History of the Holiday Lights

A collection of books all about the Winter Holidays

Winter Holidays

Lighting up the White House

The White House saw its first electrically lit Christmas tree in 1895 Frances Cleveland made it illuminated.President Cleveland considered Christmas lights "technologically savvy"!

Electric Lights Enter the Scene

In 1882 a momentous event took place in New York when the first Christmas tree illuminated by electric lights was introduced. Edward Johnson was responsible for the display who was a friend of the famous inventor Thomas Edison.The Christmas tree was lit up with white,red, and blue lights,a lot of people still have those colors as favorite today!These lights were available for sale at around 1890.

Types of Lights

There are different types of Christmas lights,incandescent and LED lights.Incandescent lights (glass) are the oldest type of Christmas lights, they are also really inexpensive and they are inefficient and produce a lot of heat but people still prefer their warm look.LED lights are becoming the most popular type of Christmas lights that are available today.They are made with light-emitting diodes, they make light when electricity passes through them they are much more efficient than incandescent lights,and they produce little to no heat.

In recent years Christmas lights have shown no decline in popularity.They keep evolving in their design and functions.In the 1970s LED Christmas lights were more energy-efficient and a visually striking alternative.LED type of technology was a very big part of science that got us to the moon.Did you know that space flight was related to Christmas lights?A lot of people decorate their trees,homes,and their yards.

Continued Advancements

The tradition of Christmas lights began with candles being the primary source of illumination, they were attached to the tree using wax or pins.This tradition was made in Germany in the 17th century it became a widespread in Germany and then it spread to countries in eastern europe.The original purpose of the candles was to bring illumination to the ornaments adorning the tree

Glass ornaments were used to light trees since at least the 1500s. People's interest in decorating christmas trees with ornaments peaked when Queen Victoria's tree was featured in a London newspaper. There was a significant change in the history of Christmas lights when people started using small lanterns and ornaments to hold candles, which paved the way to the era of Christmas lights.

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