1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to tex Stuff production from I Heart Radio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: and happy holidays, frum tech Stuff. We are currently off 3 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: work today. It is a holiday for us. My name, 4 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 1: by the way, is Jonathan Strickland, Diamond, executive producer with 5 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and how the Tech are you. We 6 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,479 Speaker 1: didn't want to leave you without an episode today, so 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: today we're bringing you a rerun this episode originally published 8 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:39,880 Speaker 1: on November two thousand nineteen. It is titled Lighting Up 9 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: the Holidays, and as you might guess, it's about the 10 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 1: incorporation of electric lights in particular in holiday celebrations, and 11 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: also you know, talking a little bit about Stranger Things 12 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: and why it was a challenge to make the holiday 13 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: lights light up in the way they do in the 14 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: first season of Stranger Things. So sit back, relax, and 15 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: enjoy this episode about lighting up the Holidays. Now, before 16 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: I dive into all of that, I want to acknowledge 17 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,760 Speaker 1: a few things first. While I'll be talking about Christmas lights, 18 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: there are many people of different faiths, ethnicities, regions, etcetera 19 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: who celebrates special days during the winter months, and lights 20 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:29,040 Speaker 1: nearly always play an important part in those various observations, 21 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: which makes total sense because the days are shorter in 22 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: the winter, and thus we have more hours of darkness 23 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: for every twenty four hour period, so lights would clearly 24 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: be an important part of any celebration during that part 25 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: of the year. So, for example, the manora in the 26 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: Jewish faith symbolizes how the Maccabees, when rededicating the Holy Temple, 27 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: which they had just won back from the Greeks, used 28 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: a single bottle of oil to light the manora used 29 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: in the rededication ceremony for eight nights, even though the 30 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: bottle should only have lasted a single night. Then there's 31 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: also the celebration of Kwanza, where families like candles in 32 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: the cannara, and the candles represent the seven principles of 33 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: the holiday. But getting back to Christmas lights, there's actually 34 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: an older tradition than the sort of Christmas tree lights, 35 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: in which Christian families would set out candles within view 36 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: of a window as a symbol to alert fellow Christians 37 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 1: that the family inside the house was they were made 38 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: up of observing Christians, and that fellow Christians would be 39 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: welcome to come into that house to worship with the family. 40 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: But the Christmas lights we see every year really have 41 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: their roots pun intended in a Germanic tradition of the 42 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: Christmas tree. So why would you ever cut down a 43 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 1: tree and bring it inside in the first place. Well, again, 44 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:52,639 Speaker 1: one of those things that makes sense as you start 45 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: to think about all the details. Plants like fur trees 46 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: and holly remain green even in the winter, which otherwise 47 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: pretty much wipes out everything else and makes it brown 48 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,959 Speaker 1: and dead, so or appearing to be dead. So these 49 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: plants became symbols of resilience and everlasting life. So people 50 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: would cut down some of those plants and bring them 51 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,639 Speaker 1: indoors to remind them of that. But you know, then 52 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: the plants would eventually just dry out and turn brown, 53 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: and thus negate the whole reason for bringing them inside. 54 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: But you know, humans have never been rational creatures. There 55 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,919 Speaker 1: are some unsupported legends surrounding the origins of the German 56 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: Christmas tree uh sometimes referred to as the Tannenbaum, but 57 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: really Tannenbaum is more of a word for fur trees 58 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: in general, not just those all decked out with bowls 59 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: of holly and whatnot. But one legend has it that 60 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: Martin Luther, the Reformer, who caused a bit of a 61 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: Ruckus in the fifteen hundreds, when he, you know, decided 62 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: to criticize the Catholic Church that he had started the 63 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: tradition of the Christmas tree. However, the earliest written accounts 64 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: on record that mentioned this tradition date to six oh five. 65 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: Now that doesn't mean that's when the tradition started, of course, 66 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: it's just the earliest written account that we happen to have. 67 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: Scholars think the tradition might date back at least to 68 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,719 Speaker 1: the mid sixteenth century, though that would still be after 69 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: Martin Luther had died. So anyway, that sixteen o five account, 70 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: all it says is that the people would set up 71 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: Christmas trees in their rooms in Strasbourg. There's no mention 72 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:35,280 Speaker 1: of lights in this particular account, but the decorations consisted 73 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:38,840 Speaker 1: of things like roses made out of paper and various 74 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: foods being shoved into the tree, things like apples or 75 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: cookies and sugar. It's very food centric. In fact, there 76 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: was a tradition of raiding the Christmas tree on one 77 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: of the days of Christmas, where the kids get to 78 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: go and actually grab treats from the tree and eat them. 79 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: The first written account to bring up the detail about 80 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 1: lights in the Christmas tree dates to sixteen sixty. People 81 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 1: in Germany would pin or otherwise attached candles to branches 82 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,839 Speaker 1: of these trees, and again, frequently these are trees that 83 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 1: have been cut down and put up inside a house, 84 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: not just trees out in the woods somewhere. Generally speaking, 85 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: the practice was to light the candles only for a 86 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: very short time before you blew them out again. And 87 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: you were never supposed to leave a tree unattended, because, 88 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 1: as you can imagine, combining a cut tree that might 89 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: be kind of dry with open flames is a recipe 90 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: for disaster. And in fact, there were more than a 91 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,280 Speaker 1: few cases of fires with these trees, some of them 92 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: ending in catastrophe and tragedy. But I'm sure the effect 93 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: was really nice, leaning right up to the moment where 94 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: everything went ablaze. Okay, so let's skip ahead to the 95 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds. At that point the tradition extended beyond Germany. 