Christmas Lights

Christmas lights are used for decorating at Christmas time.  The custom goes back to the use of candles to decorate the Christmas tree in upper-class homes in 18th century Germany.  Christmas trees illuminated with electric lights became popular in the early 20th century.  By the mid-20th century it became customary to string electric lights along streets and on public buildings.  It did not become customary to display Christmas lights in tract housing until the 1960’s in the United States.  Early electric Christmas lights were introduced with electrification beginning in the 1880’s.  The first known electrically illuminated Christmas tree was the creation of Edward H. Johnson, an associate of Thomas Edison.  He had tree light bulbs especially made for him.  The tree was hand-wired with 80 red, white and blue electric incandescent light bulbs the size of walnuts.  Once a local newspaper ran the story of his lighted tree, Johnson became widely regarded as the Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights.  Have you decorated your tree and hung you Christmas lights yet?  De Hart Plumbing, serving Manhattan Kansas, Junction City Kansas and Wamego Kansas.