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Kitten
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A stray kitten in Rizal Park, Manila
A kitten, also known as a kitty or kitty cat, is a juvenile cat. After being born, kittens are totally dependent on their mother for survival and they do not normally open their eyes until after seven to ten days. After about two weeks, kittens quickly develop and begin to explore the world outside the nest. After a further three to four weeks, they begin to eat solid food and grow adult teeth. Domestic kittens are highly social animals and enjoy human companionship.
Contents
[hide]
1 Etymology and development
2 Health
3 Nutrition
3.1 Pre-weaning nutrition
3.1.1 Establishing immunity
3.2 Post-weaning nutrition
3.2.1 Fat
3.2.2 Protein
3.2.3 Carbohydrates
3.3 Diet Composition
3.3.1 Amino Acids
3.3.2 Vitamins
3.3.3 Metabolism aids
3.3.4 Growth and Development
3.3.5 Immunity Boosters
4 Orphaned kittens
5 See also
6 References
7 Sources
7.1 Printed
7.2 Online
8 External links
Etymology and development
The word "kitten" derives from the Middle English word kitoun, which in turn came from the Old French chitoun or cheton.[1] Juvenile big cats are called "cubs" rather than kittens; either term may be used for the young of smaller wild felids, such as ocelots, caracals and lynx, but "kitten" is usually more common for these species.[2]
A litter of kittens being suckled by their mother
A kitten opens its eyes for the first time
A mother cat protecting her kittens at Chinawal, India
A feline litter usually consists of two to five kittens[3] born after a gestation lasting between 64 and 67 days, with an average length of 66 days.[3] Kittens emerge in a sac called the amnion, which is bitten off and eaten by the mother cat.[4]
For the first several weeks, kittens are unable to urinate or defecate without being stimulated by their mother.[5] They are also unable to regulate their body temperature for the first three weeks, so kittens born in temperatures less than 27 °C (81 °F) can die from hypothermia if their mother does not keep them warm.[6] The mother's milk is very important for the kittens' nutrition and proper growth. This milk transfers antibodies to the kittens, which helps protect them against infectious disease.[7] Newborn kittens are unable to produce concentrated urine, and so have a very high requirement for fluids.[8] Kittens open their eyes about seven to ten days after birth. At first, the retina is poorly developed and vision is poor. Kittens are not able to see as well as adult cats until about ten weeks after birth.[9]
Kittens develop very quickly from about two weeks of age until their seventh week. Their coordination and strength improve. They play-fight with their litter-mates and begin to explore the world outside the nest or den. They learn to wash themselves and others as well as play hunting and stalking games, showing their inborn ability as predators. These innate skills are developed by the kittens' mother or other adult cats, who bring live prey to the nest. Later, the adult cats demonstrate hunting techniques for the kittens to emulate.[10] As they reach three to four weeks old, the kittens are gradually weaned and begin to eat solid food, with weaning usually complete by six to eight weeks.[11] Kittens generally begin to lose their baby teeth around three months of age, and have a complete set of adult teeth by nine months.[12] Kittens live primarily on solid food after weaning, but usually continue to suckle from time to time until separated from their mothers. Some mother cats will scatter their kittens as early as three months of age, while others continue to look after them until they approach sexual maturity.[13]
The sex of kittens is usually easy to determine at birth. By six to eight weeks they are harder to sex because of the growth of fur in the genital region. The male's urethral opening is round, whereas the female's urethral opening is a slit. Another marked difference is the distance between anus and urethral opening, which is greater in males than in females.[14]
Kittens are highly social animals and spend most of their waking hours interacting with available animals and playing on their own. Play with other kittens peaks in the third or fourth month after birth, with more solitary hunting and stalking play peaking later, at about five months.[15]
Kittens are vulnerable because they like to find dark places to hide, sometimes with fatal results if they are not watched carefully.[16]
Although domestic kittens are commonly sent to new homes at six to eight weeks of age, it has been suggested that being with their mother and litter-mates from six to twelve weeks is important for a kitten's social and behavioural development.[15] Usually, breeders and foster/rescue homes will not sell or adopt out a kitten that is younger than twelve weeks. In many jurisdictions, it is illegal to give away kittens younger than eight weeks of age.[17] Kittens generally reach sexual maturity at around seven months old. A cat reaches full "adulthood" around one year of age.[18]
Health
Domestic kittens in developed societies are usually vaccinated against common illnesses from two to three months of age. The usual combination vaccination protects against feline viral rhinotracheitis (FVR), feline calicivirus (C), and feline panleukopenia (P). This FVRCP inoculation is usually given at eight, twelve, and sixteen weeks, and an inoculation against rabies may be given at sixteen weeks. Kittens are usually spayed or neutered at seven months of age, but kittens may be neutered as young as seven weeks (if large enough), especially in animal shelters.[19] Such early neutering does not appear to have any long-term health risks to cats, and may even be beneficial in male cats.[20] Kittens are commonly wormed against roundworms from about four weeks.[21]
Nutrition
Felines are carnivores and have adapted to animal-based diets and low carbohydrate inclusion. Kittens are categorized in a growth life stage, and have high energy and protein requirements.[22] When feeding a kitten, it is often recommended to use highly digestible ingredients and various components to aid in development in order to produce a healthy adult.[23] In North America, diets certified by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) are accepted as adequate nutrition, thus kitten diets should be AAFCO approved to ensure full supplementation.[24] Key components of the diet are high fat content to meet caloric requirements of growth, high protein to meet requirements for muscle growth as well as supplementation of certain nutrients such as docosahexaenoic acid to benefit the development of the brain and optimization of cognition.[25]
Pre-weaning nutrition
Establishing immunity