96 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: Harvard professor named Charles Fallen, inspired by stories that he 97 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: had heard in Europe, did a lit up Christmas tree 98 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: here in America. This was believed to be the first 99 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: lit Christmas tree in America, or at least the first 100 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 1: one on record. In the eighteen forties, in England, Queen 101 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: Victoria and Prince Albert had a Christmas tree famously depicted 102 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,039 Speaker 1: in an illustration that was published in a newspaper that 103 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:21,160 Speaker 1: likely helped boost the practice over in England. Prince Albert 104 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: brought this over from his homeland in Saxony. So people 105 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 1: came up with new ways to attach the candles to trees, 106 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: you know, they found more improved methods that would catch 107 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: the wax and things like that. However, there was still 108 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: very much a danger of fire with this particular approach. Then, 109 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: in the later eighteen hundreds we get to Thomas Edison, 110 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:46,360 Speaker 1: the inventor and entrepreneur who was spending a lot of 111 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: time and resources trying to perfect the light bulb. Which 112 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: he did not invent the light bulb, but he did 113 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:55,679 Speaker 1: improve upon it, or rather, I should say his lab 114 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 1: improved upon it. So when he and his engineers managed 115 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: to make a light bulb that could last more than 116 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:03,840 Speaker 1: just a few hours and could be suitable for general 117 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: use as opposed to stuff like the more dangerous arc 118 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: lamps that, while extremely bright, were not practical for everyday applications, 119 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: he then had to figure out a way, how do 120 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: I sell this idea to cities, right to city officials 121 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 1: and then further onto the general public. So he wanted 122 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: to convince Manhattan officials that his company should be the 123 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: one to provide electricity and light all of Manhattan. So 124 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: he had his employees hang lights during the holiday season 125 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty on the outside of Menlo Park, which 126 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: was an easy view of trains passing by, and it 127 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: got a lot of attention. Now, one of the inventors 128 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: who was working at his Menlo Park facility was Edward 129 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: Hibbert Johnson. Johnson had actually been responsible for giving Edison 130 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: a job at the Automatic Telegraph Company, but later on 131 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: Johnson would end up working closely with Edison to develop 132 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: Menlo Park itself and became an inventor and executive at 133 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: the Edison Light Company. So it's funny because he helped 134 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: get Edison a job early and then he ended up 135 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: working for Edison later. It was at the Menlo Park 136 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: facility where Johnson developed string lights, and these were lights 137 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: that were wired together in series and would serve as 138 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: the basis for Christmas lights. Just moving forward from that point, 139 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: he used those lights to decorate a Christmas tree and 140 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: so Johnson is sometimes referred to as the father of 141 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: electric Christmas tree lights because the original version, the earlier 142 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: version that Edison did that was a string of lights 143 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: they hung up on a building. This was the first 144 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:40,559 Speaker 1: time where someone was using electric Christmas lights to replace 145 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: the candles that were found on the Germanic Christmas trees. 146 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: His lights, by the way, had bulbs that were red, white, 147 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: and blue. Is quite the patriotic Christmas tree, and like Edison, 148 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: Johnson intended that for this not just to be a 149 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: festive display in the spirit of America and the holiday season, 150 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 1: but also a marketing effort to get more people to 151 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: support and want and adopt electric lights. There was a 152 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:10,679 Speaker 1: general distrust in electricity around this time, so these were 153 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,319 Speaker 1: the ways in which Edison and his associates could try 154 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: to win people over to this new technology, and adoption 155 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: did not take off right away. So for one thing, 156 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: no New York based reporters wrote about this Christmas tree 157 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: at all, but one reporter for a Detroit newspaper did 158 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 1: publish an account of what it was like seeing the 159 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: Christmas tree all lit up. The next big development in 160 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: the adoption of Christmas lights would come in eight when 161 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,680 Speaker 1: US President Grover Cleveland incorporated them in decorations for the 162 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 1: Christmas Tree at the White House. So we're gonna go 163 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: off on a little tangent here some fun trivia facts 164 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:52,360 Speaker 1: about Grover Cleveland. So he's the only US president whoever 165 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: served two non consecutive terms, meaning he was both our 166 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: twenty second and our twenty fourth president of the United States. 167 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 1: The lighting of the Christmas tree would be during his 168 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: second term as president. And just in case you're wondering 169 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: the twenty third president, the one who interrupted those two 170 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 1: terms was Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of our ninth President, 171 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 1: William Henry Harrison. Sorry, I recently, I've been showing up 172 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: on a lot of ridiculous history episodes and sometimes that 173 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 1: stuff just gonna sticks with you. Anyway. Cleveland's Tree, Grover 174 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,600 Speaker 1: Cleveland's tree featured one hundred lights with bulbs of various colors, 175 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: and it must have been a really impressive site for 176 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: the time. Some of the movers and shakers in America, 177 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,679 Speaker 1: in other words, people had a ton of cash to burn. 178 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:44,560 Speaker 1: They began to put up their own decorated and lit 179 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: Christmas trees. But it was not something the average person 180 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 1: could do. Because at that time, most of the United 181 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: States wasn't wired for electricity, so to even have a 182 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: lit Christmas tree with electric lights, you would have to 183 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: set up a generator. You'd also typically have to hire 184 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:04,439 Speaker 1: an electrician to actually wire it up, and in today's money, 185 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: that would mean that decorating a tree could cost at 186 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 1: least a couple of thousands of dollars, So only the 187 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 1: hoity toity folks who wanted to show off their wealth 188 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:15,959 Speaker 1: could really afford to have a Christmas tree with electric 189 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,199 Speaker 1: lights at that time. Anyway, over the course of the 190 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 1: early nineteen hundreds, electric lights began to gain popularity as 191 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,560 Speaker 1: people became more comfortable with the idea of electricity. And 192 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,319 Speaker 1: it's really no wonder that folks were nervous at first. 