I have many traditions, today I participated in two of them.
The first is called, "Getting Past my Ten Foot Roof Line With my Six Foot Ladder." The second is called, "Celebration Upon Returning to Earth After Having Not Fallen Off the Roof."
Both involve the annual hanging of Christmas lights, and it is very important to me these traditions operate in tandem.
Why is it perfectly rational people are compelled to risk blunt force trauma in the name of light pollution, and in an effort to raise their electrical bill a few extra cents, each winter?
Apparently, we should blame Edward Johnson. He lighted up a Christmas tree in New York City with eighty red, white and blue walnut-sized, hand-wired electric light bulbs in 1882. He was also a contemporary of Thomas Edison and served as Vice President of the Edison Electric Light Company, which is today ConEd. The fact the Christmas light phenomenon was inspired by a power company executive is, shall we say, noteworthy.
In 1895, U.S. President Grover Cleveland hosted the first electrically illuminated Christmas tree in the White House - it held more than a hundred multicolored lights. The first commercially produced Christmas tree lamps were manufactured in strings of eight sockets by the General Electric Company - each socket held a miniature carbon-filament lamp. By 1900, department stores started using the new Christmas lights for their Christmas displays. However, Christmas lights were too expensive for the average person, and so candles maintained a certain exclusivity until about 1930.
Though General Electric sponsored community lighting competitions during the 1920’s, decorating of houses (and the subsequent risk related traditions) didn't take off until the late 1950's and early 1960's. I suppose it's no small coincidence that tract housing got real popular about the same time.
So, while some will say these decorations symbolize the Star of Bethlehem . . . and others will say the lighting helps Santa find his way . . . it seems we actually risk our necks each year because ConEd and GE executives suckered us into it.
THE POINT: Great products are a part of everyday life, the subsequent cultural symbolism is a projection of the user.
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