1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:12,719 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: tech are you. Well? We are on holiday here at 5 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 1: iHeart Podcasts, but of course I love butting out episodes anyway, 6 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: so I thought it would bring you a classic that's 7 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: not even that old. It actually originally published in twenty nineteen, 8 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 1: but it's becoming a classic tradition in tech stuff that 9 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:43,480 Speaker 1: on Christmas Day, December twenty fifth, we publish Lighting Up 10 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: the Holidays, which looks at the history of incorporating lights 11 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: in winter holidays. So I hope that you are all 12 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: healthy and happy and safe and surrounded by loved ones, 13 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 1: whether you celebrate Christmas or not. And let's sit back 14 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: and listen to this episode of tech Stuff Lighting Up 15 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:10,320 Speaker 1: the Holidays, which originally published November twenty seventh, twenty nineteen. Now, 16 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: before I dive into all of that, I want to 17 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: acknowledge a few things first. While I'll be talking about 18 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: Christmas lights, there are many people of different faiths, ethnicities, regions, etc. 19 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,680 Speaker 1: Who celebrate special days during the winter months, and lights 20 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: nearly always play an important part in those various observations, 21 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 1: which makes total sense because the days are shorter in 22 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: the winter and thus we have more hours of darkness 23 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: for every twenty four hour period, so lights would clearly 24 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: be an important part of any celebration during that part 25 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,760 Speaker 1: of the year. So, for example, the manora in the 26 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: Jewish faith symbolizes how the Maccabee's, when rededicating the Holy Temple, 27 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: which they had just won back from the Greeks, used 28 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: a single bottle of oil to light the manora used 29 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: in the rededication ceremony for eight nights, even though bottle 30 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: should only have lasted a single night. Then there's also 31 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: the celebration of Kwanza, where families light candles in the kenara, 32 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:11,359 Speaker 1: and the candles represent the seven principles of the holiday. 33 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: But getting back to Christmas lights, there's actually an older 34 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,239 Speaker 1: tradition than the sort of Christmas tree lights, in which 35 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: Christian families would set out candles within view of a 36 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: window as a symbol to alert fellow Christians that the 37 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: family inside the house they were made up of observing Christians, 38 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: and that fellow Christians would be welcome to come into 39 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: that house to worship with the family. But the Christmas 40 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: lights we see every year really have their roots pun 41 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: intended in a Germanic tradition of the Christmas tree. So 42 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: why would you ever cut down a tree and bring 43 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:53,079 Speaker 1: it inside in the first place. Well, again, one of 44 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 1: those things that makes sense as you start to think 45 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: about all the details. Plants like fir trees and holly 46 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: remain green even in the winter, which otherwise pretty much 47 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: wipes out everything else and makes it brown and dead 48 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: or appearing to be dead. So these plants became symbols 49 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: of resilience and everlasting life. So people would cut down 50 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: some of those plants and bring them indoors to remind 51 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: them of that. But you know, then the plants would 52 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: eventually just dry out and turn brown, and thus negate 53 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: the whole reason for bringing them inside. But you know, 54 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: humans have never been rational creatures. There are some unsupported 55 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: legends surrounding the origins of the German Christmas tree, sometimes 56 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: referred to as the Tannenbaum, but really Tannenbaum is more 57 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: of a word for fur trees in general, not just 58 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: those all decked out with bowels of holly and whatnot. 59 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: But one legend has it that Martin Luther, the Reformer 60 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: who caused a bit of a ruckus in the fifteen 61 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: hundreds when he, you know, decided to criticize the Catholic Church, 62 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: that he had started the tradition of the Christmas tree. However, 63 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: the earliest written accounts on record that mention this tradition 64 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: date to sixteen oh five. Now that doesn't mean that's 65 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: when the tradition started, of course, it's just the earliest 66 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: written account that we happened to have. Scholars think the 67 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,480 Speaker 1: tradition might date back at least to the mid sixteenth century, 68 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: though that would still be after Martin Luther had died. 69 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: So anyway, that sixteen oh five account, all it says 70 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: is that the people would set up Christmas trees in 71 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:33,479 Speaker 1: their rooms in Strasbourg. There's no mention of lights in 72 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: this particular account, but the decorations consisted of things like 73 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: roses made out of paper and various foods being shoved 74 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: into the tree, things like apples or cookies and sugar. 75 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: It was very food centric. In fact, there was a 76 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: tradition of raiding the Christmas tree on one of the 77 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:53,720 Speaker 1: days of Christmas, where the kids get to go and 78 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: actually grab treats from the tree and eat them. The 79 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: first written account to bring up the to tail about 80 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: lights in the Christmas tree dates to sixteen sixty. People 81 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: in Germany would pin or otherwise attach candles to branches 82 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: of these trees, and again, frequently these are trees that 83 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: have been cut down and put up inside a house, 84 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: not just trees out in the woods somewhere. Generally speaking, 85 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: the practice was to light the candles only for a 86 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 1: very short time before you blew them out again. And 87 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: you were never supposed to leave a tree unattended, because, 88 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: as you can imagine, combining a cut tree that might 89 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:35,600 Speaker 1: be kind of dry with open flames is a recipe 90 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: for a disaster. And in fact, there were more than 91 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: a few cases of fires with these trees, some of 92 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: them ending in catastrophe and tragedy. But I'm sure the 93 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: effect was really nice, leading right up to the moment 94 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: where everything went ablaze. Okay, so let's skip ahead to 95 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: the eighteen hundreds. At that point the tradition extended beyond Germany. 