We can learn a lot from Christmas lights history

Christmas lights history is linked very closely to the history of lights and illumination in general. For example, the first Christmas trees we know about were illuminated with little candles. In those days, people also used candles to illuminate their homes.

People first started to try and harness electricity in the 18th century, but it wasn’t until the 19th century that things really began to happen. For example, in 1820 Hans Oerstad discovered the magnetic effects of electrical current. That same year Marie Ampere found that a coil of wire became a magnet when current passed through it. Amperes (or amps) are now a measure of electric current. In 1827 Joseph Henry discovered the concept of electrical inductance (where an electric circuit creates voltage by a change of current). That same year Georg Ohm discovered the concept of electrical resistance. Ohms are now what we use to define units of electric resistance.

Of course harnessing electricity was one thing; how to use it was another.

It was a famous American inventor, Thomas Edison who found a way to make a long-lasting electrically powered light bulb. He patented several different types, with different filaments, including one with a carbon filament. That was the beginning of incandescent light bulbs as we know them, and therefore very much a part of Christmas lights history. These bulbs rely on heat-driven light emissions. What happens is that the electric current passes through the thin filament, and in this way produces light. The glass bulb around the filament stops oxygen from getting to the filament, because if it was to oxidize, it would quickly be destroyed.

Check our selection of Christmas solar lights

While illuminated Christmas trees were popular in England during Victorian times (mid to late 19th century), it was another American who first created Christmas lights. This man was Edward H Johnson, Thomas Edison’s colleague and friend, who was also vice-president of the Edison Electric Light Company. Johnson’s role in Christmas lights history dates to 1882 and lead to him being described as the father of electric Christmas tree lights. What he did was to hand-wire 80 red, white and blue, small electric incandescent light bulbs together and use these to decorate his tree. The story goes that most newspaper ignored his achieved because they thought it was a publicity stunt for the company!

The other type of bulb that was discovered at about the same time was the fluorescent bulb. These were a lot more expensive than incandescent bulbs, but small fluorescent bulbs were eventually also used for Christmas tree string lights or rope lights.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs), which are an electronic light source, were first developed in about the 1920s. They were made as bulbs that could be powered by electricity, and proved to be energy-saving, longer lasting and smaller. As solar lighting developed over time, LEDs became the bulbs of choice. They are still the bulbs of choice for solar lighting. More on LED Christmas lights

Solar Christmas lights are the latest rage. They don’t have a filament and they don’t get hot or waste electricity. This makes them the most recent part of Christmas lights history. Check our selection of solar string lights and solar rope lights