Who is credited with creating the first electric Christmas tree lights in 1882?
Answer
Edward H. Johnson
Who is credited with creating the first electric Christmas tree lights in 1882? Edward H. Johnson is credited with creating them.
Johnson was an inventor and business associate of Thomas Edison. As vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company, he arranged specially made miniature electric bulbs and displayed the first known electrically illuminated Christmas tree at his New York home in December 1882.
His tree was hand-wired with 80 red, white, and blue incandescent bulbs, each roughly the size of a walnut. It reportedly stood on a rotating box, allowing the colored lights to appear in changing combinations. The display demonstrated how emerging electric technology could transform a familiar Christmas custom.
Thomas Edison is often named by mistake because Johnson worked closely with him and the lights were connected to the Edison company. Edison helped develop the broader electric-lighting system, but Johnson is the figure generally credited with the first known electric Christmas tree display. Electric lights remained expensive for decades before becoming commonplace.