96 00:05:54,880 --> 00:06:00,120 Speaker 1: A Harvard professor named Charles Fallen, inspired by story that 97 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,920 Speaker 1: he had heard in Europe, did a lit up Christmas 98 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: tree here in America. This was believed to be the 99 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: first lit Christmas tree in America, or at least the 100 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: first one on record. In the eighteen forties, in England, 101 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had a Christmas tree famously 102 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: depicted in an illustration that was published in a newspaper 103 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: that likely helped boost the practice over in England. Prince 104 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: Albert brought this over from his homeland in Saxony. So 105 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: people came up with new ways to attach the candles 106 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,279 Speaker 1: to trees, you know, they found more improved methods that 107 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: would catch the wax and things like that. However, there 108 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: was still very much a danger of fire with this 109 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: particular approach. Then in the later eighteen hundreds, we get 110 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,839 Speaker 1: to Thomas Edison, the inventor and entrepreneur who is spending 111 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:50,480 Speaker 1: a lot of time and resources trying to perfect the 112 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,679 Speaker 1: light bulb. Which he did not invent the light bulb, 113 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: but he did improve upon it, or rather, I should 114 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:00,080 Speaker 1: say his lab improved upon it. So when he and 115 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:02,360 Speaker 1: his engineers managed to make a light bulb that could 116 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: last more than just a few hours and could be 117 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 1: suitable for general use as opposed to stuff like the 118 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: more dangerous arc lamps that while extremely bright, were not 119 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: practical for everyday applications. He then had to figure out 120 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: a way, how do I sell this idea to cities, 121 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: right to city officials and then further on to the 122 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: general public. So he wanted to convince Manhattan officials that 123 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: his company should be the one to provide electricity and 124 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 1: light all of Manhattan. So he had his employees hang 125 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 1: lights during the holiday season in eighteen eighty on the 126 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: outside of Menlo Park, which was an easy view of 127 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,160 Speaker 1: trains passing by, and it got a lot of attention. Now, 128 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: one of the inventors who was working at his Menlo 129 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: Park facility was Edward Hibberd Johnson. Johnson had actually been 130 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: responsible for giving Edison a job at the Automatic Telegraph Company, 131 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: but later on Johnson would end up working closely with 132 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: Edison to develop men Low Park itself and became an 133 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: inventor and executive at the Edison Light Company. So it's 134 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: funny because he helped get Edison a job early and 135 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: then he ended up working for Edison later. It was 136 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: at the Menlo Park facility where Johnson developed string lights, 137 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,679 Speaker 1: and these were lights that were wired together in series 138 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: and would serve as the basis for Christmas lights. Just 139 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: moving forward from that point, he used those lights to 140 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: decorate a Christmas tree, and so Johnson is sometimes referred 141 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: to as the father of electric Christmas tree lights because 142 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,679 Speaker 1: the original version, the earlier version that Edison did that 143 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: was a string of lights they hung up on a building. 144 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: This was the first time where someone was using electric 145 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: Christmas lights to replace the candles that were found on 146 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 1: the Germanic Christmas trees. His lights, by the way, had 147 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: bulbs that were red, white, and blue. Is quite the 148 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: patriotic Christmas tree, and like Edison, Johnson intended that for 149 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: this not just to be a festive display in the 150 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: spirit of America and the holiday season, but also a 151 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: marketing effort to get more people to support and want 152 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: and adopt electric lights. There was a general distrust in 153 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: electricity around this time, so these were the ways in 154 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: which Edison and his associates could try to win people 155 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: over to this new technology, and adoption did not take 156 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 1: off right away. So, for one thing, no New York 157 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: based reporters wrote about this Christmas tree at all, but 158 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:30,439 Speaker 1: one reporter for a Detroit newspaper did publish an account 159 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: of what it was like seeing the Christmas tree all 160 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: lit up. The next big development in the adoption of 161 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: Christmas lights would come in eighteen ninety five when US 162 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: President Grover Cleveland incorporated them in decorations for the Christmas 163 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,719 Speaker 1: Tree at the White House. So we're going to go 164 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: off on a little tangent here some fun trivia facts 165 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: about Grover Cleveland. So he's the only US president whoever 166 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 1: served two non consecutive terms, meaning he was both our 167 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: twenty second and our twenty fourth president of the United States. 168 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: The lighting of the Christmas tree would be during his 169 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: second term as president. And just in case you're wondering 170 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: the twenty third president, the one who interrupted those two 171 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: terms was Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of our ninth President, 172 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: William Henry Harrison. Sorry I recently I have been showing 173 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: up on a lot of ridiculous history episodes, and sometimes 174 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: that stuff just kind of sticks with you. Anyway. Cleveland's tree, 175 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: Grover Cleveland's tree featured one hundred lights with bulbs of 176 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: various colors, and it must have been a really impressive 177 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:39,440 Speaker 1: sight for the time. Some of the movers and shakers 178 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: in America, in other words, people had a ton of 179 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: cash to burn they began to put up their own 180 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 1: decorated and lit Christmas trees, but it was not something 181 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,680 Speaker 1: the average person could do because at that time, most 182 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,080 Speaker 1: of the United States wasn't wired for electricity, so to 183 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,400 Speaker 1: even have a lit Christmas tree with electric lights, you 184 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,800 Speaker 1: would have to set up a generator. You'd also typically 185 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,560 Speaker 1: have to hire an electrician to actually wire it up, 186 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 1: and in today's money, that would mean that decorating a 187 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:12,080 Speaker 1: tree could cost at least a couple of thousands of dollars, 188 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,880 Speaker 1: so only the hoity toity folks who wanted to show 189 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:17,080 Speaker 1: off their wealth could really afford to have a Christmas 190 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 1: tree with electric lights at that time. Anyway, over the 191 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 1: course of the early nineteen hundreds, electric lights began to 192 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 1: gain popularity as people became more comfortable with the idea 193 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:30,439 Speaker 1: of electricity. And it's really no wonder that folks were 194 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 1: nervous at first. Fire is something you can see, at 195 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 1: least in most cases, but electricity could be deadly but 196 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 1: was also invisible, and Edison's company had already engaged in 197 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:46,440 Speaker 1: some pretty heavy smear campaigns against alternating current, since Edison 198 00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: was pushing direct current as a means to distribute electricity regionally, 199 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: and a lot of those events and demonstrations that his 200 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: company held involved showing off how deadly electricity could be, 201 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,440 Speaker 1: so they were kind of feeding into that fear. But 202 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:03,800 Speaker 1: the allure of the lights was undeniable. And but that 203 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: I mean not just Christmas lights, I mean your run 204 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,319 Speaker 1: of the bill light bulbs. Now, even in nineteen oh 205 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:14,079 Speaker 1: three when General Electric introduced string Christmas light kits, which 206 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: will let people string up their own lights at home 207 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:19,680 Speaker 1: without necessarily the use of an electrician, it was still 208 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 1: really expensive a string of lights, and a General Electric 209 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 1: actually referred to these strings as festoons. Anyway. The string 210 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 1: of lights consisted of eight whole light bulb sockets and 211 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:33,960 Speaker 1: they would hold Edison light bulbs, and it costs the 212 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:38,200 Speaker 1: equivalent of about three hundred dollars today. That's just the lights. 