Holiday lights make the season bright
CHRISTMAS TRADITION
• Martin Luther, the 16th-century protestant reformer and priest, is believed to be the one who sparked the interest in holiday lights. It is said he became so entranced by stars shining through an evergreen forest that he brought a tree into his home and tied candles onto its branches for his family’s enjoyment.
• In 1880, Thomas Edison laid 8 miles of underground wire to power the strings of lights that surrounded his New Jersey laboratory. Train commuters traveling between New York and Philadelphia were amazed by the glowing fields.
• In 1882, during the holiday season, Thomas Edison and colleague Edward Johnson were the first to decorate a Christmas tree with lights. The historic presentation had the tree atop a revolving box that spun every 10 seconds with 80 blinking red, white and blue lights.
• In 1895, four years after the White House was wired with electricity, Grover Cleveland requested the first family’s tree be adorned with hundreds of multicolored bulbs. Cleveland is credited with warming the public to the idea of electric Christmas lights. At the time, many people mistrusted electricity and thought that dangerous vapors would seep into homes through the lights and wires.
• Christmas lights were once very expensive. To have an electrically lighted tree was a status symbol. Because of their expense, they were more commonly rented instead of purchased.
• Montgomery Wards gave the American public two well-known Christmas treasures: the bubble light and Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer. Carl Otis, an accountant for the company, invented the bubble light. The original story of Rudolph first appeared in their children’s giveaway booklet in 1939.
• In 2014, the Gay family of LaGrangeville, New York, strung 601,736 lights around their home to reclaim the Guinness World Record for the most lights on a residential property. Set to more than 200 songs, the installation took the world record with help from Ritz Crackers, who contributed a 200,000-light display.
• Since 1997, Albuquerque’s botanical garden has hosted River of Lights, which claims to be the largest walk-through light show in New Mexico. The exhibit features more than 550 sculptures and animated displays and 200 miles of twinkle lights.
• In 2016, the average American’s monthly electric bill was around $114. But during the holiday season, Americans spent between $199 and $573 on electricity.
• In 2019, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was wrapped in 5 miles of multicolored lights (over 50,000 lights) and topped with a 900-pound star made of Swarovski crystals.
