hired Edison in 1871, and later invested in Edison's Lamp Company to sell bulbs, even though widespread electrification was still decades away.
  • In 1882, in New York City, Edward Hibberd Johnson had an idea. While flickering flames were festive on a Christmas tree, they were also a fire hazard.
  • He strung 80 red, white and blue light bulbs together around a tree that he set up by the street-side window of his parlour. He then placed the trunk on a revolving pedestal and powered it all with a generator.
  • Then he called a reporter.

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Turning an idea into a tradition

Turning an idea into a tradition

  • Reporters described the electric lights on Edward Hibberd Johnson's Christmas tree as "a most picturesque and uncanny aspect." "It was brilliantly lighted... One can hardly imagine anything prettier."
  • Johnson turned his stunt into a tradition, doing more each year.
  • By 1894, President Cleveland put electric lights on the White House tree, and by the 1930s, coloured bulbs and cones were everywhere.

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