If you’re the type of person that needs electricians to assist with your Christmas light display in Melbourne, then you’re sure to be interested in the history of Christmas lights.Thomas Edison invented the first string of Christmas lights back in 1880. It should come at no real surprise that the famous inventor of the light bulb was the first person to invent a strand of Christmas lights.
During the Christmas period in 1980, Edison strung out the lights on his Menlo Park Laboratory.
Whilst at the time he was renowned for his controversial publicity stunts, which included electrocuting an elephant in public, at Christmas time he went for something subtler. After mastering incandescent light bulbs, he brainstormed a way that he could market the lights. Playing on the excitement that surrounds the festive season, he decided to display the lights on his laboratory compound, so commuters who travelled past it at night could enjoy the light display. To demonstrate his exceptional skills, Edison powered the Christmas lights using a generator that was eight miles away.
Edison’s business partner, Edward Johnson, upped the stakes two years later in another marketing stunt. Johnson created the first electric Christmas tree lights, which he displayed on a revolving Christmas tree out the front of his Manhattan home. He hand-wired the 80 light globes that adorned the tree. The coloured bulbs were red, white and blue and illuminated the tree beautifully. However, the technology became more popular after 1895, when American President Grover Cleveland illuminated the White House family Christmas tree with multi-coloured electric Christmas lights. This was a big feat, as at the time Christmas trees were illuminated using candles. Despite the candles causing many house fires, they were still a preferred option for many years as people distrusted electricity.
Christmas lights official hit the stores in the early 1990s, however, only the wealth and the electrical savvy purchased the pre-assembled kits. In order to wire the electric Christmas lights, an electrician had to be called. It is estimated that it would have cost around $2,000 to light an average Christmas tree before 1903.
While it took a good forty years for electric Christmas lights to take off, they are now everywhere at Christmas time. As soon as December arrived, strings of Christmas lights are displayed everywhere, from commercial displays to home displays. In addition to being a Christmas tradition that we love, lights also are a feature of many different global celebrations and festivals. The humble Christmas light has come a very long way and has evolved into many amazing variations.
For me, Christmas lights are one of my favourite parts of Christmas. As a child my Dad started the tradition of buying one set of Christmas lights every year. Over the years, the sets of lights grew and grew, until the whole house was light up. These days, my sisters and I assist my Dad on putting the lights up because the job is so big. In the hot summer conditions, we painstakingly tie and hung lights everywhere, from the roof, to the wall, to the fence, to the trees.
Our light display has gotten so big that we now utilise electricians to check that all the wires are safe. We employ the team at Twin Electrics and Plumbing who do a wonderful job. They have highly skilled and fully qualified electricians who are so patient with our Christmas light display. If you need assistance from professional electricians in Melbourne, visit Twin Electrics and Plumbing website at http://twinelectriciansmelbourne.com.au/.
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