Part of the kittens immune system exists within the gastrointestinal tract called the mucosal immune system. The mucosal immune system is largely responsible for coordinating proper immune responses by tolerating innocuous antigens and attacking foreign pathogens.[26] In order to optimize kitten health and increase chances of survival, it is important to optimize the link between the gut-associated lymphoid tissue and the microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract. Lasting health and longevity can be accomplished partly through proper nutrition[27] and establishing a healthy gut from birth through utilizing colostrum.[28]
Within the first 2 days after parturition, kittens acquire passive immunity from their mother’s milk.[29] Milk within the first few days of parturition is called colostrum, and contains high concentrations of immunoglobulins.[29] These include immunoglobulin A and immunoglobulin G which cross the intestinal barrier of the neonate.[28] The immunoglobulins and growth factors found in the colostrum begin to establish and strengthen the weak immune system of the offspring.[30] Kittens are able to chew solid food around 5-6 weeks after birth, and it is recommended that 30% of their diet should consist of solid food at this time.[31] The kitten remains on the mother’s milk until around eight weeks of age when weaning is complete and a diet of solid food is the primary food source.[22]
Post-weaning nutrition
Fat
Up until approximately one year of age the kitten is undergoing a growth phase where energy requirements are up to 2.5 times higher than maintenance.[32] Pet nutritionists often suggest that a commercial cat food designed specifically for kittens by offered beginning at 4 weeks of age.[27] Fat has a higher caloric value than carbohydrates and protein, supplying 8.5kcal/g.[33]The growing kitten requires arachidonic and linoleic acid which can be provided in omega-3 fatty acids.[22] Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is another vital nutrient that can be supplied through omega 3 fatty acid. Addition of DHA to the diet benefits the cognition, brain and visual development of kittens.[27]
Protein
Cats are naturally carnivores and require high amounts of protein in the diet. Kittens are undergoing growth and require high amounts of protein to provide essential amino acids that enable the growth of tissues and muscles.[29] It is recommended that kittens consume a diet containing approximately 30% protein on a dry matter basis for proper growth.[34]
Taurine is an essential amino acid found only in animal tissues and cannot be produced in sufficient amounts by the cat.[35] As it is an indispensable amino acid, it must be provided exogenously through the diet at 10 mg/kg bodyweight/day.[36] Kittens deprived of taurine can experience poor growth[35] and can result in retinal degeneration in cats.[37]
Carbohydrates
Felines are natural carnivores and do not intentionally consume large quantities of carbohydrates. The domestic cat's liver has adapted to the lack of carbohydrates in the diet by utilizing amino acids to produce glucose to fuel the brain and other tissues.[38] Studies have shown that carbohydrate digestion in young kittens is much less effective than that of a mature feline with a developed gastrointestinal tract.[39] Highly digestible carbohydrates can be found in commercial kitten food as a source of additional energy as well as a source of fiber to stimulate the immature gut tissue. Soluble fibre such as beet pulp is a common ingredient used as a fibrous stool hardener and has been proven to strengthen intestinal muscles and the thicken gut mucosal layer to prevent diarrhea.[40]
Diet Composition
Amino Acids
The lack of readily available glucose from the limited carbohydrates in the diet has resulted to the adaptation of the liver to produce glucose from the breakdown components of protein—amino acids. The enzymes that breakdown amino acids are constantly active in cats and thus, cats need a constant source of protein in their diet.[23] Kittens, require an increased amount of protein to supply readily available amino acids for daily maintenance and for building new body components seeing as they are constantly growing.[23] There are many required amino acids for kittens. Histidine is required at no greater than 30% in kitten diets since consuming histidine-free diets causes weight loss.[24]Tryptophan is required at 0.15% seeing as it maximized performance at this level.[24] Kittens also need the following amino acids supplemented in their diet: arginine to avoid an excess of ammonia in the blood otherwise known as hyperammonemia, isoleucine, leucine, valine, lysine, methionine as a sulfur containing amino acid, asparagine for maximal growth in the early post-weaning kitten, threonine and taurine to prevent from central retinal degeneration.[24]
Vitamins
Fat-Soluble Vitamins
Vitamin A is required in kitten diets because cats cannot convert carotenes to retinol in the intestinal mucosa because they lack the enzyme so this vitamin must be supplement in the diet.[23][41]. Vitamin E is another required vitamin in kitten diets seeing as deficiency leads to steatitis, causing the depot fat to become firm and yellow-orange in colour, which is painful and leads to death.[41] Also, Vitamin D is an essential vitamin because cats cannot convert it from precursors in the skin.[23]
Water-Soluble Vitamins
Cats can synthesize niacin, but their breakdown exceeds the rate that it can be synthesized and thus, have a higher need for it, which can be fulfilled through an animal-based diet.[23] Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) is required in increased amounts seeing as it is needed to produce amino acids.[23] To continue, vitamin B12 is an AAFCO recommended vitamin essential in the metabolism of carbohydrates and protein and maintains a healthy nervous system, healthy mucous membranes, healthy muscle and heart function and in general, promotes normal growth and development.[41] Choline is also a AAFCO recommended ingredient for kittens, which is important for neurotransmission in the brain and as a component of membrane phospholipids.[23] Biotin is another AAFCO recommended vitamin to support thyroid and adrenal glands and the reproductive and nervous systems.[23] Kittens also require riboflavin (vitamin B2) for heart health, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), and folacin.[41]
Metabolism aids
Since kitten diets are very high in calories, ingredients must be implemented to ensure adequate digestion and utilization of these calories. Choline chloride is an ingredient that maintains fat metabolism.[41] Biotin and niacin are also active in the metabolism of fats, carbs and protein.[41] Riboflavin is also necessary for the digestion of fats and carbohydrates.[41] These are the main metabolism aids incorporated into kitten diets to ensure nutrient usage is maximized.
