In the beginning, candle light on Christmas trees represented the hope that Christ brought to the world.
The tradition of putting candles on Christmas trees originated in Germany. A tree lit with candles and decorated with ornaments represented the perfect Christmas scene, but it was also a terrible fire hazard. This was the beginning idea behind the string of Christmas lights we know today.
The late 1800’s is when the invention of the string of Christmas tree lights came to be, but only for the wealthy. In 1924 General Electric and Westinghouse manufactured a set of Christmas tree lights that almost everyone could afford.
Christmas became a festival of electric lights and not just on the Christmas tree indoors. Christmas lights moved into people’s yards, on city buildings, utility poles and in store front windows.
The tradition of the Christmas-tree-lighting ceremony at the White House was started by President Calvin Coolidge in 1923. In 1933, ten years later,the tree lighting celebration at Rockefeller Center in New York City began.
The tradition at our home is the Sunday after Thanksgiving I go out to decorate the outdoors. Shortly after I get started, risking a fall off the ladder, my husband will come out to rescue me and give a had.