213 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: And this was not something that the average family would 214 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:44,319 Speaker 1: necessarily spring for. Also, you wouldn't buy these kits. You 215 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: would rent them for three hundred dollars, so after the 216 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:51,079 Speaker 1: rental period you would actually have to return them. So yikes. Now, 217 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: the bulbs on these things were small, round bulbs, almost 218 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 1: like manature incandescent light bulbs. Actually that's exactly what they were, 219 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: but I'm talking more about the form factor rather than 220 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: the actual lighting mechanism. In nineteen nineteen, General Electric introduced 221 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: a new bulb shape and filament. It was more of 222 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: a flame shape, is that sort of classic, large, kind 223 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: of clunky, retro looking light bulb. That was the general 224 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 1: shape that they introduced, and it had a filament made 225 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,679 Speaker 1: out of Mazda tungsten. The filament is the part of 226 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: the incandescent bulb that actually glows. The company would use 227 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: Mazda filaments in all sorts of lamp bulbs, not just 228 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: Christmas ones. Now, there were a couple of possibly apocryphal 229 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: stories about some smaller companies around this time that played 230 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,959 Speaker 1: an important role in popularizing Christmas lights. One of those 231 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: stories is about a telephone company employee named Ralph E. 232 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:47,480 Speaker 1: Morris who at some point. Different versions of this story 233 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: can date it to either eighteen ninety five, the same 234 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: year that Grover Cleveland was lighting up the White House, 235 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: or nineteen oh eight. There's a pretty big discrepancy, but 236 00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:59,719 Speaker 1: the stories say that he looked at a telephone switchboard, 237 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,000 Speaker 1: and telephone sweatchboards had these little tiny light bulbs mounted 238 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:05,680 Speaker 1: in them that would light up when you were making connections, 239 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 1: and he thought those little light bulbs might make nice 240 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 1: Christmas decorations. So he took a bunch of those little 241 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: light bulbs a bunch of telephone wire, wired them all together, 242 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 1: electrified the wire, and made up a little lit Christmas tree, 243 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 1: a little fake lit Christmas tree, because the story says 244 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:27,080 Speaker 1: that he made a makeshift Christmas tree out of feathers. 245 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: I don't know exactly how he did it, but that's 246 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 1: what the story says. His son would later write an 247 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: article claiming that his father invented Christmas lights, which wasn't 248 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: quite accurate. They predated this, but I'm pretty sure it 249 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: was an honest mistake, not something that was done, you know, maliciously. Now. 250 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: The other possibly apocryphal story involves a guy named Albert Sidaka. 251 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:55,680 Speaker 1: This story goes that when Sadaka was fifteen, he heard 252 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: about a terrible tragedy involving a deadly fire that began 253 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: when a Christmas tree lit with candles caught fire and 254 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: people died as a result. His family made novelty lights 255 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: with white bulbs, so he thought, hey, how about we 256 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: change out those regular bulbs with bulbs of different colors 257 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: and we use electric lights instead of candles to light 258 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,920 Speaker 1: up a Christmas tree. According to this story, he and 259 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:22,040 Speaker 1: his brothers began to do just that, and a few 260 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: years later they led an effort to bring together several 261 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,680 Speaker 1: small competing light companies. They were all going for the 262 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 1: same customers, and they formed the National Outfit Manufacturers Association, 263 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: or NOMA, which would become its own company and by 264 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty five became the leading manufacturing company for electric 265 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 1: Christmas lights. Now, as power companies wired up the United 266 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 1: States for electricity, the popularity of electric Christmas lights began 267 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: to grow. In nineteen twenty a hardware store owner in 268 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: California named Frederick Nash decorated trees outside his establishment, and 269 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 1: that quickly grew into a tradition in which a nine 270 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 1: blocks stretch of the road in front of his business 271 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: would end up having trees just draped in lights, and 272 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: it became the first big documented outdoor Christmas lights display. 273 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: When we come back, i'll talk more about the evolution 274 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: of Christmas lights, and then we'll dive into how the 275 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 1: heck they work, and in the case of traditional Christmas lights, 276 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: how they don't work if just one bulb goes bad. 277 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: But let's take a quick break. I've got a little 278 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 1: bit more to go on to the history of Christmas 279 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: lights and some of the interesting things about them before 280 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: we get into how they work. So by the late 281 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties, electric Christmas lights had become a popular new tradition, 282 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: with homeowners and businesses alike using them to create bright, 283 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 1: colorful displays, and in some cases they went a little 284 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 1: bit overboard. A few places became truly famous for their 285 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: decorated trees and buildings. When the United States entered into 286 00:16:57,200 --> 00:16:59,320 Speaker 1: World War Two and there was a concern about the 287 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,920 Speaker 1: possibility of sar cities being bombed, there were blackout orders 288 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 1: in various cities like New York, and that meant that 289 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: Christmas lights would actually go dark in nineteen forty four 290 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 1: in New York City, But with the war's end the 291 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,960 Speaker 1: following year, people made up for lost time. Meanwhile, tastes 292 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 1: began to change in America. Families in the late nineteen 293 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 1: fifties were introduced to a new invention, the aluminum Christmas tree. Yeah, 294 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:27,879 Speaker 1: I can't even I can't believe this really happened either, guys. 295 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,160 Speaker 1: These were trees made out of aluminum, a space age 296 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: material that was clearly so much better than a freshly 297 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:39,160 Speaker 1: cut fur tree. However, the Christmas lights of the day, 298 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: which were still incandescent bulbs in sometimes questionable wires, would 299 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: get way too hot for aluminum trees. They also could 300 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: potentially create an electric shock hazard because aluminum can conduct electricity. Plus, 301 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,639 Speaker 1: those aluminum trees had needles quote unquote made out of foil, 302 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:02,520 Speaker 1: which would easily melt. So instead of hanging electric lights 303 