Christmas Tree Lights History and Savings
Christmas Tree Lights are a long standing tradition in Christian cultures and have been around since prior to the invention of the light bulb: originally candles were used. In 1882, the first electronically illuminated tree was developed, and in 1895, US President Grover Cleveland proudly displayed the White House’s first electrically illuminated Christmas tree. These lights did not become affordable to the average home owner until 1930, but once they were, they quickly became the standard.
Today Christmas lights come in many different varieties and have a wide range of uses. In South East Asia, it is common to see bars and restaurants decorated year round with the same sort of lights used on standard Christmas trees; of course, here they’re referred to as Bar Lights, Italian Lights, Mini Lights or Holiday Lights, without the reference to Christmas. In North America and in many EU countries, Christmas lights are primarily used from December on into the winter months. These lights are found not only on Christmas trees, but as displays in local businesses, decorations on the outside of homes, and they are also used to create public attractions.
One
example of a beautiful public attraction using Christmas lights is a
display in Springfield, Massachusetts at a park called Forest Park. The
attraction is named “Bright Nights” and is on display each year from
early December to late February. During these winter months, cars line
up to take the one mile drive through the park, which has hundreds of
trees covered in lights, as well as several character light displays
(many animated) including characters of Springfield native Dr. Seuss.
Other Christmas attractions take place in neighborhoods where residents band together to create amazing displays. One popular example is the Holiday Trail of Lights which is a joint effort by cities in east Texas and northwest Louisiana that had its origins in the Festival of Lights and Christmas Festival in Natchitoches, started in 1927, making it one of the oldest light festivals in the United States.
Discount Christmas Lights
Christmas lights are for the most part fairly inexpensive. If you’re looking to browse a wide variety in North America, most large shopping malls now contain a franchised store called “Christmas Tree Shops”. The pricing is generally reasonable, with a wide selection of Christmas lights and other decorations available.
If your biggest concern is finding a discount, which might be important for large projects, then shopping online is likely the way to the most savings. A few sites to check would be ebay.com, Google products, Buy and Overstock. A hint when searching is to include the words “Discount Christmas Lights” or “Bulk Christmas Tree Lights” in your search query.
While shopping, you’ll find a wide variety of products ranging from simple lights to full blown animatronics. One thing to consider is the type of light bulb the Christmas lights use. Most simple Christmas tree lights use small incandescent light bulbs. However, LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are also used in Christmas Tree Lights. LEDs are becoming increasingly encouraged due to energy efficiency and might be a great way to save money on the electricity bill when doing large Christmas light projects.