Let there be light!

So it's nearing Christmas, and the Christmas light switch on is a common event happening all around the country. Recently I attended the Christmas lights switch on in my home town, as I have done as long as I can remember. This got me thinking...why do we have lights at Christmas? Is it the fact that it gets darker at Christmas, and we need the light to cheer us up? Or is it too remind us of snow and to make us feel 'Christmasy'. Well, after a couple of minutes thinking about it...I still didn't know, so I decided to research where the tradition came from.  

Lights at the entrance to Stone High Street

According to Wikipedia, the tradition of using small candles to light up a Christmas tree dates back to about the the middle of the 17th century in Germany. However, it took two centuries for the for the tradition to become widely established. In the UK we didn't see the illuminated Christmas tree till the reign of Queen Victoria, but then again in 1881 the Savoy Theatre in London was the first to be lit entirely by electricity. From the 1950's onwards, lights were used more frequently in places other than on Christmas Trees. Strings of lights found there way into the home, with lights running across roof lines, door ways and fireplaces. In more recent times there have been grand illumination ceremonies involving complex illuminated animation, such as the Blackpool illuminations. As the lighting technology is so advanced today...what could be in store for the future of Christmas lights?