By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Decorations for Christmas are up at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives. This year we are highlighting 20th century Christmas décor of the 1920s–1960s. You will be wonderfully transported back to your childhood. We also discovered several large boxes with Christmas lights which led me to look into the history of Christmas tree lights.

Candles were the first lights used on Christmas trees. Using tiny Christmas lanterns in the 1870s, counterweighted holders in the 1890s and clip-on holders after 1900, people would light their trees with candles for a brief moment of wonder. Live flames and dry fir or cedar was a dangerous combination, so a bucket of sand or water was kept nearby for expected emergencies. A heavy rug was placed under the tree to catch dripping wax; the rug morphed into the modern-day Christmas tree skirt.

Thomas Edison invented the first practical light bulb in 1879. In 1882, his associate Edward Johnson used that technology to electrically light the Christmas tree in his home. It created quite a stir since the tree also used electricity to rotate and blink on and off.

An electrically lighted Christmas tree was displayed in the White House in 1895. This brilliant exhibit fueled the public’s growing fascination with electrically lighted trees. In response, the General Electric Co. (GE) offered, for the first time, sets of pre-wired carbon filament lights for Christmas trees in 1903. At a time when the average wage was 22 cents a day, a $12 box of 24 pre-wired lights was very pricey. In 1906, Germany and Austria introduced electric figural Christmas lights to the increasingly interested American consumer.

GE launched new Christmas light outfits using the Mazda bulb in 1916. The Mazda was a globe-shaped bulb with a tungsten filament. Other manufacturers of stringed lights paid to use GE’s new Mazda bulbs in their sets. GE replaced the globe-shaped bulb with a flame-shape or cone-shape light bulb in 1919 and it, then, became the industry standard up into the 1960s. By the 1920s, all American lighting manufacturers had converted to tungsten filament bulbs.

The Tri-Plug was invented in 1921 by Lester Haft and allowed several strings of lights to be connected; this was a game changer for the industry. The many companies jumping into the lighting game compelled the Underwriters’ Laboratories (UL) to publish quality standards in 1921, and by 1929, lighting sets carried the UL tag.

In 1924, GE and Westinghouse replaced the smooth cone-shaped lamps with smaller ribbed bulbs. The National Outfit Manufacturing Association (NOMA) was formed by 15 lighting companies; the trade association eventually merged into the NOMA Electric Corporation and became the largest Christmas lighting company in the world.

No Christmas lights were manufactured during 1941-1945 due to WWII although companies sold out their back stock. In 1946, NOMA introduced the Bubble Light, which became the world’s best-selling Christmas light set. Other companies followed with their own bubbling light designs. Cloth-covered lighting wires were also changed to vinyl, plastic and rubber coverings following the war.

Italy introduced Americans to the Fairy Light or miniature lights in 1950. First produced with the bulbs wired directly into the light string, these gradually became the familiar plastic base push-in lamps now in use. Twinkling Lamps, units built with a flasher bulb, first made their appearance in 1955, an innovation still widely popular today.

In 1959, the Aluminum Specialty Company first introduced the aluminum Christmas tree The Evergleam and marketed it as a permanent tree not an artificial tree. (I see what they did there.) Since aluminum is highly conductive, electric lights then on the market could not be used with these new trees and the only way to light them was with a spotlight or rotating color wheel. The aluminum tree craze lasted until 1965 when “A Charlie Brown Christmas” aired on CBS which likened the metal tree to out-and-out commercialism.

Massive importation of light sets from places like Japan and Hong Kong severely impacted and caused the collapse of many American lighting companies. By the 1970s, Americans were almost exclusively lighting their trees with imported miniature lights.

Thought you might enjoy this description of the mini lights most of us use.

Mini lites truly have a mind of their own. As soon as they are removed from the box when new, they cling together in a “hive”, resisting any attempt to free them. Shaking them annoys the mini lites very much. It makes them cling even tighter, until the only method of untangling is a pair of scissors. Should you be lucky enough to actually free them, the strands fall to the floor, immediately running for cover under your feet. (This is witnessed by the sound similar to cracking a walnut.) Once the lights are untangled, the cat becomes VERY interested in them. I believe it is the tuna flavored wire that they use. No matter, because before they can get to the tree, the cat will have chewed through the cord in 6 places. Well! You made it this far! The lights somehow make it to the tree. You of course pre-tested them, so they will work. What you fail to realize, is that the mini lites are not going to fail until they are on the tree. — Chris Cuff

You can visit the Sophienburg Museum Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m.-4.p.m. (Please note that the Sophienburg will be closed for Thanksgiving November 24-26, 2022.) Or, you can bring your little ones to see St. Nicholas on Monday, December 5 for $5 per family. Reservations are required for this event; call 830.629.1572.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives collections; www.oldchristmastreelights.com.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg –

With Wurstfest in our rear-view mirror, the calendar and Hallmark Channels tell us that Christmas is but a short six weeks away. In the movies, it always looks cold and snowy with brightly lit decorations everywhere. I have only ever experienced a few white Christmases, and they weren’t here in New Braunfels. My Gran lived in the Texas Panhandle where it snowed. Christmas at her house meant traditional Thanksgiving-type pies and tall noble firs trimmed with opulent store-bought globes. Christmas at my Oma’s house in New Braunfels meant twelve different types of cookies locked in the dining room until Christmas Eve and a short cedar tree decorated with oranges and small glass ornaments. I wondered about how these decorating styles came to be so different.

