Nothing speaks of winter holidays like Christmas lights. They add warmth and merriness to an otherwise cold winter night with their colors. Manufacturers have added unique features to them over the years. And they’ve been a part of our culture for a surprisingly long time. So once you get your circuitry checked by residential electricians in Palm City and finish decorations, these facts might make for interesting small talk during the get-together.
Start Of The Tradition
Martin Luther, a 16th-century protestant reformer and priest, often gets the credit for starting the tradition. It’s said that he was inspired by stars shining through the evergreen forest. He tied candles to the branches of a tree, thus sparking a new tradition.
Edison Invented Christmas Lights
Most of us remember Thomas Edison as the inventor of light bulbs. But did you know that he invented the light strands used to decorate Christmas trees? He strung them outside his lab in 1880 during the Christmas season. His partner and friend, Edward Johnson wound 80 white and red strands around his Xmas tree in 1882. So they can also be credited as the first people to use electric lights as decorations.
Grover Cleveland - First President To Use Christmas Lights
President Cleveland was the first president to request Xmas lights to decorate his tree for the family. He did it in 1895, four years after electricity was installed in the White House. This warmed the public to the idea of decorating their Xmas trees with colored lights. Before that, there were fears that the electricity would seep dangerous vapors through lights and wires.
First Pre-Wired Lights
General Electric was the first company to sell pre-wired lights in 1903. Before then, people had to assemble the lights by hand themselves. These kits could be rented at $1.50 per strand.
Elaborate Light Shapes
Early lights came in many shapes like flowers, flakes, etc. These were molded by toymakers who knew how to make small glass toys.
Milk Glass Lights
Paints used back then didn’t stick well to glass, often flaking off due to contraction and expansion. Manufacturers discovered that the flaking effect looked great on milk glass and started using it by the late 1920s.
Americans Use A Lot Of Energy This Season
According to a US Department of Energy report, Americans burn more than 6 billion kilowatts per hour every Christmas season. That’s enough energy to power 14 million refrigerators. Many developing nations don’t use as much energy as us. It’s why electrical services in Palm City suggest using energy-efficient lights for decoration.
Most Lights At A Home
The Gay family hold the record for most lights at a residential property. They decorated their Lagrangeville home with 601,736 lights on November 28, 2014. They broke the previous Guinness World Record record of 346,283 lights by nearly a double.
Working Of Blinking Lights
Introduced in the 1920s, blinking lights have a surprisingly simple mechanism. They use strips that bend due to the heat, disconnecting power and turning them off. The disconnected strip straightens again into the circuit when it cools, lighting the bulb. The continuous bending is what causes the blinking effect.
Most Lights On A Christmas Tree
Kiwanis Malmedy/Haute Belgium holds the world record for the most lights lit on a Christmas tree. They used 350 garlands measuring 9ft 10 inches each with 576 lights, totaling 194,672 lights.
Official Christmas Tree
The credit for starting the tradition of the national Christmas tree goes to President Calvin Coolidge. His first lady Grace Coolidge gave permission to erect it on White House grounds. The former President lighted the 2500 red, white and green lights decorating the 48-ft Balsam fir.
Most Lights On An Artificial Tree
Universal Studios Japan, Osaka holds this world record. With 591,840 lights installed on an artificial tree in 2019, they technically hold the record for most lights on any Xmas tree, natural or artificial. They’ve been breaking their record every year since 2011.
Summary - Christmas lights have been a part of our history for a surprisingly long time. After getting your circuitry checked by residential electricians in Palm City, you can talk about these facts while decorating your home.