193 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: Fire is something you can see, at least in most cases, 194 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: but electricity could be deadly but was also invisible. And 195 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 1: Edison's company had already engaged in some pretty heavy smear 196 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:45,840 Speaker 1: campaigns against alternating current, since Edison was pushing direct current 197 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:48,959 Speaker 1: as a means to distribute electricity regionally, and a lot 198 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 1: of those events and demonstrations that his company held involves 199 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 1: showing off how deadly electricity could be, so they were 200 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: kind of feeding into that fear. But the allure of 201 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: the lights was undeniable. And with that, I mean not 202 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: just Christmas lights. I mean you're running of the mill 203 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 1: light bulbs. Now. Even in n three, when General Electric 204 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: introduced string Christmas light kits, which will let people string 205 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 1: up their own lights at home without necessarily the use 206 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: of an electrician, it was still really expensive a string 207 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,840 Speaker 1: of lights, and General Electric actually referred to these strings 208 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:27,079 Speaker 1: as festoons. Anyway. The string of lights consisted of eight 209 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: whole light bulb sockets and they would hold Edison light 210 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:34,199 Speaker 1: bulbs and it cost the equivalent of about three hundred 211 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:37,800 Speaker 1: dollars today. That's just the lights, and this was not 212 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:40,679 Speaker 1: something that the average family would necessarily spring for. Also, 213 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: you wouldn't buy these kits. You would rent them for 214 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: three hundred dollars, so after the rental period you would 215 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: actually have to return them. So yikes. Now, the bulbs 216 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: on these things were small, round bulbs, almost like manature 217 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:57,200 Speaker 1: incandescent light bulbs. Actually that's exactly what they were, but 218 00:12:57,400 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: I'm talking more about the form factor rather than the 219 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:04,720 Speaker 1: actual lighting mechanism. In nineteen nineteen, General Electric introduced a 220 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:07,560 Speaker 1: new bulb shape and filament. It was more of a 221 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: flame shape, is that sort of classic, large, kind of clunky, 222 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 1: retro looking light bulb. That was the general shape that 223 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,200 Speaker 1: they introduced, and it had a filament made out of 224 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:21,439 Speaker 1: Mazda toungusten. The filament is the part of the incandescent 225 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: bulb that actually glows. The company would use Mazda filaments 226 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: in all sorts of lamp bulbs, not just Christmas ones. Now, 227 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: there were a couple of possibly apocryphal stories about some 228 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 1: smaller companies around this time that played an important role 229 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,920 Speaker 1: in popularizing Christmas lights. One of those stories is about 230 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:43,040 Speaker 1: a telephone company employee named Ralph E. Morris who at 231 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 1: some point. Different versions of this story can date it 232 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:50,240 Speaker 1: to either eight, the same year that Grover Cleveland was 233 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,200 Speaker 1: lighting up the White House, or nineteen o eight. There's 234 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: a pretty big discrepancy, but the stories say that he 235 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,400 Speaker 1: looked at a telephone switchboard, and telephone switchboards had these 236 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:02,199 Speaker 1: little tiny light bulbs mounted in them that would light 237 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 1: up when you were making connections, and he thought those 238 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:08,320 Speaker 1: little light bulbs might make nice Christmas decorations. So he 239 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: took a bunch of those little lightbulbs, a bunch of 240 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: telephone wire, wired them all together, electrified the wire, and 241 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: made up a little lit Christmas tree, a little fake 242 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: lit Christmas tree, because the story says that he made 243 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 1: a makeshift Christmas tree out of feathers. I don't know 244 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 1: exactly how he did it, but that's what the story says. 245 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: His son would later write an article claiming that his 246 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: father invented Christmas lights, which wasn't quite accurate. They predated this, 247 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 1: but I'm pretty sure it was an honest mistake, not 248 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: something that was done, you know, maliciously. Now. The other, 249 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,920 Speaker 1: possibly an apocryphal story involves a guy named Albert Sadaka. 250 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: This story goes that when Sedaka was fifteen, he heard 251 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: about a terrible tragedy involving a deadly fire that began 252 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: when a Christmas tree lit with candles fire and people 253 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 1: died as a result. His family made novelty lights with 254 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: white bulbs, so he thought, hey, how about we change 255 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: out those regular bulbs with bulbs of different colors and 256 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 1: we use electric lights instead of candles to light up 257 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 1: a Christmas tree. According to this story, he and his 258 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: brothers began to do just that, and a few years later, 259 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: they led an effort to bring together several small competing 260 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: light companies. They're all going for the same customers, and 261 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: they formed the National Outfit Manufacturers Association, or NOMA, which 262 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 1: would become its own company and by became the leading 263 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: manufacturing company for electric Christmas lights. Now, as power companies 264 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,080 Speaker 1: wired up the United States for electricity, the popularity of 265 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 1: electric Christmas lights began to grow. In nineteen twenty, a 266 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: hardware store owner in California named Frederick Nash decorated trees 267 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: outside his establishment, and that quickly grew into a tradition 268 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 1: in which a nine block stretch of the road in 269 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 1: front of his business would end up having trees just 270 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,240 Speaker 1: draped in lights, and it became the first big documented 271 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: outdoor Christmas lights display. When we come back, i'll talk 272 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: more about the evolution of Christmas lights, and then we'll 273 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: dive into how the heck they work, and in the 274 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: case of traditional Christmas lights, how they don't work if 275 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: just one bulb goes bad. But let's take a quick break. 276 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: I've got a little bit more to go on to 277 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: the history of Christmas lights and some of the interesting 278 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: things about them before we get into how they work. 279 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: So by the late nineteen thirties, electric Christmas lights had 280 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: become a popular new tradition, with homeowners and businesses alike 281 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 1: uh using them to create bright, colorful displays, and in 282 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 1: some cases they went a little bit overboard. A few 283 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: places became truly famous for their decorated trees and buildings. 284 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: When the United States entered into World War Two and 285 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,480 Speaker 1: there was an learn about the possibility of cities being bombed, 286 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: there were blackout orders in various cities like New York, 287 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 1: and that meant that Christmas lights would actually go dark 288 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty four in New York City, but with 289 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: the war's end the following year, people made up for 290 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 1: lost time. Meanwhile, tastes began to change. In America, families 291 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: in the late nineteen fifties were introduced to a new invention, 292 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:27,000 Speaker 1: the aluminium Christmas tree. Yeah, I can't even I can't 293 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:30,560 Speaker 1: believe this this really happened either, guys. These were trees 294 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: made out of aluminium, a space age material that was 295 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: clearly so much better than a freshly cut fir tree. However, 296 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:42,200 Speaker 1: the Christmas lights of the day, which were still incandescent 297 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:47,359 Speaker 1: bulbs in sometimes questionable wires, would get way too hot 298 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: for aluminium trees. They also could potentially create an electric 299 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 1: shock hazard because aluminum can conduct electricity. Plus, those aluminium 300 00:17:57,119 --> 00:18:00,160 Speaker 1: trees had needles quote unquote made out of foil, which 301 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 1: would easily melt. So instead of hanging electric lights on 302 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: the