The Origin of Christmas Lights

As with many other customs, Christmas lights came from much earlier practices. In pre-Christian times, winter festivals were always celebrations of fire and light. Candles and lamps were given as gifts to friends and family as symbols of lights and hop. They were also offered as sacrifices to the gods as a prayer for the return of the light in the spring.

Martin Luther, who is credited with creating the first Christmas tree, may also claim the honor of creating the first Christmas lights. It is said that he used melted wax to 'glue' candles to his tree to symbolize the stars he'd seen glistening on the snow-covered branches.

Though the custom of celebrating Christmas was not uniformly accepted throughout the early centuries of Christianity, churches did make extensive use of what we would now call Christmas candles during the winter, especially around the winter solstice, which would become modern Christmas.

During the 19th century, when Christmas celebrations were becoming more universal, Christmas lights also became more popular. The first lit Christmas tree in Windsor castle, courtesy of Queen Victoria and Prince Consort Albert, was decorated with candles, also glued to the branches with melted wax.

The First Electric Christmas Lights

On his personal Christmas tree, he used 80 small, hand-blown lights, in red, white and blue. He had them wired to the lamp in the room, and they were first illuminated on December 22, 1882. Several small news papers picked up the story, complete with a picture, but the news was not widely spread.

Thirteen years later, in 1895, President Grover Cleveland was the first United States President to use electric Christmas lights on the White House Christmas tree.

Electric lights did not become a regular feature there, however, until the 1960's. In fact, there were some years where there was no Christmas tree decorated inside the White House, most especially during the two World Wars.

Christmas Lights before World War II

They did, however, produce the first commercial string of lights right around the turn of the 20th century. These first crude strings consisted of eight sockets with screw-in bulbs. Due to growing enthusiasm for Christmas lights, GE began to develop more and better options.

In 1903, the Ever-Ready company of New York entered the market with strings of lights called festoons. These festoon lights, also called 'twinkle' or 'fairy' lights consisted of 28 small lights wired in parallel. These parallel wired lights remained the mainstay of the commercial market in various forms for the next sixty years.

I'm sure we all remember those strings where one bulb would go out, and the entire string was lost. That is because everything was run in the parallel line. Now, most lights are series run, which means that even if a couple bulbs blow in the string, the rest of the lights will still function. Much better than when we had to pull the entire string off the tree, isn't it?!

In 1904, San Diego is credited with having the first official municipal Christmas decorations with electric lights. They were followed in 1912 by New York City. These were to be annual affairs, but for various reasons, they were not regularly attended to.

On Christmas Eve 1917, there was a major fire in New York City. The cause was fallen Christmas candle. It made all the papers, and gave New Yorkers much to talk about that holiday season. It also gave them much to think about.

One person who did a lot of thinking that season was a 15 year old boy named Albert Sadacca. His family owned a retail novelties business, and some of those novelties were lights. He reasoned that they should make safer electric Christmas lights, ones which, unlike candles, would not set the house on fire.

His family agreed, and they converted some of their products into strings of Christmas lights. These first sets used only white bulbs, and the first season only 100 sets were sold. People were still leery of electricity, but as would soon be shown, they were looking for a safer alternative than Christmas candles.

The following season, Albert and his family produced the same strings of lights, but in addition to the plain white sets, they created sets with brightly colored bulbs. This was the beginning of a multi-million dollar business!

Morris Propp Company entered the arena in the early 1920's. His claim to fame was not a better set of lights, but an extensive advertising campaign.

He bought extensive space in the women's magazines of the day, and had space in the trade journals as well. He also touted the safety and improvements of electric Christmas lights in several scientific publications.

Morris probably, and more or less single-handedly, did more to popularize electric Christmas lights than any other person in the industry.

Because of the safety issues, Underwriters Laboratories had developed the very first safety standards for Christmas lights back in 1921. One of Propp's best points was that each and every one of his light sets were tested and approved by UL.

The National Outfit Manufacturer's Association (NOMA) began in 1925 as a guild for 15 companies which were in the business of manufacturing electric Christmas lights.

NOMA was the brain-child of Albert Sadacca and his brothers, Henri and Leon. In 1927, the association incorporated as a single business entity under the same name.

NOMA lights are still sold today, and have remained the most popular brand since the company's inception. By 1936, NOMA had also licensed with Disney to produce the first figural electric Christmas lights.