Growth and Development
A combination of required nutrients is used to satisfy the overall growth and development of the kitten body, there are many ingredients that kittens do not require, but are included in diet formulation to encourage healthy growth and development. These ingredients include: dried egg as source of high quality protein and fatty acids, flaxseed as source of flaxseed oil which is rich in omega 3 fatty acid and aids in digestion, calcium carbonate as a source of calcium, and calcium pantothenate (vitamin B5) acts as a coenzyme in the conversion of amino acids and is important for healthy skin.[41]
Immunity Boosters
Antioxidants help support the development of a healthy immune system through inhibiting the oxidation of other molecules, which are essential for a growing kitten.[23] Antioxidants can be derived from ingredients, such as: carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, vitamin E and vitamin E supplement, and zinc proteinate.
Orphaned kittens
A young orphaned black kitten in Los Angeles, showing signs of malnourishment
Kittens require a high-calorie diet that contains more protein than the diet of adult cats.[42] Young orphaned kittens require cat milk every two to four hours, and they need physical stimulation to defecate and urinate.[5] Cat milk replacement is manufactured to feed to young kittens, because cow's milk does not provide all the necessary nutrients.[43] Human-reared kittens tend to be very affectionate with humans as adults and sometimes more dependent on them than kittens reared by their mothers, but they can also show volatile mood swings and aggression.[44] Depending on the age at which they were orphaned and how long they were without their mothers, these kittens may be severely underweight and can have health problems later in life, such as heart conditions. The compromised immune system of orphaned kittens (from lack of antibodies found naturally in the mother's milk) can make them especially susceptible to infections, making antibiotics a necessity.[45]
See also
Cats portal
Felis
Puppy
References
Jump up ^ Oxford Dictionary 2005.
Jump up ^ Sunquist & Sunquist 2014, pp. 58–59.
^ Jump up to: a b Tsutsui & Stabenfeldt 1993, p. 1699.
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^ Jump up to: a b Pet Education 2011.
Jump up ^ International Cat Care 2015.
Jump up ^ Casal, Jezyk & Giger 1996, p. 1653.
Jump up ^ Sturgess & Hurley 2005, p. 243.
Jump up ^ Tootle & Friedlander 1989, p. 1325.
Jump up ^ Poirier & Hussey 1982, pp. 133–148.
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Jump up ^ Veterinary Medicine 2013.
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Jump up ^ Walls 1991, p. 22.
^ Jump up to: a b Crowell-Davis 2005, p. 18.
Jump up ^ Cats have a habit of seeking refuge under or inside cars or on top of car tires during stormy or cold weather. This often leads to broken bones, burns, heat stroke, damaged internal organs or death. Daphne Sashin, Five Risky Hiding Places For Cats. WebMD, September 14, 2010.
Jump up ^ Sunquist & Sunquist 2014, p. 111.
Jump up ^ Santa Maria Times 2013.
Jump up ^ Olson, Kustritz & Johnston 2001, pp. 223–232.
Jump up ^ Spain, Scarlett & Houpt 2004, pp. 372–379.
Jump up ^ McHattie 1993, p. 121.
^ Jump up to: a b c Sheridan, L. (2014). Kitten Nutrition. Veterinary Nursing Journal, 27(6), 232-241.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Sheridan, Libby (2012). "Kitten nutrition". Veterinary Nursing. 27 (6): 232–241.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Anderson, P; Baker, D; Sherry, P; Corbin, J (1980). "Histidine, phenylalanine-tyrosine and tryptophan requirements for growth of the young kitten". Journal of Animal Science. 50 (3): 479–483. doi:10.2527/jas1980.503479x.
Jump up ^ Greco 2014, p. 265.
Jump up ^ Kabat, A. M., Pott, J., & Maloy, K. J. (2016). The mucosal immune system and its regulation by autophagy. Frontiers in immunology, 7.
^ Jump up to: a b c Case, L. P., Daristotle, L., Hayek, M. G., Raasch , M. F. (2011) Nutritional care of neonatal puppied and kittens. Canine and Feline Nutrition, 21, 209-219.
^ Jump up to: a b Chastant‐Maillard, S., Aggouni, C., Albaret, A., Fournier, A., & Mila, H. (2017). Canine and feline colostrum. Reproduction in Domestic Animals, 52(S2), 148-152.
^ Jump up to: a b c Case, Linda; Leighann, Daristotle; Hayek, Michael; Foess Raasch, Melody (2011). Canine and Feline Nutrition: A Resource for Companion Animal Professionals. Elsevier. p. 210.
