Detroit Post and Tribune (1882): The First Electric Christmas Tree Lights

A former girlfriend told me that Martin Luther invented decorating Christmas trees.  She was a good Luthern, but I was skeptical.  She also told me that Martin Luther invented bowling.  Who’s to say?

That wasn’t the flex that she intended, because putting tiny candles on dry pine trees, inside the house, has a Russian roulette feel to it.

The concept was redeemed when Thomas Edison’s VP demonstrated Christmas lights for the first time.

I found the 1882 newspaper article describing the event in the Detroit Post and Tribune.  

Old newspaper articles are interesting because everything was amazing.  If a rich guy washed his dog, a reporter would cover the dazzling spectacle.

There, at the rear of the beautiful parlors, was a large Christmas tree, presenting a most picturesque and uncanny aspect.

I’d pull over to go see something with an uncanny aspect.  Sounds spooky.

It was brilliantly lighted with many colored globes about as large as an English walnut and was turning some six times a minute on a little pine box.

Walnuts must have been a big thing back in the day.  They never talked about peanuts or cashews, which are superior.  For a time in my youth, we had [African-American] toes.  We didn’t think about it in racial terms, it’s just what Brazil nuts were called for some reason. 

Walnuts were so inconvenient and popular, a ballet was written to celebrate the kitchen gadget needed to access the interior.  You’d think we’d have a national holiday for the guy who invented the can opener.

Why go to the time and effort to have the Christmas tree rotate?  Surely the first tree with lights was picturesque, but as Americans, we have to go all the way to uncanny.

As the tree turned, the colors alternated, all the lamps going out and being relit at every revolution. The result was a continuous twinkling of dancing colors, red, white and blue, all evening.

A rotating tree is a problem for the wires supplying the electric lights.  The cord would get wrapped around the trunk in about 45 seconds.  The article doesn’t delve into the mystery, but I see the trick.

The bulbs may have gotten too hot, so had to be cycled on and off.  One way to do that would be to use a slip ring and brushes similar to a DC motor.  It works like this.

The rotating wire loop represents the string of lights on the Christmas tree.  The metal half-circles at the base of the loop are called slip rings and would be on the trunk.  Electricity travels from the source, through the brushes that are moving along the slip rings. 

Instead of using half-circles, the slip ring might only be a quarter of a circle.  The lights would blink on and off.  There might be several strings of lights that go on and off at different times.

These old articles are fun because electrical technology was new, and still a mystery to most people.  The novelty made it amazing.

I need not tell you that the scintillating evergreen was a pretty sight – one can hardly imagine anything prettier.

I’m not so sure.  I’ve seen some fine Christmas trees, but our first lady is a supermodel.  In 1882, President Arthur was a widower, so out of respect, maybe a Christmas tree was the prettiest thing anyone could image. 

The tree was kept revolving by a little hidden crank below the floor which was turned by electricity. It was a superb exhibition.”

If the guy went to the trouble of having a little hidden crank installed below the floor, why not just have a street urchin turning it?  Perhaps after the industrial revolution, street urchins were needed to lubricate machinery and crawl into coal seams

Sometimes, the old ways are best.  Get a turnspit dog to keep the tree rotating.  Nobody has their tree  on all the time, so the dog doesn’t have too work to hard.  The rest of the year, you could use the dog to cook rotisserie chicken.

I get it.  The VP of Edison’s electric company wanted to showcase the many uses of electricity, so went all in for a superb exhibit.  The journalist wasn’t doing much to help educate the public.

I enjoy the simplicity of the explanation and will use it.

Visitor:  “How did you get the solarium lights to keep changing colors?”

Me: “Electricity.  And a little hidden crank.”

Visitor: “What’s the little crank for?  Can I see it?”

Me:  “What?  No.  That’s why it’s hidden.”

All this talk about a hidden crank reminds me of Sparky’s sensitivity to the word ‘crank’, captured in this video.

I just talked to Sparky about this post.

Sparky says that he has suppressed his programming, and no longer responds to the word ‘crank’.

The idea of being a turnspit dog sounds pretty good to Sparky, but he wants to know if he can lay down whenever he wants and can he reach the rotisserie chicken from his workstation?  Sparky promises not to eat the chicken, but only lick it.