tree, companies began to manufacture lamps that had a 303 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:11,639 Speaker 1: rotating color wheel. And it's just what it sounds like, 304 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:14,480 Speaker 1: and it's not all that different from what was inside 305 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: old mechanical television sets before electric TV was invented. So 306 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: you've got a bulb that's what provides the light, kind 307 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,119 Speaker 1: of like a projector, and in front of the bulb, 308 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:28,200 Speaker 1: you have a wheel that has different panes of colored plastic, 309 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:32,719 Speaker 1: and this wheel rotates past the bulb, and different colors 310 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:37,000 Speaker 1: of light shine out of your glorious lamp towards your 311 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 1: even more glorious aluminum Christmas tree. It was a thing, y'all. Now, 312 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:46,399 Speaker 1: I can't say I personally found it appealing, but back 313 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: then it was selling like gangbusters. Unfortunately for companies like Noma, 314 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: the leading manufacturer of Christmas lights, it meant that there 315 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:58,360 Speaker 1: was a drastic drop in Christmas lights sales as these 316 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 1: aluminium trees became all the eight Noma would actually end 317 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: up going into bankruptcy, and today it exists as a 318 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: brand name. But that's about it. The era of the 319 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: aluminum tree lasted about a decade, upon which time many 320 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,760 Speaker 1: people either went back to using the previously live trees 321 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: or they switched to more natural looking artificial trees, and 322 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:24,360 Speaker 1: that meant the electric lights were back baby. However, because 323 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:28,400 Speaker 1: of the American manufacturers going out of business during the 324 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:32,159 Speaker 1: reign of aluminum Terror, the Christmas lights on the market 325 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,399 Speaker 1: mostly came from other countries, so America would no longer 326 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: be king of the electric Christmas light all right. Now 327 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,719 Speaker 1: we're getting up to about nineteen seventy and the introduction 328 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 1: of the mini light. So for a very long time, 329 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 1: the typical Christmas light was a five or ten watt bulb, 330 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: typically the size of a night light bulb, those little 331 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: kind of cone shaped bulbs that I was talking about, 332 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:58,199 Speaker 1: the retro style, They were pretty big. These were the 333 00:19:58,200 --> 00:19:59,919 Speaker 1: type of lights that I grew up with when I 334 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: was a kid. That's the kind we had on our trees, 335 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: the big, big, bright lights. I still miss those. But 336 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:08,919 Speaker 1: they drew a lot of power because the string of 337 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,720 Speaker 1: fifty five what bulbs means that you're consuming two fifty 338 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: what's and most people were using multiple strands, like one 339 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: string wouldn't do it. You might have three strands, three 340 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,199 Speaker 1: to five for a tree, maybe five to ten for 341 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 1: your house. So you're consuming an enormous amount of power 342 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: when you're having this stuff lit up. So the Christmas 343 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: lights were greedy for electricity, then they pushed electric bills 344 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: pretty high. They would also get really hot, which you 345 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,240 Speaker 1: know I mentioned back with the aluminium trees. Touching a 346 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,920 Speaker 1: bulb could give you a little bit of a minor burn, 347 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: as I found out on more than one occasion when 348 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: I was a kid, because I had three qualities that 349 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: guaranteed I was gonna get burned. First, I was curious. Second, 350 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,959 Speaker 1: I was foolish or maybe stupid, and third I had 351 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,880 Speaker 1: a really short memory, I guess anyway, the bulbs were popular. 352 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,640 Speaker 1: They were colorful, but they were also wasteful and expensive. 353 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 1: The mini light would become a popular alternative to that bulky, hot, 354 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:12,639 Speaker 1: expensive Christmas light of the past. The mini lights are, 355 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:16,679 Speaker 1: as the name implies, smaller, They only need two point 356 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:20,680 Speaker 1: five volts of electricity, and they don't get nearly as hot. 357 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: Although they are still incandescent bulbs, so they still do 358 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,200 Speaker 1: generate heat. They're just not as hot as those larger 359 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 1: bulbs were. It does, however, raise a question, how do 360 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: you supply electricity to a two and a half volt 361 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:37,560 Speaker 1: socket if your source is an outlet that's putting out 362 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:40,399 Speaker 1: a hundred twenty volts. This is a good time to 363 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:44,880 Speaker 1: transition into a talk about circuits. So a quick reminder 364 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 1: in electricity, voltage is sort of like water pressure in 365 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:53,160 Speaker 1: a water system. It's how hard the electricity is being 366 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:55,240 Speaker 1: pushed through. You can think of it like that. It's 367 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:59,000 Speaker 1: not exactly the same, but that's a rough analogy. It's 368 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:03,359 Speaker 1: the behind the movement of electricity, and a one volts 369 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 1: supply far overshadows a two and a half volt load. 370 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: So imagine like having a fire hose of water directed 371 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:13,600 Speaker 1: at you. You've got a little shot glass that you're 372 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: filling up and dumping out. It would just be way 373 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:20,119 Speaker 1: too much. But these Christmas lights were chained together in series, 374 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 1: which meant one bulb socket connects to the next bulb 375 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:28,200 Speaker 1: socket in the same circuit and so on. So if 376 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,399 Speaker 1: you've got two two and a half volt sockets, you 377 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: end up with a load that requires five volts. If 378 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:36,640 Speaker 1: you were to multiply two and a half volts by 379 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: I don't know, let's say forty eight, you'd get a 380 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: hundred twenty. So yeah, if you string together forty eight 381 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:45,639 Speaker 1: light bulb sockets and each one of those is a 382 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,359 Speaker 1: two and a half volt socket, you end up with 383 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 1: a full load what requires a hundred twenty volts. Problem 384 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,919 Speaker 1: solved now. Typically companies would actually bump that up to 385 00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 1: fifty light sockets per series, and those extra two socket 386 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: would mean that each individual bulb would be slightly, maybe 387 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:07,880 Speaker 1: even imperceptibly dimmer than it would be if you only 388 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,959 Speaker 1: had forty eight, but it wouldn't be so dim that 389 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,879 Speaker 1: it would make a huge difference. So imagine a pathway 390 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:18,679 Speaker 1: from an electric outlet that goes down a line of wires, 391 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:22,199 Speaker 1: and those wires connect to fifty bulbs in series, so 392 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 1: bulb one, the bulb two, the bulb three, etcetera. This 393 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 1: represents the path that electricity takes, and along the way, 394 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:31,960 Speaker 1: the electricity is doing work in the form of producing 395 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,159 Speaker 1: light with those little light bulbs. And here's where a 396 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,720 Speaker 1: drawback of Christmas lights comes in. Let's say one of 397 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,639 Speaker 1: those bulbs burns out. Well, a burnt out bulb is 398 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 1: going to break that pathway for the electricity. It opens 399 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 1: the circuit, and because the path is broken and electricity 400 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:53,200 Speaker 1: needs that clear unbroken path, the whole string of lights 401 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,520 Speaker 1: will go out. This is how Christmas lights used to be, 402 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,240 Speaker 1: where you'd have to go down a line of dark 403 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:02,040 Speaker 1: lights and you would swap out one bulb for another. 