Lights

Christmas lights (also sometimes called fairy lights, twinkle lights or holiday lights in the United States) are strands of electric lights used to decorate homes, public/commercial buildings and Christmas trees during the Christmas season. more...

Home
Airsoft
Archery
Backyard Games
Baseball & Softball
Basketball
Bowling
Camping & Hiking
Cheerleading
Climbing & Caving
Cricket
Curling
Cycling
Accessories
Bells & Horns
Bike Locks
Bike Mirrors
Bike Stands & Storage
Car & Truck Racks
Hitch
Other
Rear Mount, Trunk
Roof
Child Seats & Trailers
Cycling Computers
Decals, Stickers
Fenders
Headsets
Hydration Packs
Lights
Other
Panniers, Baskets, Bags,...
Pumps
Tools & Repair Stands
Trainers & Rollers
Water Bottles & Cages
Bicycle Parts
Bicycles & Frames
Books & Video
Clothing, Shoes &...
Other
Vintage
Disc Golf
Equestrian
Fencing
Field Hockey
Fishing
Football
Geocaching
Go-Karts (Recreational)
Golf
Gymnastics
Hang Gliding & Paragliding
Hunting
Ice & Roller Hockey
Inline & Roller Skating
Lacrosse
Other
Paintball
Paragliding
Rugby
Scooters
Skateboarding
Sky Diving
Soccer
Track & Field
Triathlon
Volleyball
Wrestling

Christmas lights come in a dazzling array of configurations and colors. The small \"midget\" bulbs commonly known as fairy lights are also called Italian lights in some parts of the U.S., such as Chicago.

History

The first known electrically illuminated Christmas tree was the creation of Edward H. Johnson, an associate of inventor Thomas Edison. While he was vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company, a predecessor of today's Con Edison electric utility, he had Christmas tree light bulbs especially made for him. He proudly displayed his Christmas tree, which was hand-wired with 80 red, white and blue electric incandescent light bulbs the size of walnuts, on December 22, 1882 at his home on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Local newspapers ignored the story, seeing it as a publicity stunt. However, it was published by a Detroit newspaper reporter, and Johnson has become widely regarded as the Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights. By 1900, businesses started stringing up Christmas lights behind their windows. Christmas lights were too expensive for the average person; as such, electric Christmas lights did not become the majority replacement for candles until 1930.

In 1895, U.S. President Grover Cleveland proudly sponsored the first electrically lit Christmas tree in the White House. It was a huge specimen, featuring more than a hundred multicolored lights. The first commercially produced Christmas tree lamps were manufactured in strings of multiples of eight sockets by the General Electric Co. of Harrison, New Jersey. Each socket took a miniature two-candela carbon-filament lamp.

From that point on, electrically illuminated Christmas trees, but only indoors, grew with mounting enthusiasm in the United States and elsewhere. San Diego in 1904 and New York City in 1912 were the first recorded instances of the use of Christmas lights outside. McAdenville North Carolina claims to have been the first in 1956. The Library of Congress credits the town for inventing \"the tradition of decorating evergreen trees with Christmas lights dates back to 1956 when the McAdenville Men's Club conceived of the idea of decorating a few trees around the McAdenville Community Center.\"

However, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has had \"lights\" since 1931, but did not have real electric lights until 1956. Furthermore, Philadelphia's Christmas Light Show and Disney's Christmas Tree also began in 1956. Though General Electric sponsored community lighting competitions during the 1920s, it would take until the mid 1950s for the use of such lights to be adopted by average households.

Read more at Wikipedia.org