Christmas Lights

Christmas Lights
It seems that nowadays, more and more people are putting up expensive Christmas Lights displays all over the country. Christmas Lights on the house are one of my favorite parts about Christmas. I remember growing up as a kid and driving to Grandma's house on Christmas Eve and watching all the Christmas Lights.
History of Christmas Lights
In 1882, the first Christmas tree was light by the use of electricity. Edward Johnson lighted up a Christmas tree in New York City with eighty small electric light bulb. It should be noted that Edward Johnson created the first string of electric Christmas lights that were then mass produced around 1890. By 1900, department stores started using the new Christmas lights for their Christmas displays.
People started putting Christmas Lights on their house beginning in the 1960', beginning in tract housing. Soon afterwards, it became increasingly the custom to gepletely outline the house with weatherproof Christmas lights.
The creation of safe christmas lights and christmas tree lights is usually credited to Albert Sadacca. He was a young lad when there was a famous fire in New York City resulting from some unsafe christmas lights. When he was older, he started a gepany called the NOMA Electric gepany which turned out to be the largest Christmas Lights gepany in the world.
Christmas Lights Buying Tips
Make sure you measure the length of the spaces in your home and yard that you want to light. The add an extra 40 feet or so to allow the running of cords and the winding around trees. Measure the height of bushes and the height of the sections of any trees you want to light. Calculate the number of light strands you will need based on your measurements; Strands gee in lengths from 25 lights to 200 lights. For trees and bushes, figure on about 75 lights per foot of height, or double that number if you're using miniature lights. You can also look into buying the new light nets to cover smaller bushes. These work really well.
Beware of the connections if you have older strands lying around and you want to buy new ones. Not all connections are the same. Make sure your light strings that can be plugged into each other, especially if you are using chasing lights. Choose your color and size. I am a big fan of the miniature white lights myself, but preferences obviously vary. There are a bunch of speciality lights on the market now like the icicle shapes. Large (C-7, C-9) or miniature? Keep in mind that full-size lights (C-7 or C-9) are specifically made for outdoor use, and because they run at 125 to 175 watts per string, they are brighter and last longer.
Christmas Lights Contests
Today there are numerous contests around the country and around the world. Look for a contest in you local area. The Internet is even getting into the act. There are a number of great sites out there where youo can get all sorts of ideas. Many of these sites allow you submit pictures of your Christmas Lights display for judging purposes or just to share.
Christmas Lights on okay
You can buy all sorts of Christmas Lights on okay. You can buy Christmas lights in individual boxes or you can by them by the case. You can also buy the Chritmas light figures that are popular all over the place. Buying figures allows you to get pre-made Christmas light shapes that look like snowman, reindeer, or santa. These are usually easy to set up and fun for the whole family. okay is probably the only place to find vintage Christmas Lights - like the NOMA lights that are mentioned above.
So make sure you decorate your home with Christmas lightsthis year.