The below came from an e-mag and is pretty interesting… to me anyhow I guess! And it has relevence because Lionel is briefly mentioned (towards the end under “More About Christmas Tree Lights”) and it includes the “value” of an antique string of lights. Sort of Greenberg for bulbs! Have a good day.
Jim
| The True Story of Electric Christmas Lights (As Told by NECA) |
|---|
| – 12/19/2006 7:22:00 AM |
Electric Christmas lights gained popularity after World War II, due in part to the extension of electrification throughout rural America in the 1940s. However, like so much else in the history of electricity, the glowing holiday displays we now enjoy began with Thomas Edison. First, a disclaimer: A persistent legend credits Ralph Morris as the inventor of electric Christmas lights. The story goes that Morris, in a panic at seeing his son push a candle over on a Christmas tree, singed his own hair and nearly set the tree on fire rushing to the rescue. Legend has it that Morris then came up with the idea of pulling the lights from an old telephone switchboard and wiring them on a tree, thereby “inventing” the electric Christmas tree lights. This incident is true, but it happened in 1908–more than a quarter century after a close associate of Edison’s actually did the inventing. So, what really happened? It all began in 1882, just three years after the incandescent bulb was invented. Edward Johnson, Edison’s friend and partner in the Edison Illumination Company in New York City, hand-wired 80 red, white and blue bulbs and wound them around a rotating evergreen tree in his home. The New York press was invited to view the spectacle, but sensing a publicity stunt, they refused. A lone reporter from the Detro |