OLD TIME Christmas lights location?

FarmboyBill · #1 12/19/12, 10:30 PM

Who sells the old time (One goes out, they all go out) Christmas tree light bulbs. They came in orange, red, blue, green

mnn2501 · #2 12/20/12, 08:00 AM

Hopefully no one

Chucknbob · #3 12/20/12, 08:08 AM

If you're just wanting the old big screw in bulb look, a quick google search of "large bulb Christmas lights" found several places. Here is the first result. http://www.christmaslightsetc.com/c7...rings-8016.htm

Also, I buy all my lights at goodwill. It's usually only a buck or two a string.

PrettyPaisley · #4 12/20/12, 08:08 AM

I got a few last year at Dollar General. You can also get them at Walmart-or you could earlier in the season. They are C7 or C9 bulbs. And I love them because they remind me of when I was a kid.

**Terri** · #5 12/20/12, 08:13 AM

I remember how hard it was to find the burned out bulb!!!!!!!!!!!

pumpkinlady · #6 12/20/12, 08:14 AM

Lowes and Home Depot sells them too. The old fashioned ones and the new LED ones. Differnt price ranges and lengths.

FarmboyBill · #7 12/20/12, 08:44 AM

Ill check out the $ and Lowes and HD. Thanks.

My Mom worked for Noma Lites in the 60s. She got lots of Christmas stuff from there as defects. When I left home she gave me some of it. That included around 6 strands of those type lites. Im not going to buy new as long as I can find lites for the old
I always drape them 3/4ths way around the tree rather than all the way around it. Makes it easier to get to the burned out ones.

I havnt had a tree in 30yrs up., BUTcha never know. Im hoping, if i get the place im looking at, that, being close to my kids, AND GRANDKIDS, ill have one there.

Silvercreek Farmer · #8 12/20/12, 09:10 AM

Funny, the C7 and C9 lights where the ONLY ones we had 20 years ago that didn't all go go out when a bulb died. As the bulbs burned out we kept using them, never replacing any, just rearranging the bulbs to where it looked right. It got to the point where enough replacement bulbs to bring them back up to par would have cost more than new lights. The little low voltage ones where the ones that drove me crazy!

stamphappy · #9 12/20/12, 09:12 AM

Ace Hardware sells them. They have bins full of them.

LisaInN.Idaho · #10 12/20/12, 09:15 AM

I have C9's on my cabin but they don't all go out when one goes out.

Nimrod · #11 12/20/12, 10:13 AM

C7s are about the sixe of a big grape. C9s are about the size of a pingpong ball. Both have a bulbous shape. If a bulb burned out on one of the strings, only it went out, not the whole string.

The realy old bulbs were thinner and more pointed. As a kid I spent a fair amount of my childhood trying to find the burned out bulb. You had to start with a known good bulb, plug the string in, and replace the first one with the known good bulb. Then take the one you just took out and replace the second one on the string. Keep going untill the string lit up.

I have not been looking but I don't recall seeing any in the stores.

My favorite bulb is the bubbler bulb. It fits the C7 string so I still have a few of those.

FarmboyBill · #12 12/20/12, 10:19 AM

ACE HD DOSENT HAVE THEM
Thats what Im LOOKING for, The older, thinner dia, pointed ones.

I like the bubbler lites also, BUT its hard toi get them to stay straight up so theyll bubble. They made bubblers for the oldtime strand also. But it seems they made very few of them.

fantasymaker · #13 12/20/12, 06:09 PM

You can still get the Bubblers.

Wolf mom · #14 12/20/12, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnn2501

Hopefully no one

Ah, Texas - no wonder!

They're great for stringing through the fruit trees to keep the buds on in a late frost. Just enough heat to keep 'em warm.

FarmboyBill · #15 12/20/12, 07:37 PM

Water hits the ones im talking about, they bust.

Charleen · #16 12/20/12, 07:40 PM

When one goes out and they all go out is size C6 which are not made anymore.

C7 are indoor lights, slightly larger than C6 and not as pointy. C9 are even bigger, made for outside use.

FarmboyBill · #17 12/20/12, 08:21 PM

I found all kinds of C6 bulbs, but there not the origional bulb. Gotta have the origional IF I can get them

coolrunnin · #18 12/20/12, 08:48 PM

This site isn't for buying bulbs, but is an interesting history of christmas lights.

FarmboyBill · #19 12/20/12, 09:30 PM

I read the history. Imagine them having a revolving christmas tee WITH LIGHTS in the 1880s, AND being able to turn some sets on and others off as it revolved. You seldom see that now.

MushCreek · #20 12/21/12, 05:34 AM

Doesn't anyone google anymore? A very quick search for 'replacement C9 Christmas light bulbs' has more results than you could ever read. I've found lots of things on-line that seem to be hard to get locally.

When I was a kid, we had the big ol' C9's outdoors. I still use C7's on the edge of the roof. It's a vintage look now days. I'm wondering what the Next Big Thing will be in Christmas lights. I remember when the icicle lights first came out. Now, everyone has them- it's time for something new! Maybe the big old-fashioned lights will stage a come-back now that they are available in LED?

All this has me thinking about how we will decorate our new house for Christmas when we move in. They actually have Christmas light software available. You import a picture of your house, then select from a number of light options so you can preview the results before you drag out the ladder. Our new house isn't visible from the road, so the decorations will just be for our own benefit. I am installing dedicated outlets in the soffits, wired to a switch so I don't have to go out in the rain to plug/un-plug the lights every night!