Lubbock, as you’re stringing up your holiday lights this year, have you ever stopped to wonder where this glowing tradition started? It turns out, we might owe a big “thank you” to none other than Thomas Edison himself.
Back in 1880, as we all know, Edison introduced the first practical incandescent light bulb—an invention that changed the world. But Edison wasn’t content to let his brilliant idea sit in the lab. That same year, he strung up a series of electric lights outside his Menlo Park laboratory in New Jersey as part of a public demonstration. People were amazed, and many consider this the very first use of electric lights as holiday decoration.
Now, Edison didn’t exactly invent the string lights we hang on our trees today. That honor goes to one of his employees, Edward H. Johnson, who took Edison’s invention and ran with it. In 1882, Johnson hand-wired a string of red, white, and blue light bulbs and wrapped them around a Christmas tree in his New York home. It was the first known use of electric lights on a Christmas tree—and a far cry from the incredibly dangerous practice of using candles!
At first, only the wealthy could afford these “electric marvels.” But by the early 1900s, companies like General Electric (which Edison helped found) began mass-producing electric Christmas lights, making them more accessible to everyone.
So, while Edison didn’t directly invent the colorful lights twinkling around your tree, his groundbreaking work made it all possible. Without Edison, we’d still be lighting up our holidays with wax and wicks—and burning our houses down!…