Also in 1936, Carl Otis began development of the ever-popular Bubble Lights. As he neared perfection on his creation, World War II interrupted its development, and Carl was not able to introduce them until 1946, a year after the War ended.

Bubble lights increasingly gained popularity until they were a major contender in the marketplace in the 1950's. They have declined in popularity since then, but are still available under the NOMA brand to this day.

Later 20th Century Christmas Lights

McAdenville, North Carolina is credited with the first annual Christmas displays in which electric Christmas lights were a featured part. The McAdenville Men's Club decorated their community center that year with indoor and outdoor lights.

Also in 1956, Rockefeller Center, which had had outdoor Christmas displays since 1931, permanently incorporated electric Christmas lights in their display and on the Christmas tree.

Philadelphia's annual Christmas Light Show began that year as well. It has remained one of the most popular holiday festivities in that area of the country for many years.

Finally, Uncle Walt also jumped on the bandwagon in 1956, and the Christmas tree at Disney was also decorated with electric Christmas lights from that time on.

Developments during the 1960's and 1970's have created a myriad of choices in modern Christmas lights. Injection molding for both glass and plastic have created the ability to invent shades in many shapes and sizes.

Star-lights, metal reflectors and other inventions have seen their popularity rise and fall. Small plastic Christmas trees, snowmen, candles and other shapes have also been part of the Christmas light frenzy.

Life-size and larger figures were also made during the 60's and 70's. Huge Santas, snow-people, deer and other objects became major outdoor Christmas decorations.

These Christmas lights were illumined by large bulbs in their bases, or highlighted by spotlights placed some distance away.

The 1980's and 90's saw the invention of rice lights, tiny white lights designed to show up as bright points of light. Globe lights were again popular, in pearlized and muted colors, as were Christmas light tree-toppers in the form of angels, stars and fairies.

Icicle lights of the late 90's have become more and more popular, and there are few today who don't use them. Net lights made decorating outdoor bushes and trees much easier during the 90's as well. While most of the sets in the beginning were just white, with white cords, there have been developments there as well.

Modern Christmas Lights

Metal frame sculptures in the form of deer, Santas, sleighs and other forms have also been fitted with lights and make a truly spectacular outdoor Christmas display.

Trees, in both traditional and abstract forms are also popular light displays for the yard, and can be very beautiful.

Mini-light displays, which are basically pictures drawn in Christmas lights are also popular.

Some of the modern sculptures that are not necessarily the fiberglass figures of the past consist of entire nativity scenes with realistic people and animals, towering Santa's and snow-people, and realistic animals, deer included. These are much more sophisticated than their predecessors, with more detail, and better, more realistic colors.

New net lights give a more uniform look to the lights put on bushes and trees. Special nets for deciduous tree trunks are available now so that the entire yard can become a Christmas light display.

Trees, garlands and swags can also be found now which are pre-strung with lights, saving hours of decorating time and money. They are comparably priced with the plain ones, so why not??? I have several of each so that I can create a lush display and still indulge my artsy side!

Christmas trees, sculptures and greenery have many options for their lighting as well. In addition to regular Christmas lights, there are fiber-optic options, spot-lights, twinkle lights and even rice lights to choose from. Solid color, white and multi-colored lights can be purchased already on your Christmas decorations, and set-up is a snap.

Since the first pressed-board Christmas village buildings were put on sale in the 1920's, they have had cut-outs to insert lights. These days, manufacturer's such as Department 56, Franklin Mint and others have been selling their village buildings not only with the cut-outs, but with special fixtures and bulbs included!

My father is a big collector of Christmas village sets. He probably has over 200 buildings, each with its own Christmas light, as well as lit fences, moving ice-skaters and numerous other items. One of the prettiest I've seen is his pond, with lights under the 'ice'. It is truly magnificent - by itself or in a vignette under the tree.

Finally, rope lights have become more and more popular since their introduction. They are wonderful for folks that don't get around too well, or really don't have much time. They are elegant in their simplicity, and are wonderfully adaptable.

Lining a window, or even the eaves of the house with rope lights is a simple matter taking less time than unrolling a string of lights for the tree! Rope lights are nearly weather-proof, being entirely encased in a plastic 'rope' sleeve, and are nearly indestructible.

With so many options, and given the ability of light to create mood and atmosphere, Christmas lights are a definite must for every holiday decorating project!

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