A blazing, blinding holiday tradition Christmas lights date back
hundreds of years, but only in recent times have we turned them
into a blindingly bright holiday tradition. Bethany: Is your
house on fire, Clark? Clark: No, Aunt Bethany, those are the
Christmas lights. — From “Christmas Vacation,” Warner Bros.
Pictures, 1989 For more information: Aside from Black Friday
sale papers, nothing trumpets the holidays' approach as
ubiquitously as Christmas lights. Incandescents and LEDs —
shaped like icicles, stars, pearls, bulbs, bells and candles —
begin going up in November. They wrap around streetlights, drape
over bushes, border holiday banners and blanket trees of every
sort. Those are institutional lights, installed at the behest of
downtown merchants, Chambers of Commerce and neighborhood
associations. Once Thanksgiving passes, the rest of America gets
involved, stringing up lights inside their homes and on their
roofs. Christmas trees rise, some prefabricated and pre-lit.
Real trees — Douglas firs, Blue Spr