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: on the tree, companies began to manufacture lamps that had 304 00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: a rotating color wheel. And it's just what it sounds like, 305 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:13,440 Speaker 1: and it's not all that different from what was inside 306 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: old mechanical television sets before electric TV was invented. So 307 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 1: you've got a bulb that's what provides the light, kind 308 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 1: of like a projector, and in front of the bulb, 309 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 1: you have a wheel that has different panes of colored plastic, 310 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,520 Speaker 1: and this wheel rotates past the bulb and different colors 311 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:35,840 Speaker 1: of light shine out of your glorious lamp towards your 312 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:41,680 Speaker 1: even more glorious aluminum Christmas tree. It was a thing, y'all. Now, 313 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 1: I can't say I personally found it appealing, but back 314 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:49,960 Speaker 1: then it was selling like gangbusters. Unfortunately for companies like Noma, 315 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 1: the leading manufacturer of Christmas lights. It meant that there 316 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:57,159 Speaker 1: was a drastic drop in Christmas lights sales as these 317 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 1: aluminum trees became all the rage. Actually end up going 318 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 1: into bankruptcy and today it exists as a brand name. 319 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 1: But that's about it. The era of the Illumina tree 320 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 1: lasted about a decade, upon which time many people either 321 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:15,800 Speaker 1: went back to using the previously live trees or they 322 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: switched to more natural looking artificial trees. And that meant 323 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:23,880 Speaker 1: the electric lights were back baby. However, because of the 324 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,919 Speaker 1: American manufacturers going out of business during the reign of 325 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,680 Speaker 1: illunum Terror, the Christmas lights on the market mostly came 326 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: from other countries, so America would no longer be king 327 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: of the electric Christmas light. All right. Now we're getting 328 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: up to about nineteen seventy and the introduction of the 329 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:44,320 Speaker 1: mini light. So for a very long time, the typical 330 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: Christmas light was a five or ten watt bulb, typically 331 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: the size of a night light bulb, those little kind 332 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,199 Speaker 1: of cone shaped bulbs that I was talking about, the 333 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:57,240 Speaker 1: retro style, They were pretty big. These were the type 334 00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:58,920 Speaker 1: of lights that I grew up with when I was 335 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 1: a kid. That's the kind had on our trees, the big, 336 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: big bright lights. I still miss those, But they drew 337 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,680 Speaker 1: a lot of power because a string of fifty five 338 00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: watt bulbs means that you're consuming two hundred and fifty watts, 339 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: and most people were using multiple strands, like one string 340 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,439 Speaker 1: wouldn't do it. You might have three strands, three to 341 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:21,600 Speaker 1: five for a tree, maybe five to ten for your house. 342 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 1: So you're consuming an enormous amount of power when you're 343 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 1: having this stuff lit up. So the Christmas lights were 344 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:31,679 Speaker 1: greedy for electricity, then they pushed electric bills pretty high. 345 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 1: They would also get really hot, which you know I 346 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,880 Speaker 1: mentioned back with the aluminum trees. Touching a bulb could 347 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: give you a little bit of a minor burn, as 348 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: I found out on more than one occasion when I 349 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: was a kid, because I had three qualities that guaranteed 350 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 1: I was going to get burned. First, I was curious, 351 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 1: a second, I was foolish or maybe stupid, and third 352 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 1: I had a really short memory, I guess. Anyway, the 353 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: bulbs were popular, and they were colorful, but they were 354 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: also wasteful and expensive. The mini light would become a 355 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:09,399 Speaker 1: popular alternative to that bulky hot expensive Christmas light of 356 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 1: the past. The mini lights are, as the name implies, smaller. 357 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,879 Speaker 1: They only need two point five volts of electricity, and 358 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:20,440 Speaker 1: they don't get nearly as hot, although they are still 359 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,399 Speaker 1: incandescent bulbs, so they still do generate heat, they're just 360 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: not as hot as those larger bulbs were. It does, however, 361 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: raise a question, how do you supply electricity to a 362 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: two and a half volt socket if your source is 363 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:37,840 Speaker 1: an outlet that's putting out one hundred and twenty volts. 364 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: This is a good time to transition into a talk 365 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:46,439 Speaker 1: about circuits. So a quick reminder in electricity, voltage is 366 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,440 Speaker 1: sort of like water pressure in a water system. It's 367 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,119 Speaker 1: how hard the electricity is being pushed through. You can 368 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,359 Speaker 1: think of it like that. It's not exactly the same, 369 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:59,119 Speaker 1: but that's a rough analogy. It's the oomph behind the 370 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:02,120 Speaker 1: movement of electric and a one hundred and twenty volt 371 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:06,119 Speaker 1: supply far overshadows a two and a half volt load. 372 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 1: So imagine like having a fire hose of water directed 373 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:12,440 Speaker 1: at you. You've got a little shot glass that you're 374 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 1: filling up and dumping out. It would just be way 375 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:18,960 Speaker 1: too much. But these Christmas lights were chained together in series, 376 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:23,439 Speaker 1: which meant one bulb socket connects to the next bulb 377 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: socket in the same circuit, and so on. So if 378 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,199 Speaker 1: you've got two two and a half volt sockets, you 379 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,560 Speaker 1: end up with a load that requires five volts. If 380 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:35,440 Speaker 1: you were to multiply two and a half volts by 381 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:38,879 Speaker 1: I don't know, let's say forty eight, you'd get one 382 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:42,120 Speaker 1: hundred twenty. So yeah, if you string together forty eight 383 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,480 Speaker 1: light bulb sockets and each one of those is a 384 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,199 Speaker 1: two and a half volt socket, you end up with 385 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 1: a full load what requires one hundred and twenty volts. 386 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,680 Speaker 1: Problem solved now. Typically companies would actually bump that up 387 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:58,399 Speaker 1: to fifty light sockets per series, and those extra two 388 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:02,119 Speaker 1: sockets would mean that each individual bulb would be slightly, 389 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:06,359 Speaker 1: maybe even imperceptibly dimmer than it would be if you 390 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,639 Speaker 1: only had forty eight, but it wouldn't be so dim 391 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: that it would make a huge difference. So imagine a 392 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,760 Speaker 1: pathway from an electric outlet that goes down a line 393 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 1: of wires, and those wires connect to fifty bulbs in series, 394 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,840 Speaker 1: So bulb one, then bulb two, than bulb three, et cetera. 