像许多电子产品一样，电子圣诞灯的历史始于托马斯·爱迪生。1880年圣诞节期间，爱迪生在前一年发明了白炽灯泡，他在新泽西州门罗公园的实验室外悬挂了一串串电灯。

1880年12月21日《纽约时报》的一篇文章描述了纽约市政府官员对爱迪生在门罗公园的实验室的访问。从火车站走到爱迪生的大楼，两旁都是电灯，用290个灯泡照明，“四周都投下柔和柔和的灯光。”

你知道吗？

• 1880年托马斯·爱迪生首次使用电子圣诞灯。
• 1882年，爱迪生的一名员工向到访他曼哈顿住宅的记者展示了第一棵有灯光的圣诞树。
• 电灯起初非常昂贵，需要受过培训的电工提供服务。
• 当电灯的成本变得可以承受时，它们的使用迅速普及，因为它们比蜡烛安全得多。

从这篇文章看来，爱迪生并没有打算把这些灯与圣诞节联系起来。但他正在为来自纽约的代表团举办节日晚宴，新颖的灯光似乎与节日气氛相吻合。

在那之前，用小蜡烛点亮圣诞树是很常见的，这当然是危险的。1882年，爱迪生公司的一名员工用电灯进行了一场表演，目的完全是为了在圣诞节庆祝活动中建立电的实际应用。爱迪生的密友、爱迪生在纽约市成立照明公司的总裁爱德华·约翰逊首次使用电灯照明圣诞树。

第一款电动圣诞树灯

约翰逊在一棵圣诞树上安装了电灯，并以爱迪生公司的典型风格，向媒体征求报道。1882年《底特律邮报》和《论坛报》刊登了一篇关于参观纽约市约翰逊家的快讯，这可能是第一篇关于电子圣诞灯的新闻报道。

一个月后，时代杂志《电气世界》也报道了约翰逊的圣诞树。他们的产品称之为“美国最漂亮的圣诞树”

两年后，《纽约时报》派了一名记者到曼哈顿东区约翰逊的家中采访，1884年12月27日出版的《纽约时报》刊登了一篇极其详细的报道。

标题为“一棵灿烂的圣诞树：电工如何逗孩子们开心”，文章开头：

"A pretty as well as novel Christmas tree was shown to a few friends by Mr. E.H. Johnson, President of the Edison Company for Electric Lighting, last evening in his residence, No. 136 East Thirty-sixth Street. The tree was lighted by electricity, and children never beheld a brighter tree or one more highly colored than the children of Mr. Johnson when the current was turned and the tree began to revolve. Mr. Johnson has been experimenting with house lighting by electricity for some time past, and he determined that his children should have a novel Christmas tree. "It stood about six feet high, in an upper room, last evening, and dazzled persons entering the room. There were 120 lights on the tree, with globes of different colors, while the light tinsel work and usual adornment of Christmas trees appeared to their best advantage in illuminating the tree."

爱迪生发电机使树旋转

文章接着解释说，约翰逊的树非常精致，由于他巧妙地使用了爱迪生发电机，它可以旋转：

"Mr. Johnson had placed a little Edison dynamo at the foot of the tree, which by passing a current through from the large dynamo in the cellar of the house, converted it into a motor. By means of this motor, the tree was made to revolve with a steady, regular motion. "The lights were divided into six sets, one set of which was lighted at a time in front as the tree went round. By a simple devise of breaking and making connection through copper bands around the tree with corresponding buttons, the sets of lights were turned out and on at regular intervals as the tree turned around. The first combination was of pure white light, then, as the revolving tree severed the connection of the current that supplied it and made connection with a second set, red and white lights appeared. Then came yellow and white and other colors. Even combinations of the colors were made. By dividing the current from the large dynamo Mr. Johnson could stop the motion of the tree without putting out the lights."

《纽约时报》又提供了两篇文章，其中包含了更多关于约翰逊家族令人震惊的圣诞树的技术细节。120多年后读到这篇文章，记者显然认为电动圣诞灯是一项严肃的发明。

第一批电子圣诞灯很昂贵

虽然约翰逊的圣诞树被认为是一个奇迹，爱迪生的公司试图销售电动圣诞灯，但它们并没有立即流行起来。电灯的费用以及安装电灯的电工的服务费用超出了普通公众的承受能力。然而，有钱人会举办圣诞树派对来炫耀电灯。

据报道，格罗弗·克利夫兰（Grover Cleveland）在1895年订购了一棵用爱迪生灯泡点亮的白宫圣诞树。（1889年，第一棵白宫圣诞树属于本杰明·哈里森，由蜡烛点燃。）

使用小蜡烛，尽管其固有的危险，仍然是家庭圣诞树照明的流行方法，直到20世纪。

圣诞树电灯安全

一个广受欢迎的传说是，一个名叫阿尔伯特·萨达卡的青少年在读到1917年纽约市一场由点燃圣诞树的蜡烛引起的悲惨火灾后，敦促他的家庭开始制造价格合理的灯串。Sadacca一家试图销售电动圣诞灯，但起初销售缓慢。

随着人们对家用电越来越熟悉，串串的电灯泡在圣诞树上越来越常见。顺便说一句，阿尔伯特·萨达卡（Albert Sadacca）成为了一家价值数百万美元的照明公司的负责人。其他公司，包括最著名的通用电气，进入了圣诞灯业务，到了20世纪30年代，电动圣诞灯已经成为节日装饰的标准部分。

早在20世纪，就开始有公共树木照明的传统。其中最著名的是1923年开始在华盛顿特区点亮国家圣诞树。1923年12月24日，美国总统卡尔文·柯立芝（Calvin Coolidge）首次在白宫广场南端的椭圆上点亮了一棵树。第二天的一份报纸报道描述了这一场景：

"As the sun sank below the Potomac the President touched a button which lighted up the nation's Christmas tree. The giant fir from his native Vermont instantly blazed with myriad electrics which shone through tinsels and reds, while those who surrounded this community tree, children and grown-ups, cheered and sang. "The crowds on foot were augmented by thousands who came in motor cars, and to the music of the singers was added the discord of horns. For hours the people thronged to the ellipse, which was dark except in the spot where the tree stood, its brilliancy heightened by a searchlight which shed its rays from the Washington Monument overlooking it."

纽约市洛克菲勒中心另一处著名的树木照明始于1931年，当时建筑工人正在装饰一棵树。两年后，当办公大楼正式开放时，树木照明成为一项正式活动。在现代，洛克菲勒中心的树木照明已经成为国家电视台每年直播的活动。