Christmas trees have a long and varied history. Evidence suggests that adorning the home with evergreen branches during the winter solstice predates the ancient Egyptians, serving a similar purpose in the various pagan winter solstice rituals of the Druids, Romans, and Vikings. I have found that there are several theories about the origins of the Christmas tree. One such, is that the monk, St. Boniface, Apostle to the Germans, in the 7th or 8th century, incorporated the fir tree into his teachings by claiming that the triangular shape represented the Holy Trinity. Another legend has it that in the 16th century evergreen trees were used in plays depicting Adam & Eve in Paradise, earning them the moniker “Paradise” tree. When trees were in short supply, they would simply hang green branches on a pyramid shaped frame and adorn them with wafers and paper ornaments. It is from that practice that the German Pyramid (candle carousel) and the Christmas tree originated. It is said that Martin Luther promoted the evergreens in celebration of bible stories. Lutherans took the practice into their homes, which evolved into the Christmas trees, which eventually spread across Germany. German immigrants carried their Christmas traditions to the New World in the 18th Century. By mid-19th century, German immigrants were bringing their traditions to Texas. Even Prince Carl decorated an oak tree with candles on the coast at Indianola when the first settlers arrived.

The popularity of Christmas trees grew after an illustration of Queen Victoria and her family around an elegantly decorated tree appeared in Godey’s Lady’s Book. By the 20th century, both Europeans and Americans embraced the tradition and celebrated with enthusiasm.

As for the ornament history, we have to go back a little further to the 3rd & 4th Centuries where St. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, made it his life’s work to help the poor and infirm. The legend tells of a poor man with three daughters and no dowries. As each girl came of age, a bag of gold (or, in some versions, a ball of gold) appeared in a sock or shoe near the hearth, with Nicholas presumed as the gift-giver. That story inspired the placement by the fireplace of stockings or shoes, to be filled with gifts and candy. It also inspired golden globes to be used for decoration signifying wealth long before they were hung on trees.

Much of the history of Christmas ornaments comes from the holiday traditions of Germany. It is said that in 1605, a tree was adorned with paper flowers, lighted candles, wafers, nuts and sweets in an indoor setting. Over time, decorations included painted eggshells, cookies, candies, fruits, and nuts. In 1610, tinsel, made of real silver strands, was invented. Tinsel was an instant hit as it helped to reflect the light of the tree out into the room.

Early ornaments were painstakingly hand made. Some were of folded paper, shaved wood or twisted wire. The works of art were often created by farmers during the months after harvest. It is also Germany that gives us the use of foods like gingerbread that were baked in varied shapes as fruits, stars, bells, hearts, angels. Artisans then created ornaments of German hand-cast lead and hand-blown glass decorations. Fish and bird ornaments of pressed paper were also found. As Christmas trees gained in popularity, other countries put their own spin on decorations. In England, ornaments were made of lace and paper. Americans wrapped their trees in long strands of popcorn and cranberries.

In the 1880s, German entrepreneurs in the city of Lauscha began to make glass ornaments skillfully blown from a long tube, molded and painted. The molds were shaped like children, saints and animals. Woolworth’s Five & Dime knew a good thing when they saw it and by the 1890s, immediately began importing glass ornaments for sale in the U.S. In 1973, Hallmark began pushing the idea of ‘keepsake’ ornaments documenting important events in life, like births, weddings, etc.. Many ornaments today tell more about the life of the owners: soccer balls, skates, football teams, schools, and places visited.

New Braunfels has held tightly to her traditions, and it is our job here at the Sophienburg to maintain them. In our gift shop, at Wurstfest and Weihnachtsmarkt, you will find Inge-Glas ornaments directly from Lauscha, Germany. Some ornaments are still from the same molds used for 130 years. 2020 is the 175th anniversary of the founding of New Braunfels and we commissioned a special Kitty Keller 175th ornament that will make its debut at Weihnachtsmarkt 2019. In addition, the history of New Braunfels buildings and places in the form of a beautiful coffee table book will also be available.

What’s a Weihnachtsmarkt? (Vy-noks-markt) It is three full days of shopping at the Civic Center, fashioned after the open air markets of Germany. Sophie’s Shop is there along with approximately 60 other merchants with the finest offerings in Christmas decorations and gifts. This market will be open November 22-24 and is a fundraiser supporting the Sophienburg Museum & Archives daily operations.

On December 5, bring your children to visit St. Nicholas. For more information on Weihnachtsmarkt or St. Nicholas family event check https://sophienburg.wpenginepowered.com/event/st-nikolaus/

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives, inge-glas.de/kollektionen, christianindex.org.

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