395 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: This represents the path that electricity takes and along the way, 396 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:30,760 Speaker 1: the electricity is doing work in the form of producing 397 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 1: light with those little light bulbs. And here's where a 398 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 1: drawback of Christmas lights comes in. Let's say one of 399 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:40,440 Speaker 1: those bulbs burns out. Well, a burnt out bulb is 400 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: going to break that pathway for the electricity. It opens 401 00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: the circuit, and because the path is broken and electricity 402 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:52,040 Speaker 1: needs that clear, unbroken path, the whole string of lights 403 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 1: will go out. This is how Christmas lights used to be, 404 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: where you'd have to go down a line of dark 405 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,879 Speaker 1: lights and you would swap out one bulb for another 406 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:03,960 Speaker 1: over and over. You would be searching for the one 407 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,879 Speaker 1: bulb that caused the problem, and often it would lead 408 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:10,360 Speaker 1: to people chucking out a string entirely and just replacing 409 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,159 Speaker 1: it because trying to find that one berdtout bulb and 410 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: a string of fifty just wasn't fun. And it was 411 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,120 Speaker 1: even worse if more than one bulb had been affected, 412 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,919 Speaker 1: because you might replace one bad bulb and never know 413 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:24,639 Speaker 1: it because there's a second or a third bad bulb 414 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,640 Speaker 1: in that same string. It was infuriating. Now on top 415 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:31,560 Speaker 1: of that, later electric lights would have even longer strings 416 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 1: like one hundred, one hundred and fifty or two hundred lights. Now, 417 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,480 Speaker 1: in order to achieve this, because I was just talking 418 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,640 Speaker 1: about how if you put these in series it creates 419 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: that greater load. Well, engineers were able to kind of 420 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: cheat with this. They were using both series circuits and 421 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: parallel circuits for these lights. Now, as I mentioned, a 422 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,919 Speaker 1: series circuit strings one electric load after another along the 423 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:58,960 Speaker 1: same electrical path or circuit. So you can think of 424 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,640 Speaker 1: that as like one long street with houses on either 425 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 1: side of the street, and the houses represent the load 426 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: on the electric circuit. So in this example, with a 427 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:09,240 Speaker 1: string that has fifty lights, think of a street and 428 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:13,119 Speaker 1: there are fifty houses twenty five on either side of 429 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 1: the street. So to visit a house a little further 430 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:17,400 Speaker 1: down the street, you have to pass all the other 431 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 1: ones first. Parallel circuits create multiple paths, an independent pathway 432 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:26,600 Speaker 1: for each circuit, so different loads are on their own 433 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: distinct pathways. So with a string of one hundred and 434 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,359 Speaker 1: fifty Christmas lights, for example, you would actually have three 435 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,679 Speaker 1: fifty lights series circuits. Right, So you've got one string 436 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,160 Speaker 1: of fifty lights in series, a second string of fifty 437 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 1: lights in series, and a third string of fifty lights 438 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: in series, but all three are then connected in parallel 439 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,919 Speaker 1: with each other in the street analogy, this would be 440 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:54,879 Speaker 1: like having three parallel streets that all connect to the 441 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: same main road. Now, with this kind of string of lights, 442 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 1: if one bulb were to go out, only the other 443 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,919 Speaker 1: bulbs in that same series circuit would go dark. So 444 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 1: with one hundred and fifty light string, it would mean 445 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:09,919 Speaker 1: one third of those lights would go dark. Right, fifty 446 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,320 Speaker 1: lights would go out, but the other one hundred would 447 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:16,600 Speaker 1: stay lit because they were actually still in those parallel circuits. 448 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:21,320 Speaker 1: They were independent of that one fifty light string. You 449 00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:23,160 Speaker 1: still have a problem with a third of your lights 450 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,400 Speaker 1: going dark, though, engineers figured out how to solve this 451 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:31,159 Speaker 1: issue by creating what's called a shunt. Now, essentially, a 452 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 1: shunt is an alternative circuitry path that electricity can pass 453 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:39,439 Speaker 1: through even if a load has otherwise failed. So in 454 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: this case, if a light bulb were to burn out, 455 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:44,880 Speaker 1: the light bulb would go dark, but the shunt would 456 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,040 Speaker 1: take over as the path for electricity to flow through, 457 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,320 Speaker 1: and that way the other bulbs in that series would 458 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,399 Speaker 1: still stay lit. So how does that work? Well, First, 459 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 1: the shunt is lined with insulating material and that boosts 460 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:04,200 Speaker 1: the electric resistance of the shunt. And this is important 461 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 1: because if the shunt had an equal or lower electrical 462 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:12,199 Speaker 1: resistance than the filament inside the light bulb, the electricity 463 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:15,199 Speaker 1: would bypass the bulb altogether and just go through the shunt. 464 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,840 Speaker 1: That means you wouldn't have a string of Christmas lights. Instead, 465 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:22,480 Speaker 1: you would have a really bad extension cord that was 466 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: eating up a lot of power. And more than that, 467 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:26,720 Speaker 1: it would start to heat up and could potentially pose 468 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,959 Speaker 1: as a fire hazard, and that's no bueno. So this 469 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 1: is a good opportunity to talk about short circuits. A 470 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: short circuit and I am not talking about the movie 471 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: that featured Johnny five the robot. A short circuit is 472 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,879 Speaker 1: when electricity encounters a pathway of lower resistance than the 473 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 1: path it is supposed to follow. And yeah, the path 474 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:51,280 Speaker 1: of least resistance is a thing. We see it in 475 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:53,720 Speaker 1: nature all the time. If there are multiple ways for 476 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:57,359 Speaker 1: something to happen, the way that has the least obstacles 477 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: tends to be the one we end up with. Electricity 478 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:04,720 Speaker 1: is going through its circuit and suddenly there's a detour. 479 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 1: Something has made contact with a circuit that represents a 480 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:12,280 Speaker 1: lower resistance pathway. The electricity takes the lower resistance pathway. 481 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:16,399 Speaker 1: That's just nature. The electricity skips out on doing whatever 482 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 1: it was supposed to do, like light a light bulb, 483 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 1: and rushes down this new pass Now at a steady voltage, 484 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: this means you get a spike in current. This is 485 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 1: because the voltage is that pressure I was talking about, 486 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:32,399 Speaker 1: and the pressure remains the same, but the reduction in 487 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:36,120 Speaker 1: electrical resistance means it's easier for electricity to flow through 488 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:38,920 Speaker 1: that part of the circuit. So the current has to increase. 489 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: We express this mathematically by saying voltage is current times resistance. 490 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:49,440 Speaker 1: So if voltage is staying the same, it's not changing 491 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 1: and electrical resistance is decreasing, current, by mathematical definition has 492 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 1: to increase to make up the difference, and an increase 493 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:03,560 Speaker 1: in current can become dangerous or even deadly. Now, because 494 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 1: of that risk, engineers began to include fuses in Christmas lights. 