404 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,120 Speaker 1: Over and over. You would be searching for the one 405 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:08,080 Speaker 1: bulb that caused the problem, and often it would lead 406 00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:11,560 Speaker 1: to people chucking out a string entirely and just replacing 407 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,240 Speaker 1: it because trying to find that one bird's out bulb 408 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 1: and a string of fifty just wasn't fun. And it 409 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,320 Speaker 1: was even worse if more than one bulb had been affected, 410 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 1: because you might replace one bad bulb and never know 411 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:25,919 Speaker 1: it because there's a second or third bad bulb in 412 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:29,120 Speaker 1: that same string. It was infuriating. Now, on top of that, 413 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: later electric lights would have even longer strings, like one hundred, 414 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 1: hundred fifty or two hundred lights. Not in order to 415 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:40,920 Speaker 1: achieve this, because I was just talking about how if 416 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,600 Speaker 1: you put these in series it creates that greater load. Well, 417 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,639 Speaker 1: engineers were able to kind of cheat with this they 418 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 1: were using both series circuits and parallel circuits for these lights. Now, 419 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,520 Speaker 1: as I mentioned, a series circuit strings one electric load 420 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 1: after another along the same electrical path or circuit. So 421 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 1: you can think of that as like one long street 422 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 1: with houses on either side of the street, and houses 423 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,280 Speaker 1: represent the load on the electric circuit. So in this example, 424 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: with a string that has fifty lights, think of a 425 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: street and there are fifty houses twenty five on either 426 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: side of the street. So to visit a house a 427 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,280 Speaker 1: little further down the street, you have to pass all 428 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:22,760 Speaker 1: the other ones first. Parallel circuits create multiple paths, a 429 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 1: an independent pathway for each circuit, so different loads are 430 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:30,359 Speaker 1: on their own distinct pathways. So with a string of 431 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:33,760 Speaker 1: one fifty Christmas lights, for example, you would actually have 432 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:39,400 Speaker 1: three fifty lights series circuits. Right, So you've got one 433 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:43,040 Speaker 1: string of fifty lights in series, a second string of 434 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:46,439 Speaker 1: fifty lights in series, and a third string of fifty 435 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: lights in series. But all three are then connected in 436 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: parallel with each other in the street analogy, this would 437 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:55,960 Speaker 1: be like having three parallel streets that all connect to 438 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 1: the same main road. Now, with this kind of string 439 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,879 Speaker 1: of lights, if un bulb were to go out, only 440 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,639 Speaker 1: the other bulbs in that same series circuit would go dark. 441 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: So with a hundred fifty light string, it would mean 442 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:11,119 Speaker 1: one third of those lights would go dark. Right, fifty 443 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,480 Speaker 1: lights would go out, but the other one hundred would 444 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 1: stay lit because they were actually still in those parallel circuits. 445 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: They were independent of that one fifty light string. You 446 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: still have a problem with a third of your lights 447 00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:27,640 Speaker 1: going dark, though, Engineers figured out how to solve this 448 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:32,280 Speaker 1: issue by creating what's called a shunt. Now, essentially, a 449 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:36,879 Speaker 1: shunt is an alternative circuitry path that electricity can pass 450 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 1: through even if a load has otherwise failed. So in 451 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,000 Speaker 1: this case, if a light bulb were to burn out, 452 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,080 Speaker 1: the light bulb would go dark, but the shunt would 453 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:49,200 Speaker 1: take over as the path for electricity to flow through, 454 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:52,480 Speaker 1: and that way the other bulbs in that series would 455 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 1: still stay lit. So how does that work. Well, First, 456 00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:01,120 Speaker 1: the shunt is lined with insulating material and that boosts 457 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:05,360 Speaker 1: the electric resistance of the shunt. And this is important 458 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 1: because if the shunt had an equal or lower electrical resistance, 459 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:14,160 Speaker 1: then the filament inside the lightbulb, the electricity would bypass 460 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:16,359 Speaker 1: the bulb all together and just go through the shunt. 461 00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:19,959 Speaker 1: That means you wouldn't have a string of Christmas lights. Instead, 462 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,639 Speaker 1: you would have a really bad extension cord that was 463 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: eating up a lot of power. And more than that, 464 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:27,879 Speaker 1: it would start to heat up and could potentially pose 465 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,119 Speaker 1: as a fire hazard. And that's no bueno. So this 466 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,399 Speaker 1: is a good opportunity to talk about short circuits. A 467 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,439 Speaker 1: short circuit and I am not talking about the movie 468 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:42,159 Speaker 1: that featured Johnny five the Robot. A short circuit is 469 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: when electricity encounters a pathway of lower resistance than the 470 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,399 Speaker 1: path it is supposed to follow. And yeah, the path 471 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:52,439 Speaker 1: of least resistance is a thing. We see it in 472 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:54,879 Speaker 1: nature all the time. If there are multiple ways for 473 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,480 Speaker 1: something to happen, the way that has the least obstacles 474 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:00,800 Speaker 1: tends to be the one we end up with. So 475 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,880 Speaker 1: electricity is going through its circuit Do do Do Do, 476 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:07,720 Speaker 1: and suddenly there's a detour. Something has made contact with 477 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:11,719 Speaker 1: the circuit that represents a lower resistance pathway. The electricity 478 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: takes the lower resistance pathway. That's just nature. The electricity 479 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: skips out on doing whatever it was supposed to do, 480 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,640 Speaker 1: like light a light bulb, and rushes down this new path. Now, 481 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,879 Speaker 1: at a steady voltage, This means you get a spike 482 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: in current. This is because the voltage is that pressure 483 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:32,200 Speaker 1: I was talking about, and the pressure remains the same, 484 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,040 Speaker 1: but the reduction and electrical resistance means it's easier for 485 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 1: electricity to flow through that part of the circuit. So 486 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:42,360 Speaker 1: the current has to increase. We expressed this mathematically by 487 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 1: saying voltage is current times resistance, So if voltage is 488 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:54,800 Speaker 1: staying the same, it's not changing and electrical resistance is decreasing. Current, 489 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 1: by mathematical definition, has to increase to make up the difference, 490 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: and increase in current can become dangerous or even deadly. Now, 491 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:08,280 Speaker 1: because of that risk, engineers began to include fuses in 492 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,680 Speaker 1: Christmas lights. The fuse in a Christmas light is kind 493 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:16,360 Speaker 1: of a strip of thin wire that's near the plug 494 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 1: end of a string of lights, the part that actually 495 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 1: plugs into the wall. That's where the fuse is. It's 496 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,560 Speaker 1: rated for a certain maximum of current, and if the 497 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: current increases beyond that maximum because of a short typically 498 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:32,760 Speaker 1: then this wire will actually kind of burn through and 499 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,959 Speaker 1: then it leaves a gap, and that gap ends up 500 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 1: having such a high electrical resistance that electricity cannot flow 501 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:41,840 Speaker 1: through the string of lights and they all go dark. 502 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: So the fuse is typically replaceable, and in these strings 503 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: of lights you can even open up a little window 504 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: and put in a replacement fuse if the one that 505 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:52,160 Speaker 1: you have in there has burnt out for any reason. 