May your Christmas be a joyous one!
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It’s only fitting, perhaps, that along with the magic of Santa Claus at Christmas, holiday and Christmas lights also came about through the work of a wizard – the Wizard of Menlo Park in New Jersey – as Thomas Edison was called. It was Edison who first developed and demonstrated an incandescent electric light bulb in 1879 that had commercial potential, an event that led the way for the mass use of electricity and lights on Christmas tree as used today.
Before the discovery and use of electricity, candles were used to light Christmas trees. That practice evolved into having glass covers with candles inside them or metal lanterns that had small wicks. These were hung like ornaments on Christmas trees. But even after Edison invented the incandescent electric light bulb, it took many years before the large-scale manufacture of Christmas tree lights were available commercially.
It is said that the idea of Christmas lights came from one of Edison’s assistants, Edward Johnson. In 1882, Johnson had Christmas tree bulbs made specially for him. He displayed these electric bulbs on his Christmas tree at his home on Fifth Avenue in New York City and it drew widespread attention. But Christmas tree lights underwent many changes and improvement before General Electric Co. introduced Christmas lights on a commercial scale. As an example, among the earlier lights used on Christmas trees were night-lights that were strung together to make light strings. After the commercial introduction of Christmas lights, sales and wide-scale use of them soared.
Decorative mini-lights to be used for Christmas tree lighting were introduced in the 1970s. Since then, they have continued to be popular and are the dominant types of Christmas tree lights in the marketplace. Before that, icicle lights were introduced as decoration for rooflines. Those decorative lights are the most popular ones used for outdoor landscape lighting during the holidays. Outdoor decorative lighting has evolved from Christmas tree lighting to also become a popular way to use colorful lighting during the holidays to create spectacular scenes.
Another development in decorative lighting at Christmas time is the use of candles. Real candles can be used, but electric candles became more popular and safer because they present less threat of a fire hazard. Today that threat has also decreased with the development of flameless battery candles. The battery operation also makes their use more flexible because they can be placed in areas where there aren’t electrical outlets. Candles are usually displayed at several windows of a house during the holidays. They produce an appealing look especially if there are at least two sets of three windows each other where they can be placed.
Battery-operated candles can also be used during Christmas and the holidays for other activities such as caroling, church services, school activities and for other holiday arrangements around the home.
As Christmas lights have become a mandatory feature of the holidays, they are continually being used in new ways that differ considerably from their early beginnings. Outdoor lighting is now just as common as indoor lighting and that is an area in which a change in the use of holiday lighting can be seen. Along with icicle lights that illuminate rooflines and frames of houses, there are also lights that are placed in shrubs. Holiday lighting also comes in the shape of trees and other ornaments that can be placed on lawn to enhance the visual appeal during the holidays.
Many lawns are landscaped by lighting during Christmas and the holiday season with lighted figurines and various other items associated with the season. In some communities, entire blocks of streets will have such elaborate holiday lawn lighting that they attract passersby and even tourists – residents from elsewhere – who are captivated by the spectacular visual displays of the landscaped holiday lighting.
The various types of decoration used at Christmas are what gives a pretty and sparkling look, and what puts some splendor into the season. The Christmas tree with its myriad decorations is a standard and central decorative element of Christmas. But the presence of the Christmas tree is also enhanced by decorations such as wreaths, garlands, lights and figurines.
Wreaths have a round or circular shape and are often used as the decorative piece on the front of a door. Variations of wreaths include berry, grapevine, poinsettia and snow. The berry wreath will have individual and small clusters of red berries, holly leaves with features like a gold tint, pine cones and needle styles. A grapevine wreath has a vine-like look and may have pine sprigs and clusters of red berry. Poinsettia wreaths showcase leaves that are red or different shades of red, and may have glittered fruits such as pear, apple and grape clusters throughout its structure. Based on the size of a poinsettia wreath, it may also have large or small pine cones, pine sprigs and holly leaves. And then there are snow wreaths that have an icy look from pine cones that are sprinkled or covered with snow and which are scattered throughout the wreath.
Garlands are primarily used to decorate stairways, banisters and mantels. Garlands also have variations such as those that have a lighted Christmas tree look with twinkling lights and tiny ornaments or tinsel to sparkle. Others such as a mixed needle lighted garland would have branches of wide and thin pine needle and Christmas lights.
Christmas lights come in various forms and are also used in numerous ways to make homes and business places shine and sparkle during the holidays. Christmas lights may be colored or plain, may or may not twinkle, and may be single-stringed or have multiple strings to be hung to create a look like icicles, which makes them very flexible in how they can be used.
To beautify houses during the Christmas season, Christmas lights may be strung around the roof line, in shrubs, placed at windows to form different patterns and placed on patios or porches to hang as icicles. Lighted candles are also used in windows to make them visually appealing.
Another type of lighted decoration seen during Christmas is in the form of figures that are placed on lawns. It’s a matter of personal taste that decides how many figures to place on lawns, whether a lot or a few pieces or sometimes just a single one may be attractive enough. Christmas trees are the standard decorative elements that are mandatory during the season. They may be real or artificial and can be placed inside or outside. If placed outside, they should be lighted and also in a sufficiently lit but subdued lighted area to maximize their visual beauty. Christmas trees are wonderful to decorate because the entire family can participate in the decorative process by placing the ornaments, baubles, lights and tinsel on the tree. Some ornaments may even be personal, such as hand-made items or treasured keepsake mementos. When these are placed on the tree every year, it can become a tradition that is kept in the family and which creates a special memory as each Christmas comes around.
Poinsettia flowers, with their flaming red leaves, are also a staple decoration at Christmas time. They can be placed wherever it’s suitable to place plants. Poinsettias are commonly used around offices in general and personal work spaces during the Christmas season.
If there’s snow and a lucky ‘White Christmas,’ especially on Christmas Day, then it’s worth it to bundle up and with the children jump into the snow to make a ‘Frosty Snowman.’ While a smiling snowman on a lawn is a temporary decorative feature during Christmas, it’s always a surprise and delight because it means that children were out playing in the snow and having fun.
Given the many types, variations and ways in which Christmas decorations can be used, everyone can have some pleasure and be creative in arranging some form of Christmas decoration to add their own sparkle and twinkle to the holidays.
