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| First outdoor Christmas tree in the San Diego area with electric lights appeared in 1904 outside the Hotel Del Coronado Image: San Diego Historical Society |
In 1904, the
Hotel del Coronado – already considered a technological marvel – made history
when it unveiled the world’s first electrically-lighted, outdoor, living
Christmas tree. To accomplish this feat, electric lights (probably made on
site) were strung from the hotel (at that time one of the largest buildings in
America to have electricity) to a nearby Norfolk Island Pine.
Although
indoor Christmas trees had become popularized in America by this time, electric
Christmas lights were all but unheard of (candles were still commonplace), and
no one had thought to light an outdoor tree.
Other areas
didn’t follow suit until later, when the trend seemed to travel from the West
Coast to the East Coast as a civic effort: Pasadena in 1909; New York and
Boston in 1912; and Philadelphia in 1913.
The Del’s
original 1904 Christmas tree, which was planted in 1888 (the year the hotel was
built) was modest in size - a reported 50 feet tall. Today it is a stately 140
feet. Still, the idea of an outside Christmas tree – with lights! – captivated
all who saw it.
The 1904
Christmas Tree
In a San
Diego Union article published on Christmas day that year, the writer was poetic
in her appreciation:
A Christmas tree in the open air! A
Christmas tree in which birds found shelter for the night; a Christmas tree
through which the sea breeze swept. A living, growing tree with its roots
embracing Mother Earth and its great branches reaching toward the stars.
The specific process of outfitting
the tree (whose branches “stand proudly forth”) with lights was detailed:
All day yesterday electricians were
busy fitting it up and by night 250 lights of many colors gave beauty to the
fine old pine. Lanterns, great and small, hung from its boughs.
The reporter
continued to pay tribute to this wondrous sight:
All evening long, the radiant tree
was the object of admiration. All evening long, two barefooted children, a boy
and a girl, stood… and gazed upon the beaming tree. The little girl held her
brother’s hand close within her own. They spoke scarcely a word. The imprint of
their little feet is even yet visible in the rain-softened earth.
When the rain began to come down
faster and faster, the children, casting a last long look upon the beauty of
the night, sped away home to tell of the wonderful Christmas tree. Little wonder
that all the children marveled, for their elders did the same, and now that the
open-air Christmas tree has been introduced, it is likely that another
Christmas eve will find many California gardens aglow with light scattered from
living foliage.
According to
the newspaper, the tree was lighted every night from 7 – 10 p.m., starting on
Christmas Eve and continuing through December 31st. This, in itself, was
impressive given the fact that indoor Christmas trees were usually only
illuminated two or three times during the entire holiday season and only for
very short periods of time (candle flames had to be watched closely, with
buckets of sand and water always nearby). Apparently, the public’s fascination
with The Del’s Christmas tree was responsible for the tree’s extended
performance. From the December 28, 1904 San Diego Union:
So much
interest [was aroused] in the outdoor Christmas tree with its many electric
decorations as to have it illuminated each evening for the rest of the year.
As a
footnote, the newspaper added that “several professional photographers were
over last night.”
A Brief
History of the Tree:
1909: “A
large tree ablaze with lights and glittering ornaments.”
1913: “This
year it will be lighted with colored electric lights. Every year the tree is a
trifle taller and consequently each year the wiring has to be a little longer.
A large star or light will grace the top of the tree while hundreds of small
lights will gleam from its many branches.”
1920: “For
many years, the immense tree, roped with numberless electric light globes of
red, blue, green and yellow, has been lighted Christmas eve, the great star in
electric globes at the topmost point sending out the joyful greetings of
Yuletide blessings. The tree will remain lighted every evening until after the
New Year and can be seen for many miles around.”
1954 (the
50th anniversary celebration): “The tree now towers at 62 feet.”
And, in
1912, Coronado’s Strand newspaper reported:
‘The
Out-of-Door Christmas Tree’ will shed its multi-colored rays each night
throughout the Christmas season. The tree is a work of electrical art, and the
idea is original at Coronado.
Tree-lighting
continued at The Del for many years, except during World War II when blackout
laws were in effect. The long-running tradition was discontinued entirely
during the energy crisis of the 1970s, ultimately replaced with the lighting of
a magnificent lobby tree (a Ballroom Christmas tree also dates back to The
Del’s earliest days).
American
Christmas Tree History
Early 1880s:
Christmas trees were such a rarity that they were sometimes put on display with
tickets sold to view them (often as a church fundraiser).
Late 1800s:
* In Germany
(where Christmas trees originated) and England (where Christmas trees proliferated),
trees tended to be tabletop size. Americans popularized the idea of room-size
Christmas trees.
* A
Victorian rule of thumb recommended thirty candles for every foot of tree;
Christmas “lanterns” were also available as were miniature oil lamps.
* Christmas
trees were usually put up on Christmas Eve, after children were asleep
(children were brought up to believe that parents supplied the decorations, but
Santa provided the tree and did all the work himself).
c. 1880: The
first Christmas tree stands were patented.
1882:
Electric Christmas lights were invented by Edward Johnson, a partner of Thomas
Edison. Johnson, who resided in New York in the first square mile of the first
city to have electricity, illuminated his own tree that year.
1889:
President Benjamin Harrison, who visited the Hotel del Coronado in 1891, had
the first White House Christmas tree in the Oval Office.
1892: The
first electrically-lighted Christmas tree was featured at the White House
during President Cleveland’s tenure.
1900: Only
one-fifth of American families had their own Christmas trees (although there
were oftentimes community trees to enjoy).
1901: Even
so, Christmas trees had grown in popularity to the point that President
Theodore Roosevelt worried about the country’s ability to maintain its forests.
As a result, conservation-minded Roosevelt refused to have a Christmas tree in
the White House (reportedly his son kept one in a closet that year). By 1902,
Christmas tree farms had come into existence, and Roosevelt was willing to
resume the White House Christmas tree tradition.
1901:
General Electric printed an instruction booklet on how to hand-wire Christmas
tree lights.
1903: The
first mass-produced Christmas tree lights became available.
1920s: In
this country, electric Christmas tree lights all but replaced the use of
Christmas tree candles.
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