Edison’s Christmas Lights

<p><em>Rerun</em>. The first string of lights festooned upon a tree dazzled visitors to the New York home of Edward Johnson, Vice President of the Edison Electric Light Company, on 22nd December, 1882.</p><br><p>Lit patriotic red, white and blue, the tree also revolved; wowing a reporter from The Detroit Post and Tribune. “At the rear of the beautiful parlors, was a large Christmas tree presenting a most picturesque and uncanny aspect,” he wrote. “It was brilliantly lighted with… eighty lights in all encased in these dainty glass eggs… One can hardly imagine anything prettier.”</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal what electric lights have in common with potatoes; ask why Americans were frightened of wired bulbs yet quite content to set candles on fire and attach them to flammable resin in their own homes; and untangle how a failed patent application was responsible for the trend finally catching on…</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><ul><li>‘Untangling the History of Christmas Lights’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2016): <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/untangling-history-christmas-lights-180961140/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/untangling-history-christmas-lights-180961140/</a></li><li>‘Who Invented Christmas Lights?’ (PBS, 2018): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qB61a_qbuo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qB61a_qbuo</a></li><li>‘Thomas Edison planned to invent a machine to talk to the dead’ (weirdhistorian, 2016): <a href="https://www.weirdhistorian.com/thomas-edison-talked-to-the-dead/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.weirdhistorian.com/thomas-edison-talked-to-the-dead/</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ </strong>Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on <em>Today in History with the Retrospectors: </em>running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts:<a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">podfollow.com/Retrospectors</a></p><br><p><strong>Love the show? Join  </strong>🌴<strong>CLUB RETROSPECTORS</strong>🌴<strong> to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!</strong></p><p>Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.</p><p><strong>Join now via </strong><a href="https://apple.co/3xCWWQX" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Apple Podcasts</strong></a><strong> or </strong><a href="https://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon</strong></a><strong>. </strong>Thanks!</p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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