Nicely Done VS. Tacky

...holiday lights that is!  Tootsie Roll and the crew love our evening walks; and even more so this time of year because of all of the twinkling lights on display outdoors and inside!  On one particular evening walk Tootsie Roll suggested I bring the camera and take some pics of her favorite outdoor light displays!  We will share a countdown of those favorites starting tomorrow...and yes, they are the nicely done displays...not the tacky ones....Really, Tootsie Roll the Pug Fashionista would NEVER go for tacky! 


But, after taking that evening stroll Tootsie Roll asked me, "Just where did this idea of decorating with lights for the holiday originate?"  To which I responded, "You got me, Tootsie Roll...let's see what Google has to say!"  So, here is what we found out:


1184:  The first Yule log was set ablaze in December of that year.  The flames represented the hope of a warm, glowing sun after a long, cold winter!

17th Century:  Prior to electricity, real candles were used to light up Holiday trees.  Pretty, but you could not enjoy it for long before the candles had to be blown out...otherwise the tree would obviously set fire!

1880:  Edison had his incandescent bulbs figured out and wanted to really advertise them.  Of course he chose the Holiday season!  This first ever strand of lights was strung around his Menlo Park lab for all the passers by to see!

1882:  Edward Johnson displays the first electrically illuminated Christmas tree in his Manhattan home...it had 80 lights on the strands!



1900:  A single strand of lights had a price tag of $12....yep that is approx. $300 in today's dinero...GE purchased the patent rights from Edison's bulbs and because only the super rich could afford a strand or two of lights GE's marketing campaign suggested renting your Holiday light strands!

   

1908:  Insurance companies warn their customers that they will not pay for damages due to fires caused by Holiday lights!  And by the way, not everyone had transitioned to electric lights for their decorating...candles were still being used to light up the Christmas tree!



http://www.shorpy.com/node/9599





1917:  A teenaged Albert Sadacca suggests putting brightly colored lights on the strands!  Genius, pure genius!  This leads to the creation of NOMA, the largest electric corporation of the time  and the original manufacturer of the bubble light!

1925:  15 companies, including NOMA, are in the business of selling Holiday lights!

1968:  NOMA stops manufacturing Christmas lights...

2014:  The lights of today include incandescent lights, mini/fairy lights, and LED lights

Thanks to:  www.gizmodo.com for all of the wonderful information!  We used their page titled, "Christmas lights, The brief and Strangely Interesting History Of"