Jump up ^ Greco, D. S. (2014). Pediatric Nutrition. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, 44(2), 265-273.
Jump up ^ Little, S. (2013) Successful management of orphaned kittens. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 15, 201-210.
Jump up ^ Hand, M. S. L., & Lon, D. (2000). Small animal clinical nutrition (No. SF 992. N88. L49 2000).
Jump up ^ The heats of combustion for glucose, sucrose, and starch are 15.57, 16.48 and 17.48 kJ/g respectively, or 3.72, 3.94 and 4.18 kcal/g.
Jump up ^ Rogers, Q. R., & Morris, J. G. (1979). Essentiality of amino acids for the growing kitten. The Journal of nutrition, 109(4), 718-723.
^ Jump up to: a b Sturman, J. A., Moretz, R. C., French, J. H., & Wisniewski, H. M. (1985). Postnatal taurine deficiency in the kitten results in a persistence of the cerebellar external granule cell layer: correction by taurine feeding. Journal of neuroscience research, 13(4), 521-528.
Jump up ^ Burger, I. H., & Barnett, K. C. (1982). The taurine requirement of the adult cat. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 23(9), 533-537.
Jump up ^ Markwell, P. J., & Earle, K. E. (1995). Taurine: an essential nutrient for the cat. A brief review of the biochemistry of its requirement and the clinical consequences of deficiency. Nutrition research, 15(1), 53-58.
Jump up ^ Schermerhorn, T. (2013). Normal glucose metabolism in carnivores overlaps with diabetes pathology in non-carnivores. Frontiers in endocrinology, 4.
Jump up ^ Harper, E. J., & Turner, C. L. (2000). Age-related changes in apparent digestibility in growing kittens. Reproduction Nutrition Development, 40(3), 249-260
Jump up ^ Fukunaga, T., Sasaki, M., Araki, Y., Okamoto, T., Yasuoka, T., Tsujikawa, T., ... & Bamba, T. (2003). Effects of the soluble fibre pectin on intestinal cell proliferation, fecal short chain fatty acid production and microbial population. Digestion, 67(1-2), 42-49.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h MacDonald, M; Rogers, Q (1984). "Nutrition of the domestic cat, a mammalian carnivore". Annual Review of Nutrition. 4: 521–562.
Jump up ^ Rogers & Morris 1979, pp. 718–723.
Jump up ^ Guilford 1994, pp. 2663–2669.
Jump up ^ Heath 2005, p. 102.
Jump up ^ Messonnier 2010, p. 375.
Sources
Printed
Bönisch, Susanne (1996). Natural Healing for Cats. Sterling Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8069-8122-2.
Casal, Margret; Jezyk, Peter; Giger, Urs (1996). Transfer of Colostral Antibodies From Queens to Their Kittens. American Journal of Veterinary Research. PMID 8915447.
Crowell-Davis, Sharon (2005). Cat Behaviour: Social Organization, Communication and Development. Rochlitz. doi:10.1007/1-4020-3227-7_1.
Guilford, Grant (1994). Nutritional Management of Gastrointestinal Tract Diseases of Dogs and Cats. Journal of Nutrition. PMID 7996263.
Heath, Sarah (2005). Behaviour Problems and Welfare. Rochlitz. doi:10.1007/1-4020-3227-7_4.
McHattie, Grace (1993). That's Cats! A Compendium of Feline Facts. David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-0126-5.
Messonnier, Shawn (2010). Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats: Your A-Z Guide to Over 200 Conditions, Herbs, Vitamins, and Supplements. Crown/Archetype Publishing. ISBN 978-0-307-55860-2.
Olson, Patricia; Kustritz, Margaret; Johnston, Shirley (2001). Early-age Neutering of Dogs and Cats in the United States. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility Supplement. PMID 11787153.
Poirier, Frank; Hussey, Kaye (1982). Nonhuman Primate Learning: The Importance of Learning from an Evolutionary Perspective. Anthropology & Education Quarterly. JSTOR 3216627.
Rogers, Quinton; Morris, James (1979). Essentiality of Amino Acids for the Growing Kitten. Journal of Nutrition. PMID 430271.
Spain, Victor; Scarlett, Janet; Houpt, Katherine (2004). Long-term Risks and Benefits of Early-age Gonadectomy in Cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. doi:10.2460/javma.2004.224.372.
Sturgess, Kit; Hurley, Karyl (2005). Nutrition and Welfare. Rochlitz. doi:10.1007/1-4020-3227-7_9.
Sunquist, Fiona; Sunquist, Mel (2014). The Wild Cat Book: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cats. Chicago University. ISBN 978-0-226-14576-1.
Tootle, John; Friedlander, Michael (1989). Postnatal Development of the Spatial Contrast Sensitivity of X- and Y-cells in the Kittens Retinogeniculate Pathway. Journal of Neuroscience. PMID 2703879.
Tsutsui, Toshihiko; Stabenfeldt, George (1993). Biology of Ovarian Cycles, Pregnancy and Pseudo Pregnancy in the Domestic Cat. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility Supplement. PMID 8229938.
Vandivert, Rita (1975). Understanding Animals as Pets. Illustrated Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7232-6118-6.
Walls, Jerry (1991). Kittens as a New Pet. TFH Publications. ISBN 978-0-86622-614-1.
