Did you know The Colonial Theater has ties to the invention of the First String of Electric Christmas Tree lights?
At Bonnette, Page & Stone Corp., a Laconia construction management firm involved in the renovation of the Colonial Theater, one of the many things we enjoy about working on historical construction projects are the stories shared by those with past connections.
A Lakes Region native shared a memory with us he had of the theater manager who kept a friendly but acute eye on everything taking place there. The Colonial Theater’s Executive Theater Manager from 1933 until 1965., Ralph E. Morris, is credited with the invention of wired miniature Christmas tree lights back in 1911.
Prior to his employment with the Colonial Theater, Ralph Morris, a Massachusetts resident who relocated to Laconia, worked at the New England Telephone & Telegraph Company. The telephone switchboards at that time used little flashlight sized bulbs to light up the boards and indicate which number was being called.
Some stories say the invention was a result of Ralph’s toddler son, Leavitt, nearly setting the family Christmas Tree and house on fire after knocking over a lit candle. This was far too common an accident back in those days. Mr. Morris was determined to create a safer way to illuminate the tree and parlor area of his home and other family homes without the use of candles.
During the next year, he spent hours soldering the small light bulbs similar to what was used at the telephone company, to strands of wire. He used pieces of colored crepe paper and formed covers to place over the light bulbs creating colored light. The next Christmas he surprised his family and friends with a beautiful gift of yellow, orange & green electric lights decorating the family tree and parlor.
For many years, it was believed by Morris, his friends and family he was the inventor of the first Christmas Tree Light. However, they were not aware the first Christmas Tree light was invented in the late 1800’s by the Vice President of Thomas Edison’s electric company, Edward Johnson. Johnson resided in one of the first neighborhoods in NY to be wired with electricity. One evening while setting up the family Christmas tree he hand-wired 80 incandescent electric bulbs covered in red, white and blue paper on his tree, connected them to a power source and voila! The debut of the first electrically lit Christmas tree.
An estimated 150 million light sets are sold in America each year lighting approximately 80 million homes each holiday season (according to a Dec. 15, 2016 blog posted by HolidayLEDS). We have come along way since the days of hanging candles on a tree (thankfully) and are grateful for the out-of-the box thinking of Mr. Edward Johnson and Laconia’s own, Ralph E. Morris.
From all of us at Bonnette, Page & Stone Corp. we wish you and yours a joyous holiday season and a happy & healthy New Year. We hope you enjoyed this story!
For more information about Bonnette, Page & Stone Corp. please visit our website www.bpsnh.com and follow us all year-long on Facebook at facebook.com/bpsnh
To our best knowledge, the above is all factual. However, if there is anything incorrect that has been noted, we welcome you to contact us and let us know! Thank you to the variety of sources used to research this information including: Smithsonian Magazine, HolidayLEDS Blog, Warren Huse and The Laconia Historical and Museum Society.
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