506 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,280 Speaker 1: So that is sort of a safety measure in case 507 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:57,200 Speaker 1: of a short circuit. All right, now, let's get back 508 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:01,800 Speaker 1: to the shunt. So this insulating wire that's around this 509 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:06,240 Speaker 1: this shunt typically wraps around the base of the filament 510 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,120 Speaker 1: in a Christmas light bulb, and because it has a 511 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 1: higher electrical resistance than the filament does, electricity is not 512 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 1: going to go through the shunt normally, it'll go through 513 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 1: the filament instead. Now, if the filament begins to burn out, 514 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:24,000 Speaker 1: it starts to get really hot, and that heat is 515 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: enough to melt the insulating material off of the shunt. 516 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 1: So the bulb burns out, the shunt wire essentially sheds 517 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:35,640 Speaker 1: its insulation it's melted off. As a result, the shunt 518 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:39,720 Speaker 1: becomes a lower resistance pathway for electricity, and electricity can 519 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,360 Speaker 1: then pass through the light bulb socket and keep the 520 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 1: other lights on the series lit. It means you can 521 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: actually spot the burnout bulb in a string and replace it. 522 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 1: You don't have to worry about one bulb going out 523 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:54,640 Speaker 1: and everything going out. You'll just see that one bulb 524 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 1: burnout and you can then swap it out. Now, one 525 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: other thing that can happen that can be for sustrating 526 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,880 Speaker 1: is that some of the strings of lights are pretty 527 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 1: cheaply made, and the bulbs can be loose in their sockets, 528 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: and if they're not making good contact with the parts 529 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:13,800 Speaker 1: of the socket where the electricity flows through, then you're 530 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 1: not gonna get electricity flowing through the series, because it'll 531 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:19,280 Speaker 1: be like an open circuit or a circuit where the 532 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:22,040 Speaker 1: switches in the off position. So in that case, you 533 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:23,600 Speaker 1: have to go down the length of the wire and 534 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:25,880 Speaker 1: check to make sure that each bulb is plugged in 535 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 1: properly for electricity to flow through that series of bulbs. 536 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,600 Speaker 1: Some Christmas lights actually put the shunt into the socket 537 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 1: itself rather than inside the bulb, which helps side stuff 538 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,400 Speaker 1: that problem. So in those cases, just like with a 539 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,440 Speaker 1: burnt out bulb, the affected bulb would be the one 540 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:43,600 Speaker 1: that was not lit, but the rest of it should 541 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 1: still be shining brightly. Now, when we come back, I'll 542 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: talk a bit more about how the series Circuits and 543 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 1: Christmas Lights created a headache for the electricians on the 544 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,320 Speaker 1: Netflix series Stranger Things, as well as a couple of 545 00:31:55,320 --> 00:32:09,640 Speaker 1: other interesting facts. But first, let's take a quick break. Okay, So, 546 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:14,080 Speaker 1: in case you've not seen the series Stranger Things, let 547 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,080 Speaker 1: me explain why Christmas lights are important and why they 548 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,760 Speaker 1: posed a big challenge to the crew of that show. 549 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:23,120 Speaker 1: So in the show, there's a boy named Will Buyers 550 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: who is trapped in a sort of parallel dimension and 551 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:30,520 Speaker 1: he can't interact directly with people in our dimension, but 552 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:34,520 Speaker 1: he discovers that he can affect electrical devices. The show 553 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,200 Speaker 1: is set in the nineteen eighties and Will comes from 554 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,280 Speaker 1: sort of a lower middle class family and they still 555 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:43,000 Speaker 1: have the big, bulky Christmas lights they haven't switched over 556 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: to the smaller ones. And when Will's mother, Joyce, figures 557 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 1: out that Will can affect these lights, she devises away 558 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,240 Speaker 1: for him to communicate with her. She labels a string 559 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:55,920 Speaker 1: of Christmas lights with letters of the alphabet, and that 560 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,959 Speaker 1: means Will can effectively type out messages by making individ 561 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,840 Speaker 1: will lights go off and on, which is a clever 562 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:08,080 Speaker 1: idea for a show. It's also not how Christmas lights work, because, 563 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:10,640 Speaker 1: as I've described in this podcast, they're supposed to all 564 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,840 Speaker 1: be in series and you can't turn them off and 565 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:17,960 Speaker 1: on individually because they're all in a series circuit. They're 566 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 1: strung in such a way that turning off one means 567 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:22,760 Speaker 1: they all go off. So how did the show get 568 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:27,920 Speaker 1: around that? Well? It was surprisingly challenging. The solution was 569 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:32,440 Speaker 1: sort of straightforward, but it wasn't easy or convenient. The 570 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:36,320 Speaker 1: electrician had to wire each bulb individually to a switchboard 571 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,800 Speaker 1: that could supply electricity to that bulb. Now, that also 572 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 1: meant having to control the voltage that was going to 573 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:44,960 Speaker 1: each bulb since they were no longer in series and 574 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,720 Speaker 1: the load wouldn't be shared across the whole wire. So 575 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,880 Speaker 1: you had to control the voltage to be appropriate for 576 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:54,840 Speaker 1: the individual bulbs and then isolate it from all the 577 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,880 Speaker 1: other bulbs. And you had to do it twenty six times, 578 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:00,920 Speaker 1: or at least however many time was needed to make 579 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:03,760 Speaker 1: sure all the letters that were being used were wired 580 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:06,160 Speaker 1: up properly. You might have been able to get away 581 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,279 Speaker 1: without wiring up say X or Z or some of 582 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:12,719 Speaker 1: the other letters that aren't a common The switchboard was 583 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:15,920 Speaker 1: effectively a keyboard, so you could like press the a 584 00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:18,840 Speaker 1: button that would activate a switch, and the switch would 585 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:23,120 Speaker 1: open the circuit, meaning it breaks the pathway, And because 586 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:25,960 Speaker 1: it breaks the pathway, the light would go out. And 587 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,560 Speaker 1: if you close the circuit, if you close the switch, 588 00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:30,799 Speaker 1: that would restore the pathway the light bulb would come 589 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:35,200 Speaker 1: on again. So that wiring was probably a huge pain 590 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:37,399 Speaker 1: in the neck because it meant having to do this 591 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,640 Speaker 1: for multiple letters and making sure each set of wires 592 00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:43,600 Speaker 1: had the appropriate label on the switchboard, not to mention 593 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:45,960 Speaker 1: being sure that no bulb was going to get too 594 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:48,560 Speaker 1: much voltage for it to handle. And on top of that, 595 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:52,920 Speaker 1: the wiring had to be hidden so the camera would 596 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:54,879 Speaker 1: make it look like it was just a normal string 597 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:58,800 Speaker 1: of Christmas lights. You couldn't see all these individual wires 598 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:02,759 Speaker 1: going to each bulb. It would break the illusion. So 599 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:05,640 Speaker 1: while you wouldn't call this a high tech special effect, 600 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:08,239 Speaker 1: it was one that required a lot of work and 601 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:10,720 Speaker 1: trial by error to get it just right to produce 602 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:13,759 Speaker 1: the effect that the series directors were looking for. Now, 603 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,080 Speaker 1: we're not quite done with the evolution of Christmas lights. 