A Christmas tree that puts out its own fires

By 1930, the Times marveled that “the Christmas tree with the old-fashioned candles … the worst fire menace of Yuletide,” had caused only one fire in the city on Christmas Day.

To combat these Christmastide conflagrations, Americans have turned to technology. Electric tree lights, invented in the late 19th century, are probably the biggest success on this front. They eliminated, or at least greatly reduced, open-flames-on-a-tree from the holiday.

But there’s another, lesser-known invention aimed at the same problem: the Christmas tree fire extinguisher.