495 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 1: The fuse in a Christmas light is kind of a 496 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:16,680 Speaker 1: strip of thin wire that's near the plug end of 497 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:18,760 Speaker 1: a string of lights, the part that actually plugs into 498 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:21,440 Speaker 1: the wall. That's where the fuse is. It's rated for 499 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 1: a certain maximum of current, and if the current increases 500 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,479 Speaker 1: beyond that maximum because of a short typically then this 501 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 1: wire will actually kind of burn through, and then it 502 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:35,240 Speaker 1: leaves a gap, and that gap ends up having such 503 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 1: a high electrical resistance that electricity cannot flow through the 504 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: string of lights and they all go dark. So the 505 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 1: fuse is typically replaceable, and in these strings of lights 506 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: you can even open up a little window and put 507 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,360 Speaker 1: in a replacement fuse if the one that you have 508 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:52,280 Speaker 1: in there has burnt out for any reason. So that 509 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 1: is sort of a safety measure in case of a 510 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,120 Speaker 1: short circuit. All right, Now let's get back to the shunt. 511 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:03,080 Speaker 1: So this insulating wire round, this shunt typically wraps around 512 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,560 Speaker 1: the base of the filament in a Christmas light bulb, 513 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:09,720 Speaker 1: and because it has a higher electrical resistance than the 514 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: filament does, electricity is not going to go through the 515 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:17,680 Speaker 1: shunt normally, it'll go through the filament instead. Now, if 516 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,320 Speaker 1: the filament begins to burn out, it starts to get 517 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:23,920 Speaker 1: really hot, and that heat is enough to melt the 518 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: insulating material off of the shunt, So the bulb burns out. 519 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:32,880 Speaker 1: The shunt wire essentially sheds its insulation. It's melted off. 520 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,480 Speaker 1: As a result, the shunt becomes a lower resistance pathway 521 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 1: for electricity, and electricity can then pass through the light 522 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: bulb's socket and keep the other lights on the series lit. 523 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:46,240 Speaker 1: It means you can actually spot the burnout bulb in 524 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:48,960 Speaker 1: a string and replace it. You don't have to worry 525 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:52,360 Speaker 1: about one bulb going out and everything going out. You'll 526 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 1: just see that one bulb burnout and you can then 527 00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 1: swap it out. Now, one other thing that can happen 528 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:00,719 Speaker 1: that can be frustrating is that some of the lights 529 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:04,120 Speaker 1: are pretty cheaply made and the bulbs can be loose 530 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:07,920 Speaker 1: in their sockets, and if they're not making good contact 531 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:11,720 Speaker 1: with the parts of the socket where the electricity flows through, 532 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 1: then you're not going to get electricity flowing through the 533 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: series because it'll be like an open circuit or a 534 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: circuit where the switch is in the off position. So 535 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 1: in that case, you have to go down the length 536 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:23,600 Speaker 1: of the wire and check to make sure that each 537 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,560 Speaker 1: bulb is plugged in properly for electricity to flow through 538 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 1: that series of bulbs. Some Christmas lights actually put the 539 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 1: shunt into the socket itself rather than inside the bulb, 540 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,880 Speaker 1: which helps sidestep that problem. So in those cases, just 541 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,760 Speaker 1: like with a burnt out bulb, the affected bulb would 542 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:41,800 Speaker 1: be the one that was not lit, but the rest 543 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 1: of it should still be shining brightly. Now, when we 544 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:47,800 Speaker 1: come back, I'll talk a bit more about how the 545 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:50,400 Speaker 1: series Circuits and Christmas Lights created a headache for the 546 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 1: electricians on the Netflix series Stranger Things, as well as 547 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,560 Speaker 1: a couple of other interesting facts. But first, let's take 548 00:31:56,760 --> 00:32:07,600 Speaker 1: a quick break. Okay, So, in case you've not seen 549 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 1: the series Stranger Things, let me explain why Christmas lights 550 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:14,400 Speaker 1: are important and why they posed a big challenge to 551 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,400 Speaker 1: the crew of that show. So in the show, there's 552 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 1: a boy named Will Buyers who is trapped in a 553 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 1: sort of parallel dimension and he can't interact directly with 554 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,600 Speaker 1: people in our dimension, but he discovers that he can 555 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:31,520 Speaker 1: affect electrical devices. The show is set in the nineteen 556 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: eighties and Will comes from sort of a lower middle 557 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 1: class family and they still have the big, bulky Christmas 558 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,719 Speaker 1: lights they haven't switched over to the smaller ones. And 559 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:44,360 Speaker 1: when Will's mother, Joyce, figures out that Will can affect 560 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: these lights, she devises away fro him to communicate with her. 561 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 1: She labels a string of Christmas lights with letters of 562 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:53,960 Speaker 1: the alphabet, and that means will can effectively type out 563 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:58,280 Speaker 1: messages by making individual lights go off and on, which 564 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 1: is a clever idea for a show. It's also not 565 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:05,560 Speaker 1: how Christmas lights work because, as I've described in this podcast, 566 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,760 Speaker 1: they're supposed to all be in series and you can't 567 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:12,479 Speaker 1: turn them off and on individually because they're all in 568 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 1: a series circuit. They're strung in such a way that 569 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:17,840 Speaker 1: turning off one means they all go off. So how 570 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:22,920 Speaker 1: did the show get around that? Well, it was surprisingly challenging. 571 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:27,000 Speaker 1: The solution was sort of straightforward, but it wasn't easy 572 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:31,240 Speaker 1: or convenient. The electrician had to wire each bulb individually 573 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:35,320 Speaker 1: to a switchboard that could supply electricity to that bulb. Now, 574 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:37,760 Speaker 1: that also meant having to control the voltage that was 575 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:40,160 Speaker 1: going to each bulb, since they were no longer in 576 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:43,080 Speaker 1: series and the load wouldn't be shared across the whole wire. 577 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:46,480 Speaker 1: So you had to control the voltage to be appropriate 578 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:50,680 Speaker 1: for the individual bulbs and then isolate it from all 579 00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:53,080 Speaker 1: the other bulbs. And you had to do it twenty 580 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:56,560 Speaker 1: six times, or at least however many times. Was needed 581 00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:59,080 Speaker 1: to make sure all the letters that were being used 582 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: were wired up properly. You might have been able to 583 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:05,040 Speaker 1: get away without wiring up say X or Z or 584 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,680 Speaker 1: some of the other letters that aren't as common. The 585 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:11,560 Speaker 1: switchboard was effectively a keyboard, so you could like press 586 00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:14,200 Speaker 1: the a button that would activate a switch and the 587 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:17,520 Speaker 1: switch would open the circuit, meaning it breaks the pathway. 