When you think about Christmas, or even any major holiday, you think of colored lights lining the roof of your house, and multicolored movements throughout the night. For many, simply hanging fairy lights on the eaves of their house is enough, but for those who truly want to celebrate the season, going all out is a must. But where did the use of Christmas lighting come from? How did it start? Don’t worry, here’s a short history on holiday lighting, and how you can inspire the festive cheer with the lights that hang around your home.
Where Did It Come From?
Of course, using light to chase away the darkness, especially in winter has been an ancient tradition. After all, there are many threats in the darkness, and light helped with survival. However, the use of lights to decorate a home for festivities were a fairly recent tradition. It actually began in 17th Century Germany, where households would fix candles onto trees, using either melted wax or pins, to illuminate the ornaments that were also hung on the trees (Christmas Light Source).
Not only that, but those who celebrated Christmas wanted to help others identify them. So, a candle would be placed in the window of their house, so those passing by could tell that they were celebrating Christians, and that they were welcome to celebrate and worship with them (eHow). Eventually, the tradition spread throughout Europe and then over the Atlantic in America.
Why Candles?
Initially, it was a religious symbol, where the candle signified the “Light of Jesus”, and it invited all Christians to worship and celebrate the festive season. These candles are still used today, if not decorating trees and windows, but in a more symbolic way.
For example, in many Catholic households, an Advent Wreath would decorate 5 candles, four purple or red candles and one white (which would be situated in the middle of the wreath), in the home. In fact, each of the four purple or red candles would be lit like a countdown to Christmas day, as one would be lit every Sunday during Advent (a 4- or 5-week period before Christmas), and the final white candle will be lit on Christmas day (CERC).
The Move to Electricity
While candles have a symbolic meaning, they were very dangerous, especially those that decorated the trees themselves. After all, once they burned down, or if they were placed in the wrong position, they could cause fires, and for many households, they did. So, in comes Edward Johnson and Thomas Edison.
One of the earliest uses of electricity in Christmas illumination, to decorate homes themselves and Christmas trees were created by these two great inventors. Edison actually used lights to illuminate his laboratory, which was situated near a railway, so those who passed by could easily see the home of the “Wizard of Menlo Park”. And soon after that, Johnson created the very first string of lights that decorated a Christmas tree. The idea was to prevent fires that the decorative candles caused.
The Trend Was Slow
Although Johnson invented these lights, with the general public in mind, his invention wasn’t very well received. People continued to use candle, all the way up to the 1920s, because not only were his lights so expensive, in fact, they were almost as much as a week’s worth of wages, but there were only eight colored bulbs on the string. So, many people decided to continue using candles on their Christmas trees (Time).
However, President Grover Cleveland, used the lights in the White House, in 1895, and the popularity of using electric lights on Christmas trees began to soar. Of course, the lights were still expensive, but that would soon change, because in the 1920s, General Electrics made their own pre-assembled lights more accessible and cheaper, and the actual use of electrical lights to decorate trees and homes soon became the norm.
The Use of LED
Nowadays, LED lights are the most popular types of lights for Christmas decorations, not only for the Christmas tree, but for outdoor decorations as well. The reason why is that they’re less expensive, and they use less power than incandescent filament lights. They also reduce the risk of a fire in a house, because they don’t burn or get hot, the longer you use them.
Not only that, but LED lights have a longer lifespan, boasting around 5,0000 hours of life, compared to the traditional filament bulb, which has around 9,000 hours of life. And they’re more energy efficient, which subsequently helps save money on electricity bills. For example, using LED C-9 lights for around 10 holiday seasons would only cost $17.99, overall, compared to using incandescent C-9 lights for $122.19! Not only that but you can even program LED lights, even from your phone. So, you can create many different and interesting light shows for the holiday season.
Trust Trimlight
If you’re looking for discrete but bright lights for the holiday season, and you’re in the Bellevue, Seattle area, then trust the Trimlight system. Our lights are tough enough to stand even the harshest of winters, and still light up your home for the holidays. With a Trimlight system, you’ll not only get discrete installations, but you can also program the 15 million color options that the lights have, and all from a mobile app. So, you can choose what animations, colors, patterns, and brightness you want your lights to be, all from your cellphone. Not only that, but you can even synchronize your lights to your music, by hooking up your installation with Alexa or Google. So, why not trust Trimlight to install your holiday lights this year?
And if you’re still not sure, just remember, your light installation will be given a warranty for at least 1 year, depending on whether they’re installed on your roof, or under your eaves (which you’ll receive a 30-year warranty on). If you’re interested, check out our website, or ask for a quote. You can be sure our prices are reasonable, and our installation quick and hassle-free.
