At a recent gathering of friends, I mentioned how much I was learning about the 19th century. Things I had never thought about before.
“Really, like what?” Whitney asked.
“Well, before Edison and the lightbulb, an inventor named Charles Brush invented the arc lamp. His lights were used to light Public Square in Cleveland back in 1874.”
“What about Thomas Edison? When did he invent the light bulb?”
I was in trouble then, because I wasn’t sure. Later, looking it up, I happened upon the Library of Congress Science Reference site, and the question: “Who invented electric Christmas lights?” (Tis the season) The answer: Thomas Edison, in 1880, when he strung electric lights around his Menlo Park research facility. Apparently, two years later his business partner Edward Johnson made a patriotic string of lights–red, white, and blue–to adorn his Christmas tree. Because such a novelty was exorbitantly expensive then, the tradition would not catch on for another four decades.
The Christmas tree, or Tannenbaum, is an especially German contribution to the American Christmas tradition. Also the decorations. The glass balls originated in the Thuringian region of modern day Germany. According to About.com German Christmas Ornaments, F.W. Woolworth made a fortune importing them in the 1880s. And the tinsel? Don’t even get me started on the tinsel. Once upon a time, though, it was made of actual silver, and brought a real sparkle to the candlelit trees.