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The most commonly used lights in Christmas are the incandescent lights. These incandescent lights are the ones that produce a very broad spectrum of light which is known as white light. The incandescent lights are colored. They are colored by covering the glass covering or envelope with a translucent or transparent paint. This translucent or transparent paint acts as a color filter. This helps in illuminating and gives the desired color on reflection of the light.

However, earlier even Japanese made lamps, but they used colored glasses. These colored glasses were not very expensive, they were pretty cheap. But the major disasdvantage is that the lamps those are painted mostly and generally suffer from flaking or fading when exposed to different weather conditions. Bulbs which are old were also coated on their inner surface to prevent flaking and fading of the paint. But when they were manufactured it turned that they have a very high cost. So they were not very popular then.

White light emitting diodes are in many ways similar to colored light emitting diodes with respect to durability and power. But the white light emitting diodes utilise a process which two staged to create or form white light. White light is polychromatic and it provides us with a very broad spectrum. White light emitting diodes are commonly used for decorating or lighting the Christmas tree as they can be used to create or form any good and bright color. This can be done by the use of colored lenses and colored refractors. These colored refractors and lenses are also present in many incandescent lights also. Fading of the colors of lights occurs due to constant exposure to sunlight. When the colored plastics are exposed to the sunlight or heat color fading occurs. This is the same case with lights which are ordinary and are used for decorating Christmas trees. In the case of epoxy bulbs, a yellowing may be seen. This can happen when the light emitting diode is exposed to the sunlight consistently for a very long period of time. It is believed that light emitting diodes utilise less electricity. The light emitting diodes are made from materials which hard and solid.

No metallic filaments are used so there is no threat of any break or burn. These diodes are very much less susceptible and prone to rough handling or breakage due to an impact. Even though light emitting diodes have a long life the poor quality and old strings of these diodes have a very short life and they are prone to cause a failure during the Christmas time. This thing is common with the diodes that produce blue light. These blue light producing diodes are the new ones in the market and are very expensive. Christmas lights which are made of light emitting diodes have copper wires which are very well connected to the aluminium based wires present in the light emitting diodes. This combining of the two metal wires is disadvantageous as it can cause galvanic corrosion.

Now a day’s people sell miniature, small lights in a combination with ornaments. These ornaments are attached to these miniature bulbs and they may be typically glass or sometimes even plastic. These miniature lights were manufactured and sold in the mid century. With the coming of the mid century people also started selling petal reflectors. These petal reflectors were very useful and became very known and poular instantly. The petal reflectors refract the light falling on them. This refracted light is then focused as beams.

Earlier this refracted light was focussed on crystals. In both the cases and the types, the bulbs were in the centre. Their head stuck out from the centre. The reflector was present in the socket. This reflector was easily detachable and could be easily removed from the socket. Later other designs came into the market which was not very popular. Some of them included stars. Now people are ready to experiment and this has started the use of light emitting diodes. These light emitting diodes can be molded in to different shapes and are readily available in the market. And in light emitting diodes the light does not comes from the centre, instead it comes from the top. That is an important point to note.

Ornaments of different sizes are generally sold in combination with mini lights. These ornaments are sold with sets of ten mini lights. Some specific sets like the candy canes and snowmen have more bulbs with respect to each ornament. This is because the sets of snowmen and candy canes are very long, so we require more bulbs per ornament. Another famous array of different designs range from star shaped cute little Santas to poinsettias to snow flakes which are wire meshed to holly berries. There are other designs also which is a part of this enormous design array which are used not only for Christmas but are used for other holidays as well.

Light emitting diodes as Christmas lights have quickly and rapidly gained popularity among people in many places. This is because of the reason that light emitting diodes have low enery usage and are very much energy efficient. Light emitting diodes also have a very long lifetime and they also have very low maintenance costs. Light emitting diodes which are colored are more energy efficient and provide better colorfulness than their corresponding incandescent lamps counterparts. Light emitting diodes are of two kinds. One is the colored and the other one is the white light emitting diode. A specific colored light is emitted by the colored light emitting diodes. This light is monochromatic light, which is a particular color, will be reflected irrespective of the color of the plastic lens that covers the chip of the light emitting diode.

The chip of the light emitting diode may be colored or painted for some other reasons but it does not affect the color of the light which is goin to be emitted at all. Light emitting diodes have lastic lenses. These lenses are much more durable than the glass one in the incandescent lamps.

After the introduction of Christmas electric lights used for decorating the Christmas trees, there was an unimaginable growth in the use of Christmas trees which were illuminated electrically. But this concept earlier was only restricted to inside the houses and not in the open that is in the yards or gardens. The introduction of Christmas trees illuminated with electric lights began with much enthusiasm in the United States.

In the year 1904 in the city of San Diego, there were the first of the kinds of the electrically illuminated Christmas trees which were seen. In the city of New York, in the year 1912, the very first Christmas trees illuminated with electric lights were seen and recorded. In the year 1912 in the New York City, the first ever electrically illuminated Christmas trees were seen outside the houses and indoors. These decorated and lighted Christmas trees were seen in the gardens and yards adding to the essence and beauty of the festive season of Christmas. In the year 1956, the Mc Adenville North Carolina the first electrically illuminated Christmas tree was seen. The people of the town North Carolina were given full credit to bring in the concept of illuminating and decorating a christmas tree with electric lights.

The Library of Congress thanked the people of the the town North Carolina. The tradition of decorating and illuminating evergreen Christmas trees with lights, be it by using candles or by using electric lights is dated back to the year 1956. McAdenville Men's Club in the year 1956 already had an idea in mind of decorating such evergreen Christmas trees with lights and other accessories. They already had decorated a number of evergreen trees in the nearby area, near the McAdenville Community Center. However, there was one unique thing that needs to be noted that the evergreen tree present at the Rockefeller Center was already decorated with lights since the year 1931. But it did not have the real and actual electric lights until the year 1956. In the year 1956 a number of more developments took place. For example the Christmas tree in the Disney world and the famous Christmas light show in Philadelphia also started in the year 1956. But the lighting was not easily adaopted by the average middle class people as they electrcity was expensive and they could not afford it.

So it was not until the late 1950’s that the use of electric lights was adopted by one and all. There were also lighting competitions for the different communities during the 1920’s which were sponsored by the company General Electric. Even after this people were not ready to decorate and illuminate their Christmas trees with electric lights due to lack of funds. After many years, once the Christmas lights became very popular and famous, these were not only used to decorate and illuminate evergreen Christmas trees, but they were also used to decorate houses and streets. Strings of lights were adorned eveywhere so that there is lighting all around to celebrate the festival of Christmas.

With the celebrations of christmas not only limiting to the christian community and its fast spread to other communities and other parts of the world, the technology involving the use of christmas lights in the festive season of christmas has grown year by year. The advancement in the technology has gone up exponentially with different kinds of lights, of different colors, structures are coming up. The ranges of articles available in the market are higly diverse. The Christmas lighting materials vary from simple single light strands with very small bulbs to very big illuminate gift items, statues and animatronics. Even full blown bulbs of different colors are available on strings.

These Christmas lights are also known as fairy lights in the United Kingdom. In the United Stated of America, Christmas lights are also popularly and commonly known as mini lights, holiday lights or twinkle lights. The Christmas lights are now days not only used to decorate Christmas trees but also houses, streets, commercial and public buildings, gardens etc. But the Christmas trees during the festive season of Christmas are the most sought after form of lighting which reminds us the arrival of the christmsa season. Other lightings are nothing in front of a huge beautifully illuminated evergreen christmas tree. The lights used for decorating Christmas trees come in dazzling and beautiful arrays or strings of colors and configurations.

In Chicago, in the United States, the small bulbs known as midget bulbs also referred to as fairy lights are called as the Italian lights. The different kinds of lamps vary a lot when it comes to their usage in illuminating and decorating a christmas tree. These different and diversifed lamps give a glimpse of the modern technology which has come into the picture not long ago. Light emitting diodes also commonly known as LED’s and light bulbs which are incandescent are being constantly encouraged because of the unlimited advantages they have over traditional lighting sources. These two light sources are higly energy efficient. Neon lamps are not very common when it comes to using them for illuminating purposes.

In mid 1940’s in Sylvania, for a very short period of time a set of fluorescent lamps were manufactured and were used as a light source. But these fluorescent lamps were not very successful. Bulbs which were produced earlier were made in different shapes and were then painted with different colors. The glasses were painted the same as glass ornaments were painted. So that when light is switched on the the bulb reflects the color that the bulb is painted of.

The glass of which the bulbs were made were pressed glasses. These glasses were also used as dishware during earlier times. These glasses are not found now days. They are only available at special retailers or only online. In the 1970’s metal reflectors were also used. These metal reflectors had a cardboard in the centre. There were tabs present on the cardboard which were placed between the socket and the bulb.

In most of the Christian cultures there has always been use of festive and decorative lighting. This is specially done during the Christmas festive season when the entire city or the house is decorated and illuminated with festive lights. This custom or tradition is not only followed by the Christian community but also by other religions which are not Christians. Other cultures which are not predominantly Christian like in Japan have also started to follow this custom or tradition. The illumination seen all around during the time of Christmas send a message of celebrating the holiday season or the festive season of lights in the cold and dark winter season.

This culture of celebrating with lights all around predominantly started in Europe first and then spread in other countries in North America. During the early modern period the Christmas tree decorated and illuminated with lights became a very famous Christian custom or tradition in Germany. In the United Kingdom, when Queen Victoria was the ruler there, the custom or tradition of the Christmas tree came in to being and the first illuminated and decorated Christmas tree was established. After this there was a rapid spread of this tradition or custom to Australia and North America. In earlier times electricity or light was very expensive. Till the time there was development or any lead in the electricity becoming cheap or inexpensive, small candles were used for lighting the Christmas tree. The electric power became inexpensive during the mid nineteenth century. Miniature candles are still used in many cultures to light the Christmas tree.

Electric lights for decorating the Christmas tree became a replacement for the miniature candles only after the year 1930. Earlier Christmas lights were not affordable by normal people. An average earning person was not able to buy electric lights to decorate the Christmas tree because these electric lights were very expensive then. The Christmas tree looks exqusuite in the candle light along with its beautiful decorations. A person named Edward H. Johnson, who was also associated with the very own inventor of light, Thomas Edison, was the first one to illuminate a christmas tree with electric lights. He being the vice president of the company, Edison Electric Light Company, he had the privelege of getting light bulbs specially for decorating the Christmas tree manufactured. These electric bulbs were specially and only made for him. His christmas tree was decorated with eighty red, blue and white hand wired incandescent electric light bulbs. These light bulbs were of the size of small walnuts. Johnson after this incident was known as the Father of Christmas tree electric lights.

The company which was the first one to produce commercially lamps for decorating Christmas trees in multiples of eight sockets in strings was by the General Electric Company in New Jersey. In each and every socket there was a miniature, small carbon filament. This carbon filament acted like a lamp. The power of this carbon filament which acted like a lamp was two candelas.