As part of the NFSA's Television News and Current Affairs Program (Newscaf), we take a look at Christmas lights around Australia – from Toowoomba to Tasmania. and Canberra in-between.
A snowman light at a house in Toowoomba. Courtesy WIN Television. NFSA title: 749308
Miracle on Sprott Street
The tradition of candle-lit Christmas trees started in Germany in the 1700s. Queen Victoria's husband Albert brought the trend to England in 1841 and it spread throughout the US and Australia. The tradition resulted in many house fires but continued until it was transformed by the invention of the electric light globe.
In 1882 Edward Johnson, a business associate of inventor Thomas Edison, decorated a tree in his home in New York with 80 of Edison's new electric lights – and a new craze was born.
Today around Australia whole streets are lit up, with many raising money for charity. Each year lighting technology advances and enthusiasts work for months to make each year's display tops the last.
Here are three examples, starting with Sprott Street in Toowoomba, Queensland:
