When I was a kid, our Christmas tree was always a real tree---some years we even went out to cut our own (we have some pretty-funny-in-retrospect home movies of those treks). The house where I grew up had a large living room and the front, round end, was perfect for the tree.
We had colored lights, mostly what I consider regular bulbs:
But also some of these snowball ones (not a whole string, but mixed in):
And some bubble lights mixed in as well:
Once I was old enough to "help," I got to help Dad put the lights in the tree, which made me feel very important. I loved watching these once they warmed up and started bubbling.
In our current situation, Mom doesn't want a tree enough to deal with the bother, so I haven't had a tree for a few years now. Which, given the last few years, is fine, but I was happy to pull out my bubble light night light this year. It gives a festive feeling. It looks like this:
I love those snowball ones; my late mother-in-law used to have those. I'm a colored light person but use the small ones because I get a 3-4 foot Noble fir that I can handle.
ReplyDeleteHow festive! We had lots of those "regular" bulbs. They would get so hot. And ours were coated with something that would flake off. I bet it was NOT healthy or to code for fire safety, but they were pretty.
ReplyDeleteI remember someone talking about bubble lights before and I had never heard of them. Was it you last year? Or maybe in a magazine I was reading at Christmas time?
Look at those bubble lights! Love it. I love all the lights right now because wow, it is dark here. Sunset is before 4 and the days are mainly grey and cloudy. BRING ON EVERY LIGHT AND I'LL TAKE 5000 IU OF VITAMIN D PLZ
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! We had all those very same lights on our tree when I was a kid! And my dad used to want halos of angel hair on some of the lights, too, like his Croatian parents always did.
ReplyDeleteI used to be in charge of snapping my fingers on any lights that didn't come on. Sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn't.
Oh, those memories...
I LOVED the bubble lights as a kid. Then they were declared a fire hazard and the folks refused to put them up anymore. They've since come up with an improved version that's safe and they're still my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a house with a cathedral ceiling in the living room and we went to a cut-your-own farm every year and got one tall enough for that room. So many happy memories, including a surprise birthday party out of that. Thank you for this post!
I love the look of "the regular lights" and do miss them (especially when they were covered with snow, and just sort of glowed through). But I also remember they would set my Dad OFF, and that wasn't pleasant. We have a pre-lit fake tree that can be white or color lights, and it's good enough for me now.
ReplyDeleteI remember those lights - they'd give you third degree burns if you touched them. We also had some bubble lights. Great memories.
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