Greco, D.S. (2014). Pediatric Nutrition. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice. ISBN 978-0-32337-185-8.

Online
"How to Raise Orphaned Kittens". Pet Education. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
"Kittens Deaths ('Fading Kittens')". International Cat Care. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
"Kitten". Oxford Dictionary. Retrieved 15 September 2005.
"When Does a Kitten Become a Cat?". Santa Maria Times. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
"When Do Puppies and Kittens Lose Their Baby Teeth?". Veterinary Medicine. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
External links
Media related to Kitten at Wikimedia Commons
How to choose your pet and take care of it at Wikibooks
The dictionary definition of kitten at Wiktionary
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Christmas lights
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the decoration. For the Coldplay song, see Christmas Lights (song). For the British TV special, see Christmas Lights (film).
Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree with lights in London, England
Christmas lights (also known as fairy lights) are lights used for decoration in celebration of Christmas, often on display throughout the Christmas season including Advent and Christmastide. The custom goes back to when Christmas trees were decorated with candles, which symbolized Christ being the light of the world;[1] these were brought by Christians into their homes in early modern Germany.[2][3]
Christmas trees displayed publicly and illuminated with electric lights became popular in the early 20th century. By the mid-20th century, it became customary to display strings of electric lights as along streets and on buildings; Christmas decorations detached from the Christmas tree itself. In the United States, it became popular to outline private homes with such Christmas lights in tract housing beginning in the 1960s. By the late 20th century, the custom had also been adopted in other nations, including outside the Western world, notably in Japan and Hong Kong. Throughout Christendom, Christmas lights continue to retain their symbolism of Jesus as the light of the world.[4][1]
In many countries, Christmas lights, as well as other Christmas decorations, are traditionally erected on or around the first day of Advent.[5][6] In the Western Christian world, the two traditional days when Christmas lights are removed are Twelfth Night and Candlemas, the latter of which ends the Christmas-Epiphany season in some denominations.[7] Leaving the decorations up beyond Candlemas is historically considered to be inauspicious.[8]
Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 Technology
3 Outdoor displays
3.1 Public venues
3.2 Neighborhoods
4 Other holidays
5 Environment, recycling, and safety
6 Light sculptures
6.1 Examples
7 See also
8 Notes
9 External links
History[edit]
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York City
Decorations, wreaths and lights adorn the Perth Post Office in Perth, Australia
The Christmas tree was adopted in upper-class homes in 18th-century Germany, where it was occasionally decorated with candles, which at the time was a comparatively expensive light source. Candles for the tree were glued with melted wax to a tree branch or attached by pins. Around 1890, candleholders were first used for Christmas candles. Between 1902 and 1914, small lanterns and glass balls to hold the candles started to be used. Early electric Christmas lights were introduced with electrification, beginning in the 1880s.
The illuminated Christmas tree became established in the United Kingdom during Queen Victoria's reign, and through emigration spread to North America and Australia. In her journal for Christmas Eve 1832, the delighted 13-year-old princess wrote, "After dinner.. we then went into the drawing-room near the dining-room. There were two large round tables on which were placed two trees hung with lights and sugar ornaments. All the presents being placed round the trees".[9] Until the availability of inexpensive electrical power in the early twentieth century, miniature candles were commonly (and in some cultures still are) used.
In the United Kingdom, electrically powered Christmas lights are generally known as fairy lights. In 1881, the Savoy Theatre, London was the first building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity.[10] Sir Joseph Swan, pioneer of the incandescent light bulb, supplied about 1,200 Swan incandescent lamps, and a year later, the Savoy owner Richard D'Oyly Carte equipped the principal fairies with miniature lighting supplied by the Swan United Electric Lamp Company, for the opening night of the Gilbert and Sullivan opera Iolanthe on 25 November 1882.[11] The term 'fairy lights', describing 'a small coloured light used in illuminations' had already entered English:[12] its usage for a string of electrically powered Christmas lights has been common in the UK ever since.[13]
The first known electrically illuminated Christmas tree was the creation of Edward H. Johnson, an associate of inventor Thomas Edison. While he was vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company, a predecessor of today's Con Edison electric utility, he had Christmas tree light bulbs especially made for him. He proudly displayed his Christmas tree, which was hand-wired with 80 red, white and blue electric incandescent light bulbs the size of walnuts, on December 22, 1882 at his home on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Local newspapers ignored the story, seeing it as a publicity stunt. However, it was published by a Detroit newspaper reporter, and Johnson has become widely regarded as the Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights. By 1900, businesses started stringing up Christmas lights behind their windows.[14] Christmas lights were too expensive for the average person; as such, electric Christmas lights did not become the majority replacement for candles until 1930.[15]
In 1895, U.S. President Grover Cleveland proudly sponsored the first electrically lit Christmas tree in the White House. It was a huge specimen, featuring more than a hundred multicolored lights. The first commercially produced Christmas tree lamps were manufactured in strings of multiples of eight sockets by the General Electric Co. of Harrison, New Jersey. Each socket took a miniature two-candela carbon-filament lamp.
