Christmas Lights

The history of Christmas lights is quite fascinating. In the middle of the 17th century, people were using small candles to decorate their Christmas trees. It would be another two centuries until this became a widely spread tradition. Starting in Germany, this tradition soon spread to Eastern Europe and eventually to the United States.

Many wonder how candles could be placed in trees. Wax was melted onto a tree branch and candles were placed in the wax before it hardened. Others used pins to hold the candles. It wasn't until the year 1882 that the first Christmas tree was lit by tiny electrical lights in New York City.

Edward Johnson worked under the direction of Thomas Edison. Later Johnson would become vice president of the Edison Electric Company. It was Edward Johnson who created the first string of Christmas lights. These became mass produced in the year 1890. Department stores across the United States were using these strings of Christmas lights to light up their holiday displays.

A Christmas tree fire that caused tragic results inspired Albert Sadacca to improve electric Christmas lights. He was the first to invent and sell what is known as safe Christmas lights. He sold only 100 strings of his safety lights the first year. He felt that the plain white bulbs were not attractive. The second year he produced brightly colored bulbs on a string and turned his Christmas lighting company into a multi-million dollar business.

Albert Sadacca and his two brothers formed their own Christmas lighting company called NOMA Electric Company. This company went on to become the largest Christmas light company in the world. Today the consumer has many choices of Christmas lights. You can choose from strings of blinking white lights to strings of mixed colored lights. You can mix and match or change your lighting each year. Whichever you choose, make sure you buy Christmas lights with a safety label.