Festive homes light up the holiday season
Ever wonder where the tradition of Christmas lights came from? Read all about the history and find out where you can take the little ones to view breathtaking decorations in the area.
NOTHING says it is Christmas time quite like Christmas lights. Several families in the Durban North area have been bitten by the festive bug and are keen to share the holiday cheer by decorating their homes with extravagant Christmas decorations.
Neighbours have welcomed the beautiful displays of illuminated reindeer, angels, snowmen and Father Christmas figures. On a nightly bases fellow residents have been spotted taking a stroll with their little ones to enjoy the lights.
Somerset Drive in Somerset Park is especially ideal for a festive stroll, since three homes in the residential road have decorated their homes. Another beautifully decorated home was spotted on Romsey Grove.
The history behind Christmas lights:
The custom of using lights as a Christmas decoration dates back to the 18th century, where candles were attached to trees using wax or pins. Despite the danger of combining open flames with drying wood, the usage of candles would remain a Christmas tradition until the early 20th century.
The ‘electric Christmas tree’ was invented by Edward H Johnson, who was the vice president of Edison’s Electric Light Company. Thomas Edison might have invented the incandescent bulb, but Johnson became known as the Father of the Electric Christmas Tree after he decorated a tree with the lights and displayed it in the window of his home.
The electric lights only gained the trust of the public in 1895, when US President Grover Cleveland featured the White House’s first electric illuminated Christmas tree. From that point on the colourful electric trees became all the rage.
But, sadly it was an expensive luxury only available to the wealthy. The trend only become mainstream when Albert Sadacca, a teen at the time, re-purposed white novelty lights into safe and inexpensive lights in 1917.
In the 1960s Americans developed the competitive tradition of decorating their homes with elaborate displays. Soon it developed into a neighbourhood competition. By the late 20th century, non-western countries had begun to adopt the annual tradition.
