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b"The first string of lights to be 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.\\nLit patriotic red, white and blue, the tree also revolved; wowing a reporter from The Detroit Post and Tribune. \\u201cAt the rear of the beautiful parlors, was a large Christmas tree presenting a most picturesque and uncanny aspect,\\u201d he wrote. \\u201cIt was brilliantly lighted with\\u2026 eighty lights in all encased in these dainty glass eggs\\u2026 One can hardly imagine anything prettier.\\u201d\\nIn 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\\u2026\\nFurther Reading:\\n\\n\\u2018Untangling the History of Christmas Lights\\u2019 (Smithsonian Magazine, 2016): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/untangling-history-christmas-lights-180961140/\\n\\n\\n\\u2018Who Invented Christmas Lights?\\u2019 (PBS, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qB61a_qbuo\\n\\n\\n\\u2022 \\u2018Thomas Edison planned to invent a machine to talk to the dead\\u2019 (weirdhistorian, 2016): https://www.weirdhistorian.com/thomas-edison-talked-to-the-dead/\\nFor bonus material and to support the show, visit\\xa0Patreon.com/Retrospectors\\nWe'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:\\xa0podfollow.com/Retrospectors\\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.\\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.\\n#1800s #Inventions #Technology #US\\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices"