Technology and its effects the holidays: Christmas Light Innovation (Part 1)

Christmas tree with candle.

It’s interesting to see how holidays have evolved over the years. The very first christmas lights, of course, where when families put candles onto the christmas tree. These small candles where attached with wax or pins. One can imagine all the fires that something like this would cause. (I wonder if the die hard Christmas fans still put candles on their trees?) Safety alone would be the main problem that would have to be overcome in the technology of christmas tree lighting.

When I think back at innovation I remember a lecture I saw at Carnegie Mellon University with Stuart Morgan, who is director of Industrial Design and Human Factors for Ethicon Endo-Surgery, a Johnson and Johnson Company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. What Stuart had to say about innovation set my head spinning, “Innovation is to make an existing product obsolete.” Well the candle didn’t necessarily become obsolete, just its implementation on the way it is used during the holidays. Thomas Edison would of course help shape the course of lighting history.

About 125 years ago the first christmas light was invented by Edward Johnson, who worked under the direction of Thomas Edison. Johnson’s invention of a string of 80 tiny lights soon became a facet in department store displays. Johnson is discussed more here. 

This tiny invention has become a staple during the holidays in most everyone’s house and business. “Today it is hard to imagine an American neighborhood without Christmas lights… eighty million homes are decorated each year, with more than 150 million light sets sold annually.” stated Brian Murry in a paper about Christmas lights.

(to be continued Christmas Light Innovation) In the next part we will discuss the different types of light bulbs and their evolution.