The End of the Christmas Candle
Electric lighting emerged in 1915 as a revolutionary safety solution to the annual tragedy of candle-lit trees burning down homes.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Nearly every 26th day of December, we read in the morning papers the pathetic stories of Christmas play that ends in tragedy. It is the annual toll of the Christmas tree candle. Every city has dozens of such cases each year. The candle flame sets fire to the tinsel trimming, a curtain blazes up, and the day of festivity ends in sorrow or some member of the family is badly burned. The little electric tree lights are decorative and pleasing to children, and they are safe and convenient. Tiny lamps, fruits, roses, dogs, birds, snowmen and grotesque little figures are all strung together on fine, silk covered wire and may be readily connected to any lamp socket behind the tree. The little lamps sparkle and glow. They are the most effective Christmas tree ornaments ever devised, and there is far more fun for the kiddies, because the lamps can burn as long as they are wanted. They do not have to be watched, and the little lamps can be used year after year.
“The candle flame sets fire to the tinsel trimming, a curtain blazes up, and the day of festivity ends in sorrow.”
In 1915, electric lights were a high-tech solution to a very common domestic terror—house fires caused by open flames. Today, Kennewick homes are safer from open-flame trees, but the focus on home electrical safety remains a perennial winter concern.
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