CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
continued...

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 $1.50. 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.

It is interesting to note that while GE sold the first pre-wired string of lights to the American public, it did not manufacture the string. That honor goes to the American Eveready Company, You will recognize the Eveready name as being associated with batteries today. Eveready did not sell festoons under their own name until a few years later.

The American Eveready Company tried to patent their lighting strings, but were unable to, as when the company’s patent applications were presented to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for consideration, the 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.

Editor’s Note This article is adapted from a delightful website called Old Christmas Lights. We found this site in our search for the best of Christmas online. It is rare to find a subject so thoroughly researched and so passionately presented. Bill’s site is a labor of love. He works without compensation for his efforts and has kept his site commercial free. We are pleased to present Bill with MMC’s Masters of Merriment Award, given only to the finest holiday sites on the web. We hope you pay his site a visit — we’re certain you’ll be as appreciative of his efforts as we are!

Contributing web site: http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/xmas_past/2002cp04.html