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Christmas Tree Lights Before Electricity... |
A sampling of assorted glass "Christmas Lights" is pictured below. These units held water and cooking oil, and the wick device shown here to the right was floated on top. When lit, these lights give a beautiful, sparkling effect in a darkened room. All of these examples are American, and date circa 1905. Other common uses of these delightful lights were as welcoming beacons on walkways and porches, window or mantle lights. In addition to the use of oil and water, some people used small candles, similar to the votive candles we use today. Other popular names for these lights are "Fairy Lights" and "Candle Cups".
This collector once had occasion to chat with Mrs. Myrtle Chadsworth, a wonderful woman 98 years young at the time. Her vivid blue eyes sparkled as she remembered her childhood Christmases, and the traditional lighting of the candles early Christmas morn'. She reports that it was an exciting affair. Myrtie, (as she was called by her family), and her three sisters would be kept busy in another room by their oldest brother while Mother and Father would stand on each side of the tree, lighting the candles quickly from top to bottom. As the last taper was lit, the children would be invited into the room to share in the wonderment of the glowing tree. Sadly, the candles would only be allowed burn for a precious few minutes, and all too soon it would be time to blow them out. She remembers that, as the youngest child, Father would pick her up for the honor of blowing out the last and uppermost candle. Myrtie said that some families, hers included, would visit the tree again for a re-lighting ceremony late in the evening, when they would gather once more to make private Holiday wishes for the upcoming New Year around the glowing tree. The Chadsworth family lit their tree with candles until 1921, when her father brought home a set of sixteen electric lights in a holly-covered box one Christmas Eve. Myrtie's eyes sparkled again as she remembered that Christmas, when she had the honor of turning on the table lamp to which the lights were connected. "The room and tree lit up in a rainbow of colors," she remembers. "And I can still in my mind smell the unusual odor the colored lamps gave off as they warmed up that first year." Myrtie said that the best thing about the new lights was that the family could leave them turned on all evening. |
Note: This is an archive of the late George Nelson's "Antique Christmas Light Museum" web site as it existed in 2006. Except for contact information, link updates, and some information that has been lost, we have attempted to keep the text and illustrations as George presented them, using resources his brother Bill had pulled together before his passing in 2004. However, both Bill and George's pages included so much archaic code and nonstandard graphic formats that it has taken a lot of work "behind the scenes" to bring you this archive. Consequently:
OldChristmasTreeLights? and FamilyChristmasOnline? are trademarks of Breakthrough Communications? (www.btcomm.com).
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