588 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: And because it breaks the pathway, the light would go out, 589 00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 1: and if you close the circuit, if you close the switch, 590 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:26,759 Speaker 1: that would restore the pathway the light bulb would come 591 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:31,160 Speaker 1: on again. So that wiring was probably a huge pain 592 00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:33,279 Speaker 1: in the neck because it meant having to do this 593 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,560 Speaker 1: for multiple letters and making sure each set of wires 594 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:39,480 Speaker 1: had the appropriate label on the switchboard, not to mention 595 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:41,880 Speaker 1: being sure that no bulb was going to get too 596 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:44,480 Speaker 1: much voltage for it to handle. And on top of that, 597 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:48,800 Speaker 1: the wiring had to be hidden so the camera would 598 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:50,840 Speaker 1: make it look like it was just a normal string 599 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:54,719 Speaker 1: of Christmas lights. You couldn't see all these individual wires 600 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:58,680 Speaker 1: going to each bulb. It would break the illusion. So 601 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:01,560 Speaker 1: why you wouldn't call this a high tech special effect? 602 00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:04,200 Speaker 1: It was one that required a lot of work and 603 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:06,680 Speaker 1: trial by error to get it just right, to produce 604 00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,719 Speaker 1: the effect that the series directors were looking for. Now, 605 00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:13,000 Speaker 1: we're not quite done with the evolution of Christmas lights. 606 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,600 Speaker 1: We've got a few more things to chat about. As 607 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:20,200 Speaker 1: the novelty song The Twelve Pains of Christmas reveals, Christmas 608 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:24,240 Speaker 1: lights present their own frustrating challenges. If they're not stored properly, 609 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:27,239 Speaker 1: they become a tangled mess. There's the problem of one 610 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,600 Speaker 1: going out and then they all go out. If you 611 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:33,160 Speaker 1: have a shuntless kind of string of Christmas lights at 612 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:35,440 Speaker 1: any rate, then there's the line that used to make 613 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:37,600 Speaker 1: me crack up as a kid. This will tell you 614 00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:41,200 Speaker 1: how sophisticated my sense of humor was. Who am I kidding? 615 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 1: Still is? The line is, now, why the hell are 616 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:49,520 Speaker 1: they all blinking? Yeah, blinking lights? Okay, there are two 617 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:54,279 Speaker 1: general ways of creating blinking Christmas lights if you're a manufacturer. 618 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:58,560 Speaker 1: One of those ways is brilliantly simple and kind of jankie. 619 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:01,200 Speaker 1: So let's go with that one first. All right, So 620 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:04,399 Speaker 1: let's say you get a couple of different metals, and 621 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:07,560 Speaker 1: you create a strip using these two different metals. Maybe 622 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:10,799 Speaker 1: one side is copper and the other side is you know, 623 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,759 Speaker 1: iron or something. These two metals have slightly different properties, 624 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:16,960 Speaker 1: and one of the different properties they have is their 625 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:20,960 Speaker 1: rate of expansion when they get hot. Because one metal 626 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,680 Speaker 1: will expand faster than the other, it causes the strip 627 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:27,800 Speaker 1: to bend. It curls as one side of the strip 628 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,879 Speaker 1: expands faster than the other one does. These are called 629 00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:35,040 Speaker 1: bimetallic strips, and they're using lots of stuff like thermostats, 630 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:39,160 Speaker 1: but thermostats are a different podcast. All right. So you've 631 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,080 Speaker 1: got this bimetallic strip and you use it to make 632 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:44,760 Speaker 1: a circuit path to a filament on a light bulb. 633 00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:48,240 Speaker 1: So the strip itself is acting like a kind of wire. 634 00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:51,839 Speaker 1: Electricity is passing through the strip to the filament. But 635 00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:54,080 Speaker 1: then the filament starts to heat up, and when it 636 00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 1: heats up, it causes the strip to start to bend 637 00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:59,200 Speaker 1: because of that expansion thing I was just talking about. 638 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:02,200 Speaker 1: The strip bends to a point where it no longer 639 00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:05,880 Speaker 1: makes contact with the filament. And since the electricity was 640 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:09,480 Speaker 1: flowing through the strip, it means the electrical path is broken, 641 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:12,080 Speaker 1: right because there's no more contact between the strip and 642 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:15,239 Speaker 1: the filament. No more electricity goes to the filament, and 643 00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:18,960 Speaker 1: so the light blinks out. Further, This bulb, called a 644 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:22,560 Speaker 1: blinker bulb, doesn't have a shunt in it, so when 645 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:25,160 Speaker 1: it goes out, all the other lights in that series 646 00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:28,120 Speaker 1: blink out at the same time. Then the bimetallic strip 647 00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:31,520 Speaker 1: begins to cool down because the filament is no longer glowing, 648 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:33,920 Speaker 1: so it's no longer putting off heat. And as it 649 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:36,480 Speaker 1: begins to cool down, it straightens out again. And when 650 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:39,520 Speaker 1: it straightens out, it makes contact with the filament, which 651 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:42,839 Speaker 1: causes the circuit to re establish and the lights come 652 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:46,080 Speaker 1: on again. This process repeats itself over and over until 653 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:48,480 Speaker 1: the blinker bulb finally burns out and you have to 654 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,360 Speaker 1: replace the darn thing. Now. I love this approach because 655 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:54,640 Speaker 1: it's a low tech, practical way to create blinking lights, 656 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,600 Speaker 1: and it even includes a little mechanical element in the 657 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:03,359 Speaker 1: form of those bending strips. I think it's pun intended brilliant. Now, 658 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:06,840 Speaker 1: the other way to make blinking lights is also brilliant, 659 00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 1: but it's a bit more sophisticated. There are strings of 660 00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 1: lights that come with sixteen function controllers. These controllers have 661 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:18,360 Speaker 1: four transistors, each of which drives a separate strand of lights, 662 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:21,880 Speaker 1: so the full string of lights is made up of 663 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:27,000 Speaker 1: four strands of lights. Further, these lights on these full 664 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:31,439 Speaker 1: strands are in an interleaving pattern, meaning that you don't 665 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:34,000 Speaker 1: just get all the lights in one strand followed by 666 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:36,000 Speaker 1: all the lights in the second strand and so on. 667 00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:40,640 Speaker 1: The string would interleave these strands, so you could have 668 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:44,440 Speaker 1: something like light one from Strand one, light one from 669 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:48,279 Speaker 1: Strand two, light one from Strand three, light one from 670 00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:51,759 Speaker 1: Strand four, light two from Strand one, and so on, 671 00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:54,560 Speaker 1: And that way you can apply different effects to each 672 00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:57,920 Speaker 1: strand in the full string, and you could get really 673 00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:00,880 Speaker 1: interesting results. Otherwise, you might up with a tree in 674 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,880 Speaker 1: which the first fifty lights are blinking, the next fifty 675 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:06,800 Speaker 1: lights are fading in and out, the next fifty are twinkling, 676 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:09,520 Speaker 1: et cetera. So by doing it this way, you can 677 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:13,280 Speaker 1: have that effect spread out throughout the entire string of lights, 678 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:17,480 Speaker 1: and you get a more interesting, varied effect. More recently, 679 00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:20,799 Speaker 1: we've seen LED lights start to replace the old incandescent 680 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:24,759 Speaker 1: mini lights. The incandescent bulbs work by feeding electricity through 681 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:26,960 Speaker 1: a filament which heats up and gives off light, but 682 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:30,640 Speaker 1: LED lights generate light in a totally different way. LEDs 683 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:34,000 Speaker 1: have electrons moving through