From that point on, electrically illuminated Christmas trees, but only indoors, grew with mounting enthusiasm in the United States and elsewhere. San Diego in 1904, Appleton, Wisconsin in 1909, and New York City in 1912 were the first recorded instances of the use of Christmas lights outside.[15] McAdenville, North Carolina claims to have been the first in 1956.[16] The Library of Congress credits the town for inventing "the tradition of decorating evergreen trees with Christmas lights dates back to 1956 when the McAdenville Men's Club conceived of the idea of decorating a few trees around the McAdenville Community Center."[17] However, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has had "lights" since 1931, but did not have real electric lights until 1956.[18] Furthermore, Philadelphia's Christmas Light Show and Disney's Christmas Tree also began in 1956.[19][20] Though General Electric sponsored community lighting competitions during the 1920s, it would take until the mid-1950s for the use of such lights to be adopted by average households.
Over a period of time,[clarification needed] strings of Christmas lights found their way into use in places other than Christmas trees. Soon, strings of lights adorned mantles and doorways inside homes, and ran along the rafters, roof lines, and porch railings of homes and businesses. In recent times, many city skyscrapers are decorated with long mostly-vertical strings of a common theme, and are activated simultaneously in Grand Illumination ceremonies.
In 1963, a boycott of Christmas lights was done in Greenville, North Carolina to protest the segregation that kept blacks from being employed by downtown businesses in Greenville, during the Christmas sales season. Known as the Black Christmas (boycott) or "Christmas Sacrifice", it was an effective way to protest the cultural and fiscal segregation in the town with 33% black population. Light decorations in the homes, on the Christmas trees, or outside the house were not shown, and only six houses in the black community broke the boycott that Christmas.[21]
In the mid-2000s, the video of the home of Carson Williams was widely distributed on the internet as a viral video. It garnered national attention in 2005 from The Today Show on NBC, Inside Edition and the CBS Evening News and was featured in a Miller television commercial.[22][23] Williams turned his hobby into a commercial venture, and was commissioned to scale up his vision to a scale of 250,000 lights at a Denver shopping center, as well as displays in parks and zoos.
Technology[edit]
Main article: Holiday lighting technology
A set of fluorescent Christmas lights
The Old Harrison County Courthouse in Marshall, Texas outlined in Christmas lights
Schwäbisch Hall
The technology used in Christmas lighting displays is highly diverse, ranging from simple light strands, Christmas lights (a.k.a. Fairy lights), through to full blown animated tableaux, involving complex illuminated animatronics and statues.
Christmas lights (also called twinkle lights, holiday lights, mini lights or fairy lights), that are strands of electric lights used to decorate homes, public/commercial buildings and Christmas trees during the Christmas season are amongst the most recognized form of Christmas lighting. Christmas lights come in a dazzling array of configurations and colors. The small "midget" bulbs commonly known as fairy lights are also called Italian lights in some parts of the U.S., such as Chicago.
The types of lamps used in Christmas lighting also vary considerably, reflecting the diversity of modern lighting technology in general. Common lamp types are incandescent light bulbs and now light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are being increasingly encouraged as being more energy efficient. Less common are neon lamp sets. Fluorescent lamp sets were produced for a limited time by Sylvania in the mid-1940s.[24]
Christmas lights using incandescent bulbs are somewhat notorious for being difficult to troubleshoot and repair. In the 1950s and 1960s, the series circuit connected light sets would go completely dark when a single bulb failed. So in the fairly recent past, the mini-lights have come with shunts to allow a set to continue to operate with a burned out bulb. However, if there are multiple bulb failures or a shunt is bad, the string can still fail. There are two basic ways to troubleshoot this: a one by one replacement with a known good bulb, or by using a test light to find out where the voltage gets interrupted. One example made specifically for Christmas lights is the LightKeeper Pro. For additional information, see the troubleshooting section of the Holiday lighting technology article.
When Christmas light manufacturers first started using LEDs the colors seemed very dull and uninspiring. Even the white lights, which were typically single-chip LEDs, glowed with a faintly yellowish color that made them look cheap and unattractive.[25]
Outdoor displays[edit]
South Coast Plaza Christmas tree
Public venues[edit]
Displays of Christmas lights in public venues and on public buildings are a popular part of the annual celebration of Christmas, and may be set up by businesses or by local governments. The displays utilize Christmas lights in many ways, including decking towering Christmas trees in public squares, street trees and park trees, adorning lampposts and other such structures, decorating significant buildings such as town halls and department stores, and lighting up popular tourist attractions such as the Eiffel Tower and the Sydney Opera House. It is believed that the first outdoor public electric light Christmas Holiday display was organized by Fredrick Nash and the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce in Altadena, California, on Santa Rosa Avenue, called Christmas Tree Lane. Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena has been continuously lit except during WW2 since 1920. Annual displays in Regent Street and Oxford Street, London, date from 1954 and 1959 respectively.
Neighborhoods[edit]
From the 1960s, beginning with tract housing in the U.S., it became increasingly common to completely outline the house (but particularly the eaves) with weatherproof Christmas lights. The Holiday Trail of Lights is a joint effort by cities in east Texas and northwest Louisiana that had its origins in the Festival of Lights and Christmas Festival in Natchitoches, started in 1927, making it one of the oldest light festivals in the United States. Fulton Street in Palo Alto, California, has the nickname "Christmas Tree Lane" due to the display of lighted Christmas trees on the sides of the street.[26]
Illuminated Celtic cross, Bon Air Presbyterian Church, Virginia, in snow storm at night.
