Dad’s Christmas Lights on the House: The Story Continues

I have told the story of my Dadstarting to put lights on the house when I was small.  The lights did not stop after his children were gone or when he moved to a new house.  They actually seemed to be a bigger deal!

After their first four grown children were moved out of the house, my Dad wanted to build a house and move from town into the country next to his two brothers.  So, not long after their first grandchild was born, my parents with their two youngest sons moved from their large 2-story 5-bedroom house into a medium-sized 3-bedroom in the country.  My Dad and his two brothers put lights on all three houses working together over a weekend.  Since the lights went all around the ease of their roofs, this process took more than the three of them.  Each year, they had friends from work and their children helping out.  The day of light hanging include free meals made by my Mom and aunts.  Dad said these lights were for the joy of the grandchildren, many of which were born to households built around his.

In much later years, my parents moved to a smaller home further away and deeper into the country-life.   May Dad continued putting lights around his house eaves, this time with the help of grown children and grandchildren.  Not only did he do lights on the eaves, but they were wrapped around porch posts and rails.  His little country home had an open rafter ceiling in the living room, so those rafters were wrapped in twinkle lights as well.  Lights were now being enjoyed inside and out by his youngest grandchildren and great grandchildren as well.

My Dad did not have any elaborate displays, but he did ride along with others to see them.  He was amazed at the engineering feats of people and organizations that made their lightsdance to music on radio stations or projected major displays on their buildings.  I am pretty sure, though, that if my Dad was still here for this Christmas, he would be at some department store right now buying the new projector lights.  However, I am not sure whether he would go for straight dotted lights, blinking ones, shapes, or color changing - maybe he would take a few great grandchildren with him and let them pick it out.

If you are interested in the history of Christmas lights and styles, check out this interesting post with lots of links site or this more informative technical page linking to more than just lights.