a semiconductor material. Now, I've talked 684 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,080 Speaker 1: about this in past episodes, and frankly, I'm running out 685 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:39,120 Speaker 1: of time in this episode, so I don't feel like 686 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:41,200 Speaker 1: it can really go into a lot of detail here 687 00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:44,480 Speaker 1: about how it works. But from a sub atomic level, 688 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:47,560 Speaker 1: here's what's going on. You've got an electron inhabiting a 689 00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:50,759 Speaker 1: certain energy shell around the nucleus of an atom. You 690 00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:53,880 Speaker 1: pour some energy into that atom that causes the electron 691 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,680 Speaker 1: to jump to a higher energy shell a little further 692 00:39:56,719 --> 00:39:59,560 Speaker 1: out from the atom's nucleus. But then you cut off 693 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:02,360 Speaker 1: the energy that's going into the atom, and the electron's 694 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:04,880 Speaker 1: natural state is to be closer to the nucleus. But 695 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:07,000 Speaker 1: in order to move back to where it's supposed to be, 696 00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:10,600 Speaker 1: it first has to give off that excess energy, which 697 00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:13,040 Speaker 1: it does so by emitting the energy in the form 698 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:15,839 Speaker 1: of photons or light, and they do it in very 699 00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:19,920 Speaker 1: specific frequencies. So with different semiconductors you can produce different 700 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:23,680 Speaker 1: colors of light. One nice thing about LEDs is that 701 00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:27,600 Speaker 1: when an LED light fails, which typically takes a long time, 702 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:32,120 Speaker 1: LED lights tend to last much longer than incandescent lights. Anyway, 703 00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:34,719 Speaker 1: the failed LED can still serve as a pathway for 704 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,920 Speaker 1: electricity to flow through, so the other lights on the 705 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:41,280 Speaker 1: string will continue to stay lit. It's more or less 706 00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:44,840 Speaker 1: that the LED is in itself acting like a shunt. 707 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,600 Speaker 1: LED lights, just like other Christmas lights, tend to be 708 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,600 Speaker 1: wired in series, and you have multiple series of lights 709 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:54,799 Speaker 1: wired in parallel on a single string. And another great 710 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:57,799 Speaker 1: thing about LED lights is that they typically require way 711 00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:01,360 Speaker 1: less energy to run, so you can run them longer 712 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:03,880 Speaker 1: and for less money in the long run than you 713 00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 1: can with classic incandescent bulbs. They tend to be more 714 00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:11,200 Speaker 1: expensive than incandescent bulb lights are on an initial purchase, 715 00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:13,560 Speaker 1: but in the long run you actually save money by 716 00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:15,600 Speaker 1: using those and you save a lot of energy. So 717 00:41:15,719 --> 00:41:19,080 Speaker 1: highly recommend it. And one type of bulb I didn't mention. 718 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:21,799 Speaker 1: I skipped over it, but this was a favorite of 719 00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:25,160 Speaker 1: mine when I was growing up are bubble lights, which 720 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:27,560 Speaker 1: made a comeback not too long ago, but these were 721 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:30,239 Speaker 1: like common when I was a kid. These lights have 722 00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:33,799 Speaker 1: a fluid with a relatively low boiling point, and it's 723 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:36,759 Speaker 1: inside of a glass tube and at the base of 724 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:39,560 Speaker 1: the tube is an incandescent bulb, so when the bulb 725 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:42,279 Speaker 1: lights up, it gives off heat. Then eventually that heat 726 00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:45,239 Speaker 1: reaches the temperature sufficient to bring the liquid inside the 727 00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:49,560 Speaker 1: tube to a boil, which produces bubbles inside the tube. Now, 728 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:52,400 Speaker 1: we had these on our Christmas trees when I was 729 00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:55,759 Speaker 1: a kid, and I thought they were super awesome. The 730 00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:59,000 Speaker 1: early versions of these lights used a very lightweight oil 731 00:41:59,239 --> 00:42:02,399 Speaker 1: as the liquid, but more modern versions tend to rely 732 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:06,759 Speaker 1: upon dichloramethane, which has a boiling point of thirty nine 733 00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:10,120 Speaker 1: point six degrees celsius or one hundred three point three 734 00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:13,560 Speaker 1: degrees fahrenheit. Oh And on the other end of the 735 00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:16,719 Speaker 1: spectrum are the projector systems being used to create all 736 00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:21,279 Speaker 1: sorts of effects on house exteriors, like snowfall or I 737 00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:24,840 Speaker 1: don't know, an ELF strike team descending on a house. 738 00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:29,000 Speaker 1: These projectors typically use LEDs to generate lasers to create 739 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:32,160 Speaker 1: the light needed for the projection. The light passes through 740 00:42:32,239 --> 00:42:36,719 Speaker 1: lenses that magnify whatever images are being displayed and then 741 00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:39,239 Speaker 1: shoots them up so that they appear on the side 742 00:42:39,239 --> 00:42:42,480 Speaker 1: of a house. And lasers are pretty nifty. They're also 743 00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:44,880 Speaker 1: super technical, and I've talked about them in other episodes, 744 00:42:44,880 --> 00:42:47,799 Speaker 1: so I won't go into detail here, but I want 745 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:50,279 Speaker 1: to mention them because it's another high tech gadget being 746 00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:53,840 Speaker 1: used in holiday decorations these days. Also, if you have 747 00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:56,080 Speaker 1: one of these things, make sure that it's pointed well 748 00:42:56,120 --> 00:42:59,279 Speaker 1: at your house and not the sky, because lasers have 749 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:02,000 Speaker 1: been known to cause problems for pilots because that light 750 00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:06,279 Speaker 1: can be seriously powerful, So you know, just be responsible. Now, 751 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:08,120 Speaker 1: there are other lights I could mention. There are like 752 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:12,160 Speaker 1: micro lights and mesh lights and icicle lights, but essentially 753 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:14,920 Speaker 1: all of these are variations upon the stuff I've already 754 00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:17,680 Speaker 1: talked about in this episode. And then there are the 755 00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:21,279 Speaker 1: Christmas light displays that synchronize the lights with a soundtrack 756 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:25,120 Speaker 1: using various micro controllers and sequencers. And maybe I'll do 757 00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:27,360 Speaker 1: a full episode about that kind of stuff in the future, 758 00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:31,080 Speaker 1: but for now, I say it's time for lights out. 759 00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:34,799 Speaker 1: So that wraps up this episode of tech Stuff. If 760 00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:37,839 Speaker 1: you guys have any suggestions for future episodes, reach out 761 00:43:37,880 --> 00:43:40,239 Speaker 1: to me. You can send me an email the addresses 762 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:43,560 Speaker 1: text stuff at houstuffworks dot com or draw me a 763 00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:46,000 Speaker 1: line on Facebook or Twitter. The handle for both of 764 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:49,719 Speaker 1: those is text stuff HSW. You can also visit our 765 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:53,040 Speaker 1: website that's tech stuff podcast dot com, where you'll find 766 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:57,680 Speaker 1: an archive of how many episodes? Sorry, oh all of them. Yeah, 767 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:00,200 Speaker 1: all of the episodes is what Tari is saying. So 768 00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:03,600 Speaker 1: you can find all the episodes at techstuffpodcast dot com. 769 00:44:03,600 --> 00:44:06,239 Speaker 1: You'll also find a link to our online store where 770 00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:09,000 Speaker 1: you can buy merchandise. And if you do, it's like 771 00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:12,040 Speaker 1: you're giving me a little Christmas present, because every purchase 772 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:13,960 Speaker 1: you make goes to help the show, and we greatly 773 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:18,080 Speaker 1: appreciate it, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 774 00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:25,160 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is a production of iHeartRadio's House Stuff Works. 775 00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:30,319 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 776 00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:35,880 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.