A familiar pastime during the holiday season is to drive or walk around neighborhoods in the evening to see the lights displayed on and around other homes. While some homes have no lights, others may have incredibly ornate displays which require weeks to construct. A rare few have even made it to the Extreme Christmas TV specials shown on HGTV, at least one requiring a generator and another requiring separate electrical service to supply the amount of electrical power required. In Australia and New Zealand, chains of Christmas lights were quickly adopted as an effective way to provide ambient lighting to verandas, where cold beer is often served in the long hot summer evenings. Since the late twentieth century, increasingly elaborate Christmas lights have been displayed, and driving around between 8 and 10 p.m. to look at the lights has become a popular form of family entertainment. In some areas Christmas lighting even becomes a fierce competition, with town councils offering awards for the best decorated house, in other areas it is seen as a co-operative effort, with residents priding themselves on their street or their neighbourhood. The town of Lobethal, South Australia, in the Adelaide Hills, is famed for its extensive Christmas lighting displays and many residents go to great effort to put on the best light display in the town. Residents from the nearby city of Adelaide often drive up to the town to view them.
Other holidays[edit]
In the United States, lights have been produced for many other holidays. These may be simple sets in typical holiday colors, or the type with plastic ornaments which the light socket fits into. Light sculptures are also produced in typical holiday icons.
Halloween is the most popular, with miniature light strings having black-insulated wires and semi-opaque orange bulbs. Later sets had some transparent purple bulbs (a representation of black, similar to blacklight), a few even have transparent green, or a translucent or semi-opaque lime green (possibly representing slime as in Ghostbusters, or creatures like goblins or space aliens). Two types of icicle lights are sold at Halloween: all-orange, and a combination of purple and green known as "slime lights".
Easter lights are often produced in pastels. These typically have white wire and connectors.
Closeup of a mini light
Strings on piping and on a menorah
Red, white, and blue lights are produced for Independence Day, as well as U.S. flag and other patriotic-themed ornaments. Net lights have been produced with the lights in a U.S. flag pattern. In 2006, some stores carried stakes with LEDs that light fiber-optics, looking similar to fireworks.
These above light strings are occasionally used on Christmas trees anyway, usually to add extra variety to the colors of the lights on the tree.
Various types of patio lighting with no holiday theme are also made for summertime. These are often clear white lights, but most are ornament sets, such as lanterns made of metal or bamboo, or plastic ornaments in the shape of barbecue condiments, flamingos and palm trees, or even various beers. Some are made of decorative wire or mesh, in abstract shapes such as dragonflies, often with glass "gems" or marbles. Light sculptures are also made in everything from wire-mesh frogs to artificial palm trees outlined in rope lights.
In Pakistan, fairy lights are often used to decorate in celebration of Eid ul-Fitr at Chaand Raat, which occurs at the end of Ramadan. In India on Diwali too, homes, shops and streets are decorated with strings of fairy lights.
Environment, recycling, and safety[edit]
Christmas lights, Bangkok
Christmas lighting does lead to some extensive recycling issues. Every year, more than 20 million pounds of discarded holiday lights are shipped to Shijiao, China (near Guangzhou), which has been referred to as "the world capital for recycling Christmas lights".[27] The region began importing discarded lights around 1990 in part because of its cheap labor and low environmental standards.[27] As late as 2009, many factories would simply burn the lights to melt the plastic and retrieve the copper wire, releasing toxic fumes into the local environment.[27] A safer technique was then developed that involved chopping the lights into a fine sand-like consistency, mixing it with water and vibrating the slurry on a table causing the different elements to separate out, similar to the process of panning for gold.[27] Everything is recycled: copper, brass, plastic and glass.
More and more cities in the U.S., for example, are setting up sensible alternatives and schemes to recycle Christmas lights, with towns organizing drop-off points for handing in old or discarded lights.[28][29]
Installing holiday lighting may also be a safety hazard when incorrectly connecting several strands of lights, repeatedly using the same extension cords, or using an unsafe ladder during the installation process.
Light sculptures[edit]
Manning Close Christmas Light Show, Wells, Somerset, England
Christmas light sculptures, also called motifs, are used as Christmas decorations and for other holidays. Originally, these were large wireframe metalwork pieces made for public displays, such as for a municipal government to place on utility poles, and shopping centers to place on lampposts. Since the 1990s, these are also made in small plastic home versions that can be hung in a window, or on a door or wall. Framed motifs can be lit using mini lights or ropelight, and larger scale motifs and sculptures may use C7 bulbs.
Light sculptures can be either flat (most common) or three-dimensional. Flat sculptures are the motifs, and are often on metal frames, but garland can also be attached to outdoor motifs. Indoor motifs often have a multicolored plastic backing sheet, sometimes holographic. 3D sculptures include deer or reindeer (even moose) in various positions, and with or without antlers, often with a motor to move the head up and down or side to side as if grazing. These and other 3D displays may be bare-frame, or be covered with garland, looped and woven transparent plastic cord or acrylic, or natural or goldtone-painted vines. Snowflakes are a popular design for municipal displays, so as not to be misconstrued as a government endorsement of religion, or so they can be left up all winter.
Some places make huge displays of these during December, such as Callaway Gardens, Life University, and Lake Lanier Islands in the U.S. state of Georgia. In east Tennessee, the cities of Chattanooga, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg have light sculptures up all winter. Gatlinburg also has custom ones for Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day, while Pigeon Forge puts flowers on its tall lampposts for spring, and for winter has a steamboat and the famous picture of U.S. Marines Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, in addition to the city's historic Old Mill.
