MEEKER | The annual tradition of wrestling Christmas lights out of their hibernation occurs in more than 80 million homes each year. Most of us grumble and mumble as we unsnarl, loop, re-loop, arrange and re-rearrange the strands over and around our trees and our homes, but most agree the final result is worth all the effort.
Christmas lights aren’t just sparkle and shine, however. The cheerful glow is a modern reiteration of a ritual of hope that dates all the way back to the 4th century.
Way back when, Germanic people would gather together on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. As with most celebrations of the time, there would be feasting and wassailing, bonfires and the burning of the Yule log, and symbols like evergreens to celebrate the cycle of life, death and eternity. Sound a little familiar?
It was a symbol of hope in a dark time, literally and figuratively. Friends and neighbors looked forward to warmer, sunnier weather, and the increased chance of survival that came with it.
The celebration of light continued, but the practice was mostly isolated to northern Europe. German Moravians are credited with bringing the practice to America, but it didn’t go fully mainstream until later in the century, when Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert (a German) brought the tradition to England. An illustration from the time period depicts the royal family next to an evergreen decorated with candles and baubles. By the 1870s, fresh-cut trees were all the rage. In the Christian tradition, the candles symbolized of the birth of Christ, “light of the world.”
While festive and heartwarming, fresh-cut trees and lit candles were a dangerous mix. The candles were extremely hard to affix to the branches, and trees were often lit for less than 30 minutes, with buckets of sand and water nearby in case of fire. As the tradition became more popular, this posed a bigger and bigger challenge.
In 1882, one of Thomas Edison’s top hands, a 24-year-old by the name of Edward Hibbard Johnson, hand-wired 80 red, white and blue bulbs, then strung them around a tree in a Fifth Avenue window in New York City, drawing quite a crowd. While pretty, the earliest lights were unaffordable for most people. Sixteen bulbs would set you back $12 in 1900, the equivalent of $350 today, not to mention the cost of adding wiring to a home in the first place.
Plus, electricity, as with many other scientific discoveries, was distrusted by the general populace at first. Some thought the wires could transmit harmful vapors. As electricity gained traction and reliability, however, so did demand for Christmas lights. By 1914, a set of lights was down to $1.75. Fast forward 15 years to the 1930s, and affordable Christmas lights were just about everywhere.
Today, 150 million sets are sold each year. Whether they are inside or outside, colored, white, blinking, winking, big, small, oodles and gobs or one simple string, the lights represent a centuries-old tradition–hope and faith in a time of darkness.
2020 could certainly use a little more of that.
By CAITLIN WALKER | [email protected]
