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The Trust Project

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Yes.

The tradition of hanging colored lights outside homes for Christmas originated in Denver in 1914 when a local electrician found a creative way to bring holiday cheer to his bedridden son.

David Dwight Sturgeon dipped lights in red and green paint, strung them on an electric wire, and hung them around a pine tree for his ailing son to admire from his bedroom window. Soon neighbors began making their own outdoor light displays, and Denver Post coverage helped spread the practice through the city.

While Sturgeon wasn’t the first person to display outdoor Christmas lights, the tradition he inspired in Denver is the first known instance of outdoor home Christmas lights becoming widespread in any city, according to History Colorado researchers. 

Outdoor Christmas light displays took off nationally in the 1920s, when inexpensive outdoor holiday lights became widely available in stores for the first time. 

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Por recently graduated from CU Boulder with a master’s degree in journalism and is interested in writing about the environment and exploring local stories. When not working on some form of writing, Por is either looking for Thai food or petting...