Where does the tradition of putting outdoor colorful lights up during the holidays come from?

Answer 1

People are just copying the Griswalds from national lampoons christmas.

Answer 2

History of Christmas Lights

Although it may be hard to imagine a time when trees, houses, and buildings weren't adorned with lights during the holiday season, the tradition of Christmas lights is a fairly recent one. Learn more about how it got started and how it's evolved.

How It All Got Started
Known as the Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights, Edward Johnson is credited with starting the tradition in 1882. Johnson, who was vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company at the time, had 80 red, white, and blue electric incandescent light bulbs custom-made for his tree.

After a Detroit newspaper reported the story, businesses began to follow Johnson's lead and began adorning their windows with Christmas lights. In 1895, President Grover Cleveland had an electrically lit Christmas tree put up for the first time, which only seemed to increase the already-growing popularity of decorating with Christmas lights.

Finding More Decorating Uses
As the popularity of Christmas lights grew, so did the number of decorating ideas. By the early 1900s, they were no longer restricted to just trees and windows. They were beginning to be used to decorate buildings, homes, and outdoor trees and displays.

Where We Are Today
Since then creating and implementing Christmas light displays has been taken to a whole new level and has even become a commercial industry. The lights themselves have evolved to help make this happen.

There are now twinkling Christmas lights, musical Christmas lights, and battery-operated Christmas lights to make decorating more interesting and convenient. With so many options in sizes, styles, colors, shapes, and features, it seems inevitable that this tradition will only continue to change and improve.

Answer 3

Christmas began as the Pagan holiday of Yule which celebrates the shortest day of the year and the twelve days that follow it. Because it gets dark so early, people would light candles and torches outside and inside their homes to welcome their families. Families would come together during the cold months and bring each other gifts from the places they came from. Nowadays, we put out electric lights rather than candles and torches and we go shopping and buy petty crap rather than real gifts. We still get with family though. This is where most of Christmas traditions come from. Really, the only Christian part of Christmas is a Nativity scene. All other traditions, including the Christmas Tree and Wreaths, are Pagan.

Answer 4

I'm sure but one could start by searching about Pagans. I know that is where the Christmas tree came from. A lot of people hear the word pagan and relate it with devil worshiping, but they don't know what they are talking about. Pagans were around long before the Christan religion was brought into existence. They celebrated around the same time as year as Christmas but for the season of winter. They was more tuned to the four seasons, sun and moon.

Answer 5

Christmas trees & lights are only a few centuries old.
But they grew out of Pagan rituals around winter solstice.
As days grew shorter in northern climes, lights were lit.
The idea was magical, to encourage the sun to return.

Answer 6

The same guy who convinced us that rabbits lay colored eggs was the first person to put lights on trees.

Answer 7

maybe it comes from the north star cause the lights can guide people home lol

Answer 8

from the electric company.

Answer 9

bored rich white ppl, who wanted to bring some COLOR to their house