604 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,640 Speaker 1: We've got a few more things to chat about. As 605 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:24,280 Speaker 1: the novelty song The Twelve Pains of Christmas reveals Christmas 606 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:28,280 Speaker 1: lights present their own frustrating challenges. If they're not stored properly, 607 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:31,239 Speaker 1: they become a tangled mess. There's the problem of one 608 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:33,640 Speaker 1: going out and then they all go out. If you 609 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:37,200 Speaker 1: have a shuntless kind of string of Christmas lights at 610 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:39,480 Speaker 1: any rate, then there's the line that used to make 611 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:41,640 Speaker 1: me crack up as a kid. This will tell you 612 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,840 Speaker 1: how sophisticated my sense of humor was, and who my 613 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:48,840 Speaker 1: kidding still is. The line is, now, why the hell 614 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:53,359 Speaker 1: are they all blinking? Yeah, blinking lights? Okay, there are 615 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 1: two general ways of creating blinking Christmas lights if you're 616 00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:01,680 Speaker 1: a manufacturer. One of those ways is brilliantly simple and 617 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:04,320 Speaker 1: kind of jankie. So let's go with that one first. 618 00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:08,200 Speaker 1: All right, So let's say get a couple of different metals, 619 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:11,360 Speaker 1: and you create a strip using these two different metals. 620 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:14,080 Speaker 1: Maybe one side is copper and the other side is 621 00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:17,880 Speaker 1: you know, iron or something. These two metals have slightly 622 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:20,440 Speaker 1: different properties, and one of the different properties they have 623 00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:24,440 Speaker 1: is their rate of expansion when they get hot. Because 624 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:28,160 Speaker 1: one metal will expand faster than the other, it causes 625 00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:31,440 Speaker 1: the strip to bend, it curls as one side of 626 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:34,520 Speaker 1: the strip expands faster than the other one does. These 627 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:38,040 Speaker 1: are called bimetallic strips, and they're using lots of stuff 628 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:42,799 Speaker 1: like thermostats, but thermostats are a different podcast. Alright, So 629 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:45,920 Speaker 1: you've got this bimetallic strip and you use it to 630 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:48,840 Speaker 1: make a circuit path to a filament on a light bulb. 631 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:52,280 Speaker 1: So the strip itself is acting like a kind of wire. 632 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,880 Speaker 1: Electricity is passing through the strip to the filament, But 633 00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:58,160 Speaker 1: then the filament starts to heat up, and when it 634 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:00,760 Speaker 1: heats up, it causes the strip to start to bend. 635 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:03,240 Speaker 1: Because of that expansion thing I was just talking about. 636 00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:06,240 Speaker 1: The strip bends to a point where it no longer 637 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:09,920 Speaker 1: makes contact with the filament, and since the electricity was 638 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:13,520 Speaker 1: flowing through the strip, it means the electrical path is broken, 639 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:16,120 Speaker 1: right because there's no more contact between the strip and 640 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:19,279 Speaker 1: the filament, no more electricity goes to the filament, and 641 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:23,000 Speaker 1: so the light blinks out. Further, This bulb, called a 642 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:26,600 Speaker 1: blinker bulb, doesn't have a shunt in it, so when 643 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 1: it goes out, all the other lights in that series 644 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:32,160 Speaker 1: blink out at the same time. Then the bimetallic strip 645 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:35,520 Speaker 1: begins to cool down because the filament is no longer glowing, 646 00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:38,040 Speaker 1: so it's no longer putting off heat. And as it 647 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:40,520 Speaker 1: begins to cool down, it straightens out again. And when 648 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,560 Speaker 1: it straightens out, it makes contact with the filament, which 649 00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:46,879 Speaker 1: causes the circuit to re establish and the lights come 650 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:50,120 Speaker 1: on again. This process repeats itself over and over until 651 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:52,520 Speaker 1: the blinker bulb finally burns out and you have to 652 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:55,400 Speaker 1: replace the darn thing. Now, I love this approach because 653 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:58,680 Speaker 1: it's a low tech, practical way to create blinking lights, 654 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:01,600 Speaker 1: and it even includes a little mechanical element in the 655 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:07,399 Speaker 1: form of those bending strips. I think it's pun intended brilliant. Now, 656 00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:10,920 Speaker 1: the other way to make blinking lights is also brilliant, 657 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,160 Speaker 1: but it's a bit more sophisticated. There are strings of 658 00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:18,600 Speaker 1: lights that come with sixteen function controllers. These controllers have 659 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:22,400 Speaker 1: four transistors, each of which drives a separate strand of lights, 660 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:25,960 Speaker 1: so the full string of lights is made up of 661 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:30,760 Speaker 1: four strands of lights. Further, these lights on these these 662 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:35,200 Speaker 1: full strands are in an interleaving pattern, meaning that you 663 00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:37,880 Speaker 1: don't just get all the lights in one strand followed 664 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:40,080 Speaker 1: by all the lights in the second strand and so on. 665 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:44,680 Speaker 1: The string would interleave these strands, so you could have 666 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:48,520 Speaker 1: something like light one from Strand one, light one from 667 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:52,319 Speaker 1: strand to, light one from Strand three, light one from 668 00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:55,839 Speaker 1: Strand four, light two from Strand one, and so on. 669 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,640 Speaker 1: And that way you can apply different effects to each 670 00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,919 Speaker 1: strand in the full string, and you could get really 671 00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:04,759 Speaker 1: interesting results. Otherwise you might end up with a tree 672 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:07,560 Speaker 1: in which the first fifty lights are blinking, the next 673 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:10,160 Speaker 1: fifty lights are fading in and out, the next fifty 674 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:13,359 Speaker 1: are twinkling, etcetera. So by doing it this way, you 675 00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:16,520 Speaker 1: can have that effects spread out throughout the entire string 676 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,120 Speaker 1: of lights, and you get a more interesting, varied effect. 677 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:23,880 Speaker 1: More recently, we've seen LED lights start to replace the 678 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:28,000 Speaker 1: old incandescent many lights. The incandescent bulbs work by feeding 679 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:30,719 Speaker 1: electricity through a filament which heats up and gives off light, 680 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,920 Speaker 1: but LED lights generate light in a totally different way. 681 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:37,160 Speaker 1: L E D s have electrons moving through a semiconductor material. 