Some sculptures have microcontrollers that sequence circuits of lights, so that the object appears to be in motion. This is used for things such as snowflakes falling, Santa Claus waving, a peace dove flapping its wings, or train wheels rolling.
Examples[edit]
Christmas lights on trees
Champs-Élysées
Christmas in Dublin, CA
Peter Larsen illuminated coffee pot
Christmas market illumination
Clifton Mill Christmas in 2005
LED light sculpture in Gänserndorf, Austria
Christmas street illumination in Viborg
Hünfeld Adventskalender
Christmas decoration in front of the church in Weissenbach an der Triesting
Christmas Lights, Aarhus
City lights Christmastime
Christmas Lights
Lighted trees and houses in Schöckingen
The clock tower of Kozani; a landmark of the city.
Merry X-mas
Santas sleigh
Essex Christmas lighting ceremony
German Christmas Market, Cardiff
See also[edit]
Christmas tree
Christmas worldwide
Luminaria
Albert Sadacca
Notes[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b Felix, Antonia (1999). Christmas in America. Courage Books. ISBN 9780762405947. Retrieved 27 January 2017. German families brought a small tree into the home at Christmas time as a symbol of the Christ child, and decorated the boughs with cutout paper flowers, bright foil, apples, sweets, and other fancy treats. Another feature of Christmas that took a uniquely American turn in the nineteenth century is the tradition of Christmas lights. Candles were traditionally placed on the Christmas tree to symbolize Jesus as the light of the world.
Jump up ^ "History of Christmas Trees". History. 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015. Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree.
Jump up ^ North Dakota Outdoors, Volumes 27-28. State Game and Fish Department of North Dakota. 1964. p. lvii. The first person to put candles on a Christmas tree was the 16th century German theologian Martin Luther.
Jump up ^ Dohmen, Christoph (2000). No Trace of Christmas?: Discovering Advent in the Old Testament. Liturgical Press. p. 62. ISBN 9780814627150. Christmas lights remind us Christians of Jesus, the light of the world, who causes God's love to shine forth for all humanity.
Jump up ^ Michelin (10 October 2012). Germany Green Guide Michelin 2012-2013. Michelin. p. 73. ISBN 9782067182110. Advent - The four weeks before Christmas are celebrated by counting down the days with an advent calendar, hanging up Christmas decorations and lightning an additional candle every Sunday on the four-candle advent wreath.
Jump up ^ Normark, Helena (1997). "Modern Christmas". Graphic Garden. Retrieved 9 April 2014. Christmas in Sweden starts with Advent, which is the await for the arrival of Jesus. The symbol for it is the Advent candlestick with four candles in it, and we light one more candle for each of the four Sundays before Christmas. Most people start putting up the Christmas decorations on the first of Advent.
Jump up ^ "Candlemas". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 9 April 2014. Any Christmas decorations not taken down by Twelfth Night (January 5th) should be left up until Candlemas Day and then taken down.
Jump up ^ Raedisch, Linda (1 October 2013). The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year. Llewellyn Publications. p. 161. ISBN 9780738734507. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
Jump up ^ The girlhood of Queen Victoria: a selection from Her Majesty's diaries. p.61. Longmans, Green & co., 1912. University of Wisconsin
Jump up ^ "The Savoy Theatre", The Times, 3 October 1881
Jump up ^ Graeme Gooday Domesticating electricity: technology, uncertainty and gender, 1880-1914 Pickering & Chatto, 2008
Jump up ^ According to the Oxford English Dictionary, in 1871: OED Online. September 2013. Oxford University Press.
Jump up ^ The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Retrieved 2010-11-30
Jump up ^ "Christmas Lights and Community Building in America" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2006.
^ Jump up to: a b Christmas Lights and Community Building in America, 20
Jump up ^ History
Jump up ^ North Carolina: Christmas Town U.S.A. (Local Legacies: Celebrating Community Roots - Library of Congress)
Jump up ^ Christmas in Rockefeller Center - A Holiday History - Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree News Story - WNBC | New York
Jump up ^ Friends of the Wanamaker Organ
Jump up ^ National Christmas Tree Association: Famous Trees Archived January 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ North Carolina and the Negro. North Carolina Mayors' Co-operating Committee, 1964. editors, Capus M. Waynick, John C. Brooks [and] Elsie W. Pitts. Page 94.
Jump up ^ "links to house light videos, including Miller Lite commercial". Retrieved 6 October 2014.
Jump up ^ "Wizards in Winter". ConSar Lights Portfolio. Retrieved 2006-11-28.
Jump up ^ Nelson, George. "The War Years: 1941-1945". OldChristmasTreeLights.com. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
Jump up ^ "LED history". Retrieved 6 October 2014.
Jump up ^ Dungan, Jesse (December 9, 2010). "Palo Alto's 'Christmas Tree Lane' turns 70". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b c d "The Chinese Town That Turns Your Old Christmas Tree Lights Into Slippers", Adam Minter, The Atlantic, Dec 21, 2011.
Jump up ^ Towns offer Christmas light recycling. Northwest Herald. November 25, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
Jump up ^ Briefs: Recycle lights before and after Christmas. November 23, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
External links[edit]
Media related to Christmas lights at Wikimedia Commons
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