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Nov 27, 2009 10:52 pm US/Central
Good Question: Why Do We Use Christmas Lights?
(WCCO)
Something about the glowing colors tells us that it's time to greet a new holiday season and spread good will.
We string bulbs of all sizes all over our trees and homes. It is the visual that says Christmas is here. Just about everyone loves lights. But did you ever stop to wonder: Why do we decorate with Christmas lights?
It's a metaphor. According to the Gospel of Matthew, the light of the star of Bethlehem alerted the wise men to the birth of Jesus.
Today, many astronomers doubt the star really existed.
People put small candles on Christmas trees starting in the 1600s, but the Germans made it popular 200 years later.
It was American know-how that invented the electric light bulb. Thomas Edison's assistant, Edward Johnson, invented the first string of electric light bulbs in 1890.
Whether the "star of Bethlehem" story is true or not, there is little doubt that today, there's a special kind of magic in Christmas lights.
As for LED Christmas lights, they do cost more up front, but they will save your family energy and money down the road.
Lighting up ten strings of the regular mini-lights for six hours a day for one month would cost $5 in electricity. With LED lights, it would only cost 50 cents.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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