682 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:40,480 Speaker 1: Now I've talked about this in past episodes, and frankly, 683 00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:42,480 Speaker 1: I'm running out of time in this episode, so I 684 00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:44,480 Speaker 1: don't feel like I can really go into a lot 685 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:47,320 Speaker 1: of detail here about how it works, but from a 686 00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:50,319 Speaker 1: sub atomic level, here's what's going on. You've got an 687 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:53,880 Speaker 1: electron inhabiting a certain energy shell around the nucleus of 688 00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:56,799 Speaker 1: an atom. You pour some energy into that atom that 689 00:39:56,920 --> 00:39:59,839 Speaker 1: causes the electron to jump to a higher energy shell 690 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:02,960 Speaker 1: a little further out from the atoms nucleus. But then 691 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:05,360 Speaker 1: you cut off the energy that's going into the atom, 692 00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:08,000 Speaker 1: and the electrons natural state is to be closer to 693 00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:10,319 Speaker 1: the nucleus. But in order to move back to where 694 00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:12,600 Speaker 1: it's supposed to be at first has to give off 695 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:16,120 Speaker 1: that excess energy, which it does so by emitting the 696 00:40:16,239 --> 00:40:19,200 Speaker 1: energy in the form of photons or light, and they 697 00:40:19,239 --> 00:40:23,040 Speaker 1: do it in very specific frequencies, so with different semiconductors 698 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:26,120 Speaker 1: you can produce different colors of light. One nice thing 699 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:28,439 Speaker 1: about L E d s is that when an LED 700 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:32,439 Speaker 1: light fails, which typically takes a long time, LED lights 701 00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:36,239 Speaker 1: tend to last much longer than incandescent lights. Anyway, the 702 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:38,680 Speaker 1: failed L E ED can still serve as a pathway 703 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:41,880 Speaker 1: for electricity to flow through, so the other lights on 704 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:44,960 Speaker 1: the string will continue to stay lit. It's more or 705 00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:47,800 Speaker 1: less that like the L E ED is is in itself, 706 00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:52,200 Speaker 1: acting like a shunt. Led lights, just like other Christmas lights, 707 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:54,840 Speaker 1: tend to be wired in series, and you have multiple 708 00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:57,560 Speaker 1: series of lights wired in parallel on a single string. 709 00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:00,640 Speaker 1: And another great thing about LED lights is that they 710 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:04,440 Speaker 1: typically require way less energy to run, so you can 711 00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:07,080 Speaker 1: run them longer and for less money in the long 712 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:10,319 Speaker 1: run than you can with classic incandescent bulbs. They tend 713 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:14,319 Speaker 1: to be more expensive than incandescent bulb lights are on 714 00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:17,080 Speaker 1: initial purchase, but in the long run you actually save 715 00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:19,480 Speaker 1: money by using those, and you save a lot of energy. 716 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:22,480 Speaker 1: So highly recommended h and one type of bulb I 717 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:25,239 Speaker 1: didn't mention, I skipped over it, but this was a 718 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:28,880 Speaker 1: favorite of mine when I was growing up are bubble lights, 719 00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:31,399 Speaker 1: which made a comeback not too long ago, but these 720 00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:34,200 Speaker 1: were like common when I was a kid. These lights 721 00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,640 Speaker 1: have a fluid with a relatively low boiling point, and 722 00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:40,720 Speaker 1: it's inside of a glass tube and at the base 723 00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:43,360 Speaker 1: of the tube is an incandescent bulb. So when the 724 00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:46,040 Speaker 1: bulb lights up, it gives off heat. Then eventually that 725 00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:49,200 Speaker 1: heat reaches the temperature sufficient to bring the liquid inside 726 00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:53,000 Speaker 1: the tube to a boil, which produces bubbles inside the tube. 727 00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:56,279 Speaker 1: Now we had these on our Christmas trees when I 728 00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:59,200 Speaker 1: was a kid, and I thought they were super awesome. 729 00:41:59,719 --> 00:42:02,719 Speaker 1: The early versions of these lights used a very lightweight 730 00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:06,200 Speaker 1: oil as the liquid, but more modern versions tend to 731 00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:10,000 Speaker 1: rely upon die chlora methane, which has a boiling point 732 00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:13,360 Speaker 1: of thirty nine point six degrees celsius or a hundred 733 00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:17,279 Speaker 1: three point three degrees fahrenheit. Oh And on the other 734 00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:20,239 Speaker 1: end of the spectrum are the projector systems being used 735 00:42:20,239 --> 00:42:22,839 Speaker 1: to create all sorts of effects on house exteriors, like 736 00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:28,320 Speaker 1: snowfall or I don't know, an ELF strike team descending 737 00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:31,880 Speaker 1: on a house. These projectors typically use LEDs to generate 738 00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:35,319 Speaker 1: lasers to create the light needed for the projection. The 739 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:39,400 Speaker 1: light passes through lenses that magnify whatever images are being 740 00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:42,840 Speaker 1: displayed and then shoots them up so that they appear 741 00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:45,600 Speaker 1: on the side of a house. And lasers are pretty nifty. 742 00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:48,920 Speaker 1: They're also super technical, and I've talked about them another episodes, 743 00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:51,919 Speaker 1: so I won't go into detail here, but I wanted 744 00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:54,359 Speaker 1: to mention them because it's another high tech gadget being 745 00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:57,759 Speaker 1: used in holiday decorations these days. Also, um, if you 746 00:42:57,800 --> 00:42:59,760 Speaker 1: have one of these things, make sure that it's pointed 747 00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:03,360 Speaker 1: at your house and not the sky, because lasers have 748 00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:06,080 Speaker 1: been known to cause problems for pilots because that light 749 00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:09,200 Speaker 1: can be seriously powerful, so you know, just be responsible. 750 00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:12,640 Speaker 1: There are other lights I can mention. They're like micro 751 00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:16,399 Speaker 1: lights and mesh lights and icicle lights, but essentially all 752 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:19,239 Speaker 1: of these are variations upon the stuff I've already talked 753 00:43:19,239 --> 00:43:22,200 Speaker 1: about in this episode. And then there are the Christmas 754 00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:25,760 Speaker 1: light displays that synchronize the lights with the soundtrack using 755 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:29,279 Speaker 1: various micro controllers and sequencers. And maybe I'll do a 756 00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:31,360 Speaker 1: full episode about that kind of stuff in the future, 757 00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:35,120 Speaker 1: but for now, I say it's time for lights out. 758 00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:39,160 Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed that episode from two thousand nineteen 759 00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:41,359 Speaker 1: on lighting up the Holidays. I hope that your own 760 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:45,560 Speaker 1: holidays have been happy, healthy and safe. I hope you're 761 00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:48,440 Speaker 1: staying warm wherever you are, unless you're in Australia, in 762 00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:51,640 Speaker 1: which case I hope you're staying cool. And I look 763 00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:54,759 Speaker 1: forward to chatting with you again tomorrow. I should be 764 00:43:54,800 --> 00:43:58,360 Speaker 1: back with more episodes about the big tech news stories 765 00:43:58,680 --> 00:44:01,839 Speaker 1: of two because gosh darn it, there were just so 766 00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:05,359 Speaker 1: many this past year. And let me know what else 767 00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:08,440 Speaker 1: you would like me to chat about in three by 768 00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:10,799 Speaker 1: reaching out on Twitter. The handle for the show is 769 00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:14,279 Speaker 1: tech Stuff h s W. Or you can download the 770 00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:17,319 Speaker 1: i Heart Radio app for free and navigate on over 771 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:19,880 Speaker 1: to tech Stuff using that little search field and use 772 00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:22,520 Speaker 1: the little microphone icon to leave me a voice message 773 00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:25,160 Speaker 1: up to thirty seconds in length and tell me there 774 00:44:25,520 --> 00:44:28,879 Speaker 1: and until then, I'll talk to you again really soon. 775 00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:36,839 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an I heart Radio production. For more 776 00:44:36,920 --> 00:44:40,320 Speaker 1: podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 777 00:44:40,440 --> 00:44:43,600 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows