Which Christmas decorations did Edward H. Johnson popularize?

Edward H. Johnson popularized Christmas lights, especially electric lights used to decorate Christmas trees.

On December 22, 1882, Johnson—an associate of Thomas Edison and vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company—displayed the first known electrically illuminated Christmas tree at his New York City home. He hand-wired 80 small red, white, and blue incandescent bulbs and arranged them around the tree.

The display attracted public attention because Christmas trees were traditionally lit with candles, which created a serious fire hazard. Johnson’s invention was initially too expensive and complicated for most households, but it demonstrated a safer and more dramatic alternative. He is often called the “Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights.”

A common mix-up is crediting Thomas Edison himself. Edison developed practical incandescent lighting and worked with Johnson, but Johnson created the celebrated electric Christmas-tree display. Electric lights became more widely available after General Electric began selling pre-wired Christmas-light strings in 1903; President Grover Cleveland also helped popularize the custom with a White House tree in 1895.