By the end of November, the feel of Christmas starts to sink in. Christmas is the season of allowing a few cheat days in your diets, delicious grand mother’s recipe of turkey, gifts, indulging in baskets full of cookies and chocolates not to forget everyone’s favorite Santa Claus and Christmas tree lights which come in various shapes and sizes today. From net lights to LED rope lights, icicle lights to animated color-changing lights, the shops are flooded with a variety of lights, and we are totally obsessed with these tiny bubbles of brightness. No wonder, more than 150 million sets of Christmas tree light are sold during the holiday season.
But these colorful strings of brightness which spread joy have an equally long and illuminating history, which is more than often overlooked. Here are some of the most interesting facts about Christmas tree lights, you can consider as you deck up your Christmas tree and hall with these tiny splinters of light.
The most interesting facts around the Christmas tree lights
These tiny little lights were never cheap, to begin with
Today these decorative Christmas lights come at a very cheap price. But, this was not the case in the 1900s. By 1900 illuminating Christmas trees with electric light bulbs did not come cheap. It included the cost of the generator, the service charges of a wireman, and of course, the electric light bulbs. It would cost almost $300 in 1900 to light up a Christmas tree, in today's time it is about $2000. Now, if that is not expensive then what is?
Thank Thomas Edison for displaying the first-ever Christmas tree with lights
In 1880, strands of lights were discovered by Thomas Edison, but it was not used for decorating purposes. It was not until 2 years later that during 1882, Thomas Edison set up his central power plant on Pearl Street in Manhattan. It was during the holiday season of 1882 that Edison’s friend, along with his colleague, namely, Edward Johnson had decorated the Christmas tree. He decorated the Christmas tree with as many as 80 blinking white, red, & blue beautiful lights. To top it up, this first-ever Christmas tree decorated with electric lights sat on top of a revolving box, which spun at an interval of every 10 seconds.
Recycling of the lights in China
At some point, the Christmas lights get damage. They either break, or they simply do not work. So every year, these lights which are no longer suitable for decoration purposes, are often sent to Shijiao, the capital of the world for recycling Christmas tree lights, in China. More than 20 million units of rejected Christmas tree lights get shipped, where they get broken down into a series of varying materials. The lights are crumbled and segregated into brass, copper, and plastic. These recycled materials are used in the manufacturing of new gadgets to slippers.
Some of the world records with Christmas tree lights
The Guinness Book of World Records for the most number of lights on a residential premise is held by the family from LaGrangeville in New York. The Gay family, in 2014 spent two months decorating their two-acre property with 601,736 lights.
And, there is also a record for the most number of lights on an artificial tree. David Richards from Canberra in Australia holds the record for displaying the highest number of lights on an artificial Christmas tree. The tree is comprised of 518,838 separate lights shattering the record of Universal Studio in Japan, a record of 374,280 lights in October 2015.
This is not in the Guinness Book of World Records, but still, it is worth mentioning. The Rockefeller Christmas Tree of 2016 is decorated with 50,000 LED lights.
Sparking the tradition of holiday lights
Martin Luther, the 16th-century priest and former protestant, is believed to have sparked the tradition of holiday light. The belief begins as Martin Luther was so fascinated by the stars shining through an evergreen forest, that while returning he brought home a tree and tied candles on it for the merriment of his family. And, hence the tradition of holiday lights on a Christmas tree began, which still goes on.
As the holiday winds begin to blow, it reminds everyone to take their family Christmas tree lights out and set it right for Christmas. Today there is a wide range of electric lights available for decoration of the Christmas tree and the house. Check out the varieties of lights available on
whitestores.co.uk. For the biggest and brightest collection of Christmas tree lights, visit the website. Also, find other decorative items along with Christmas trees, all at the most affordable prices.
This Christmas, while hanging the various lights and decorations with your family, enlighten them with some of the fun facts and enjoy the night with a delicious family dinner.