Thursday
June 3, 2021
Gather 'round kids. This time we'll visit:
Today's Episode:
Christmas isn't Christmas without lights.
Most of us started with a "Christmas Tree" so let's start here.
A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen
conifer, such as a pine, spruce or fir, that many believe
originated in Germany by Saint Boniface. It was traditionally
decorated with roses made of colored paper, apples, wafers,
tinsel, and sweetmeats. The earliest known, firmly-dated
representation of a Christmas Tree is on the keystone sculpture
of a private home in Turckheim, Alsace, with a date of 1576.
First published image of a Christmas Tree, frontispiece
to Hermann Bokum's 1836 The Stranger's Gift.
Christmas Trees were adopted in upper-class homes in
18th century Germany, where they were occasionally
decorated with candles, a comparatively expensive
light source at the time. Candles for the tree were glued
with melted wax to a tree branch, or attached by pins.
Around 1890, candleholders were first used for the
"Christmas Candles". Between 1902 and 1914,
small lanterns and glass balls started to be used
to hold the candles.
An engraving published in the 1840s of Queen Victoria
and Prince Albert created a craze for Christmas trees.
Soon, everyone wanted a Christmas Tree.
"Father and son with their dog collecting a tree in the forest"
Painting by Franz Kruger (1797-1857)
BUT, LIT CANDLES ON A DEAD TREE?
What could possibly go wrong?
Ah, but a change was coming:
The first known electrically illuminated Christmas tree
was the creation of Edward H. Johnson, an associate of
inventor Thomas Edison. While he was Vice President of
the Edison Electric Light Company, he had Christmas tree
light bulbs especially made for him. He proudly displayed
his Christmas Tree, which was hand wired with 80 red,
white and blue electric incandescent light bulbs the size
of walnuts, on December 22, 1882 at his home on Fifth
Avenue in New York City.
Local newspapers ignored the story, seeing it as a
publicity stunt. However, it was published by a Detroit
newspaper reporter, and Johnson has become widely
regarded as the "Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights".
By 1900, businesses started stringing up Christmas lights
behind their windows, but they were way too expensive
for the average person. Electric Christmas lights did not
become the majority replacement for candles until 1930.
Advertisements blossomed and Christmas become a retail bonanza.
Soon, the tree became something just to hold
the lights. Creativity blossomed, technology
advanced, and as light sales grew, so did
neighborhood bragging rights.
and what would the season be without
"Coach is Here"
Then came the bubbles . . . and there was no turning back!
And when that wasn't enough, we tackled the entire house.
. . . and then more lights . . .
. . . and even more
Could there be too many lights? (there are many opinions here)
Somewhere around this time, we went smaller.
We rediscovered little houses.
Then, we realized we could add lights!
And life was good.
Any size could now have lights.
And we needed lights, lights, LIGHTS!
ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY VILLAGE LIGHT!
Whether singles, or six at a time,
Christmas for villagers was changed forever.
(after all, this website is about LIT villages)
My current choice is twelve at a time.
We gladly risked certain death (or divorce) and
paid any cost to satisfy our passion.
(some Villagers had "large" displays)
All these wires were the biggest display headache, and
they stifled creativity. The most time consuming and
aggravating step, became how to hide the wires. Some
of us just gave up, and just dumped more "snow" over
the wires until you couldn't see the "snakes of doom".
(I had to buy much more snow than a typical villager)
Others expanded their efforts in foam-base making, then
had to score/dig lines and trenches, drill holes, and spend
many hours learning new curse words. Of course, once you
started to make changes, your base started looking like
swiss cheese. Then, the added problem of filling in last year's
holes. Not a hard job, but boring and time stealing. Some
made templates, mock-ups and other elaborate systems to
avoid costly mistakes or do-overs.
(I've received many lessons in "static electricity")
It was just SO exhausting, but what choice did we have?
Well, guess what -
An engineering company, Etherdyne Technologies, Inc (ETI)
has been working on designing something that could help
the situation, and a few people have seen some prototypes.
Instead of the usual light cord, you just insert a special light
that works with a special sheet underneath.
That's all you need to do, and then place the building
anywhere over that sheet . . . and it lights! Plus, you can
change the building's location, anytime and anywhere you want.
But Wait . . . as they say . . .
"There's More"
The Village Collector has learned the "more".
Yes, an honest-to-goodness news "Scoop"
Next week there will be an announcement that I believe could
be the greatest thing for villaging since the light bulb.
This technology is already fully working, and, is here now!
A company named AirBrite has licensed this technology,
and will be announcing it next week!!!
AirBrite with wireless technology by ETI
I can't wait to get my hands on this system. As soon as I
try it, I'll be doing a full review for you, right here at TVC.
And now . . . another look -
Place the light over the pad, and it lights.
One cord to the pad and the rest is wireless.
MANY BUILDINGS - ONE CORD
Christmas Lights without all the hassle?
I'm in Villaging Nirvana !!!
Another Example of TVC's version of:
