Christmas Lights In January

Photo Courtesy of Ville Turkkinen www.pixabay.com

I’m not a fan of winter, so I didn’t mind the unusually warm temperatures we’ve been having lately. I didn’t mind our rainy Christmas, and I didn’t complain like so many others have that it just didn’t “feel like” the holiday season this year. It has been mostly above freezing during the day in Southeastern Pennsylvania, throughout December and the first few days of January. But yesterday, with a high temperature of 31 degrees and blustery winds, it seemed like winter had finally arrived.

This morning when I took my husband to work, it was 11 degrees. We let the car warm up before we got started, so we were cozy for the ride, but it felt like walking through a freezer on the way to the car. But, it’s January—and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

It was still almost dark when we left, with a thin sliver of moon and stars still visible. As we drove, we noticed that a few people still had their Christmas lights up, and we remarked that it was nice to see. It’s a shame that once Christmas is over, most of the lights and decorations come down, because January is such a cold and dark month. 

Photo Courtesy of Jill Wellington www.pixabay.com

In February and March, you start to see the days getting longer. Even when it’s cold, there is a little more natural light, and a sense that Spring, though still far away, will come. But in January, the lengthening of the days is barely noticeable, and there is a letdown after the holidays.

Photo Courtesy of Stefan Schweihofer  www.pixabay.com

It’s easy to understand how Christmas lights got started. In the darkest days of the year, when people lit their homes with candles and lanterns, extra light was needed for everyday living during the winter. And lanterns placed in windows and outside of homes would have guided friends and family who were visiting to share in the festivities. People started bringing evergreen trees inside, and placing lighted candles on them. It’s debatable how this custom got started, but by sometime in the 19th Century, Christmas trees were popular throughout North America and Europe.

Victorian Postcard

The history of electric Christmas lights is intricately tied to the dawn of the modern era, when houses began to be supplied with electricity. Thomas Edison invented the first functioning light bulb in 1879. In 1882, an associate of his, Edward Johnson, was the first person to electrically light his family’s Christmas tree in his New York home, located in one of the first sections of the city to be wired for electricity. He became known as “The Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights.”

Christmas Tree Circa 1900--Photo Courtesy of The National Library of Ireland

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A visiting reporter wrote the following description of that magical, modern tree in “The Detroit Post and Tribune”: “Last evening I walked over beyond Fifth Avenue and called at the residence of Edward H. Johnson, vice-president of Edison’s electric company. There, at the rear of the beautiful parlors, was a large Christmas tree presenting a most picturesque and uncanny aspect. It was brilliantly lighted with many colored globes about as large as an English walnut and was turning some six times a minute on a little pine box. There were eighty lights in all encased in these dainty glass eggs, and about equally divided between white, red and blue. As the tree turned and the colors alternated, all the lamps going out and being relit at every revolution. The result was a continuous twinkling of dancing colors, red, white, blue, white, red, blue—all evening.”

 

Christmas Postcard, circa 1920

In 1890, Edison published a promotional brochure which may have been the first mention of commercially available electrically powered Christmas lights. It stated that “There are few forms of decoration more beautiful and pleasing than miniature incandescent lamps placed among flowers, or interwoven in garlands or festoons; for decorating Christmas trees or conservatories…”

From there, the popularity of Christmas lights exploded. People began placing electric candles in windows, and decorating staircases, lampposts and the insides and outsides of homes and businesses with strings of lights. They have become safer and easier to use over the years, and most recently, energy efficient LED lights have become popular. It’s hard to imagine Christmas without Christmas lights. And it’s nice to see that some of them stay up into January, to bring some comfort and joy to these long, cold nights!