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Christmas Lights
updated: Dec 10, 2011, 9:00 AM
By David Powdrell
Bah Humbug. I'm the reluctant Christmas light hanger in our household. Seems
like a lot of work and risk-to-limb stretching out precariously from tall
ladders and rooftops just to put colored lights along the eaves of the house.
But I'm in the minority at our house, so I begrudgingly comply. Actually, the
wife does most of the dangerous dangling; I'm just the "spotter".
I got to thinking as I was feeding the string of lights out yesterday…How did we
get to this point of putting lights on trees and houses as a tradition of
Christmas?
Evidently, the tradition started in the middle 17th century, first in Germany
then spreading to Eastern Europe. Candles were glued with melted wax onto
Christmas trees. But the trees weren't put up until December 24th due to fire
risk. Once electric Christmas lights were invented, we started the trend of
putting up Christmas trees earlier and earlier. Then we started decorating the
exteriors of buildings.
The first buildings to be decorated with electric lights happened in the early
1900's. General Electric Corporation sponsored community lighting competitions
during the 1920's but the average household didn't get involved until the
1950's.
Last night as I strolled the neighborhood, I saw electric lights in snowmen and
elephants. I even saw a car with Christmas lights and a wreath on its front
grill. I wonder what's next. My guess is that with the advent of energy
efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs), we'll see the lights going up sooner,
staying up longer and decorating most everything imaginable.
I, on the other hand, will be limiting my enthusiasm of holiday lighting to the
bare minimum so that I'll have more time to safely watch college football.
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