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CLICK HERE FOR THE TABLE OF
CONTENTS PAGE AND LINKS TO ALL PAGES ON THIS SITE
TABLE OF
CONTENTS HISTORY
THE TIMELINE MANUFACTURER'S
HISTORIES THE
PATENT PAGES
THE
PRE-ELECTRIC ERA VINTAGE
ADVERTISING THE
LIGHT SET GALLERIES RELATED
LINKS
FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
A BRIEF HISTORY
The world's first practical light bulb was invented by Thomas
Edison in 1879, (CLICK HERE to
see the patent) and
it was to be only three years later that an associate of his, one Edward
Johnson, electrically lit a Christmas tree for the first time. The tree was
located in the Parlor of his New York home, located in the first section of that
city to be wired for electricity. The tree created quite
a stir, and was dutifully recorded by a reporter named Croffut in the Detroit Post and Tribune:
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 "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, 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.
I need not tell you that the
scintillating evergreen was a pretty sight---one can hardly imagine anything
prettier. The ceiling was crossed obliquely with two wires on which hung 28 more
of the tiny lights; and all the lights and the fantastic tree itself with its
starry fruit were kept going by the slight electric current brought from the
main office on a filmy wire. The tree was kept revolving by a little hidden
crank below the floor which was turned by electricity. It
was a superb exhibition."
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Since public distribution of electricity was not yet
common, those living outside of a major city who desired one of these wonderful trees had to supply their own
electric power, typically from household generators. In addition, the services
of a "wireman" had to be obtained, as few people were willing to
undertake the job of hand wiring all of the lights on the tree themselves.
Electric socket outfits had not been invented, and it was a tedious task at best
to wire all of the lights necessary to illuminate a room sized tree. Although intrigued,
the public was not yet convinced of the practicality of electric trees.
circa 1900 socketless festoon type
Christmas lamp
In 1895, President Cleveland proudly sponsored the first
electrically lit Christmas tree in the White House. It was a huge specimen,
featuring more than a hundred multicolored lights. Finally, the general public
was taking notice, and it was not long afterward that members of "high
society" were hosting Christmas Tree
parties. They were grand events
indeed, as a typical lighted tree of the early 1900s cost upwards of $300 (more
than $2000 today), including the generator and wireman's services. Still out of range for the average American family, smaller
and less expensive battery-operated lighting strings were decorating the trees
of those adventurous enough to do the wiring. In fact, an article in Popular
Electricity Magazine had an piece for children, explaining how to light the
family tree with battery-powered electric lights. The back pages had
instructions on ordering the necessary wire, sockets and lights bulbs. General
Electric even offered miniature light bulbs  for
rent in some cities, as an alternative to an outright purchase of the expensive
lamps. But electric
tree lighting was not to be truly practical until the General Electric Company came to
the rescue in 1903. That
year, GE offered a
pre-assembled lighting outfit for the first time. Still quite expensive at $12.00
(the total weekly wage for an average worker and the equivalent of about $80.00
today), many department stores in the larger, electrified cities would rent
outfits for the season for $4.00. Called a "festoon", the outfit consisted of eight green pre-wired
porcelain sockets, eight Edison miniature base colored glass lamps, and a handy
screw-in plug for easy attachment to a nearby wall or ceiling light socket. The
set was
suitable for a table-top size tree:
1905 Rental Christmas Tree Lighting Outfit
Below is a transcription of the contents of
a colorful booklet put out by General Electric in 1903:
READY MADE ELECTRIC LIGHTING OUTFITS
FOR DECORATIVE LIGHTING
General Electric Flyer No. 2134
"In electrically lighted houses,
the use of Miniature Incandescent Lamps renders possible most attractive effects
and gives an added charm to all forms of decorations. Such lamps, by their small
size and inconspicuous shape, are especially adapted for table, foliage and
general house decorations. Having no flame, they are clean and safe to handle.
They are instantaneously lighted by the touch of a button, and they will burn
for as long as desired without attention. The only drawback to their general use
has been the trouble and expense of wiring them so they could be connected to
the lighting circuit. This difficulty has now been overcome by a completely
wired outfit, in which miniature sockets and flexible cord are connected
together, all made up and ready for immediate use.
This outfit consists of a number of feet of flexible cord with a regular
attaching plug at one end, and branch festoons, each having eight miniature
pendant porcelain sockets wired thereon. With the outfit is supplied the
necessary number of Miniature Decorative Edison Lamps, plain and in
colors.
To arrange the lighting decoration, it is necessary only to screw the attaching
plug into the nearest regular lamp socket, drape the wires over the table or
object to be decorated, screw the little lamps into their sockets, and the
decoration is complete!
The outfit is simple, flexible, thoroughly constructed and perfectly safe. It is
neatly packed in an attractively decorated wooden box and forms a most useful
and serviceable device, which should be in every electrically lighted home. It
is useful as a general house decoration for the dinner table, for the
ornamentation of walls, columns, balustrades, chandeliers, and for decorations
of flowers, foliage, etc.
The full cost is low, considering that the Miniature Lamps are included, and an
outfit once purchased will last for years and can be used repeatedly with little
trouble and no additional expense.
The outfits will be supplied for eight lamps and multiples of eight; that is 8,
16, 24, etc. lamps. The junction plug is so constructed that extra festoons can
be connected, and thus the size of the outfit in number of lamps may be
increased or reduced as desired."
"The following is a list of the
sizes supplied:
Complete outfit, consisting of one
festoon of eight sockets and ten lamps--six plain, two frosted and two
red--$5.00
Complete outfit, consisting of two festoons of eight sockets each for a total of
sixteen sockets in all and nineteen lamps--thirteen plain, three frosted and
three red--$8.50
Complete outfit, consisting of three festoons of eight sockets each for a total
of 24 sockets in all and twenty eight lamps--twenty plain, four frosted and four
red--$12.00
Extra festoons, ready for connection to outfit, consisting of eight sockets and
nine lamps--six plain, two frosted and one red--$4.00
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
Main Lamp Sales Office
Harrison, New Jersey"
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 The advertisement pictured on the left was sponsored by  GE,
and was published in a December, 1905 edition of Scientific American Magazine,
extolling the virtues of electric lights for the Christmas tree. Pictured
on the right is a circa 1910 tree outfit by the American Ever Ready Company, the
second company after GE to offer lighting outfits, and later to become known for
Eveready batteries. (See the 1900-1920 section of
The Light Sets category for more pictures of some of the
earliest lighting outfits.)
The General Electric Company was not able to patent
their lighting outfits, as when the company's patent applications were presented
to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for consideration, their courts decided that the socket sets were
"based on common electrical knowledge" and not actually a new
invention. It was not long after the decision was handed down that several companies began offering lighting
sets of their own, and the American electric Christmas lighting industry was
born.
End of Category
CLICK HERE FOR THE TABLE OF
CONTENTS PAGE AND LINKS TO ALL PAGES ON THIS SITE
TABLE OF
CONTENTS HISTORY
THE TIMELINE MANUFACTURER'S
HISTORIES THE
PATENT PAGES
THE
PRE-ELECTRIC ERA VINTAGE
ADVERTISING THE
LIGHT SET GALLERIES RELATED
LINKS
FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
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