Thomas Edison, the inventor of the first successful practical light bulb, created the very first strand (串) of electric lights. During the Christmas season of 1880, these strands were put around the outside of his Menlo Park Laboratory. Railroad passengers traveling by the laboratory got their first look at an electric light display. But it would take almost forty years for electric Christmas lights to become the tradition that we all know and love.
Before electric Christmas lights, families would use candles to light up their Christmas trees. This practice was often dangerous and led to many home fires. Edward H. Johnson put the very first string of electric Christmas tree lights together in 1882. Johnson, Edison's friend and partner in the Edison Illumination Company (灯具公司), hand wired 80 red, white and blue light bulbs and wound them around his Christmas tree. Not only was the tree illuminated (照亮) with electricity, it also revolved (转动). However, the world was not quite ready for electrical illumination. There was a great mistrust(不信任) of electricity and it would take many more years for society to decorate its Christmas trees and homes with electric lights. In 1895, President Cleveland requested that the White House family Christmas tree be illuminated by hundreds of multi?colored electric light bulbs.
On Christmas Eve 1923, President Calvin Coolidge began the country's celebration of Christmas by lighting the National Christmas Tree with 3,000 electric lights on the Ellipse located south of the White House.
Until 1903, when General Electric began to offer pre?assembled kits (组装好的设备)of Christmas lights, stringed lights were reserved for the wealthy and electrically savvy (有见识的). The wiring of electric lights was very expensive and required the hiring of the services of a wireman, our modern?day electrician. According to some, to light an average Christmas tree with electric lights before 1903 would have cost $2000 in today's dollars.
While Thomas Edison and Edward H. Johnson may have been the first to create electric strands of lights in 1880 / 1882, it was Albert Sadacca who saw a future in selling electric Christmas lights. The Sadacca family owned a different and unusual lighting company and in 1917 Albert, a teenager at the time, suggested that its store offer brightly colored strands of Christmas lights to the public. By the 1920s Albert and his brothers organized the National Outfit Manufacturer's Association (NOMA), a trade association. NOMA soon became NOMA Electric Co, with its members cornering the Christmas light market until the 1960s.
| TitleBefore the electric Christmas lights | (76)________ were used to light up Christmas trees, which often (77)________ fires. |
| Thomas Edison's achievements | He invented the light bulbs and created the first strand of electric lights. |
| Edward H. Johnson's assistance | Edward H. Johnson wound around his Christmas tree the first string of electric lights, (78)________ red, white and blue light bulbs. |
| Public (79)________ | People did not (80)________ in the electric lights and were not prepared to (81)________ the electrical illumination. |
| President Cleveland | He had the White House family Christmas tree (82)________ by hundreds of light bulbs of (83)________ colors. |
| President Calvin Coolidge | He lighted the National Christmas Tree with 3,000 lights. |
| General Electric | General Electric began to offer pre?assembled kits of Christmas lights, which were not only expensive but also needed a wireman to help (84)________．
|
| Albert Sadacca's (85)________ | Albert and his brothers organized NOMA and they offered brightly colored strands of Christmas lights to the public. |