Technically speaking
Light bulbs are technically called lamps. It doesn’t matter how big or small or for what purpose. If the thing is meant to shed light when electrified, then it is a lamp. So there…
Made in the USA Italy or Japan or Taiwan or…
Miniature lights came somewhat late to the Christmas lighting party. The “old fashioned” C6, C7, and C9 “big” Christmas lamps were still popular and still being made in the US by the time the first set of miniature lights for the general market appeared in the very late 50’s and miniature lights in general started gaining popularity in the 1960s. By the mid 1960’s, manufacturing of Christmas lighting became too expensive in the US compared to overseas competitors who could make Christmas lighting at a much cheaper price. To keep their businesses afloat, US companies with old names like NOMA, Timco, Paramount, and Gibraltar looked to these overseas competitors to make lighting strings for them. Eventually, many of these long-standing and well-known lighting outfitters went bankrupt or were reorganized such as Noma did to Amica and World-Wide Decorative Lites.
Italy come onto the market in the late 1950’s. Japan quickly followed suit and Taiwan took over afterward as the supplier of choice. the main driver for where miniature lights were made was cost.
However, the advent of the miniature Christmas lights could not have been better timed. In addition to being manufactured using cheap labor, the material composition of the strings and lamps were much cheaper too. So much so, warnings were very common on how to gingerly handle your miniature lights lest they end up unusable through “improper bulb twisting or pulling” or a loose connection be created through contortion of the string itself. In addition, many strings could not gain UL (Underwriters’ Laboratory) approval due primarily to wires that were too thin to safely supply 120-volt US household current.
It’s all about that base
Manufacturers often refer to miniature lights as midget, tiny, and petite. To me, it’s all just marketing. The earliest miniature lighting strings were made with lamps that had no base and therefore could not be replaced, otherwise called “permanent”. Soon after, strings were outfitted lamps outfitted with a tiny twist-in base like the older “big” lights. Later, the push-in/pull out “wedge base” was created to outfit Christmas lighting. A plastic base shaped like a wedge holds the lamp. Two wires extending from the bottom of the lamp are fed into tiny holes in the base and are bent up the sides of the base when the lamp and base is pushed into the lamp socket. This provides a connection to the electrical contacts inside the socket. Pretty much all miniature Christmas lights made today, including LED lights, are outfitted with wedge base lamps and sockets.
Don’t blink or you’ll miss the Flasher
Flashers were very popular and considered an interesting novelty in earlier miniature Christmas lights since they were wired in series. A single lamp containing a bi-metallic strip heats up when first lit and then separates from the wire supplying current, causing the lamp and the rest of the string to shut down. A quick and natural cooling process allows the strip to gain contact again and the lamp and rest of the string relights. The sequence gives the effect of flashing on and off.
An entire string can flash on and off with the use of a single flasher lamp. Or a string can be composed of two sets of intertwined strings connected in parallel to each other. Every other lamp flashes on and off creating a double flashing effect. Double flashing is enabled with two flasher lamps, one on each of the two intertwined strings.
Certain manufacturers used other words to describe flashing such as blinking, and twinkling. Twinkling, however, is a misnomer. Twinkling occurs when each lamp on the string flashes on and off independent of all other lamps. Less lamps flashing in unison creates a more random twinkling effect as opposed to several lights flashing on and off in unison.
Follow the leader!
All miniature Christmas light strings are wired in series. This means that the string will light ONLY IF:
- There is a lamp in every socket AND
- EVERY lamp on the string is in contact with the electricity running through it AND
- EVERY lamp is either working or shunted (more on shunts later)
Carry the Load
Light strings are designed to carry standard household current averaging 120 volts. Since miniature Christmas lights are wired in series, the rated voltage of each lamp is additive on the string and should approximate 120 volts in total. Matching total volts of the lamps to the voltage of the current running through the string will result in a lamp brightness that is intended for the string overall and is safe. We all want safety, right??
If the total volts of the lamps on the string are significantly lower than the household current running through the string, the lamps will overload by glowing very brightly and then burning out the lamps prematurely one-by-one, or even getting extremely hot before blowing out completely, possibly causing a fire in the process. This can be dangerous but fun in a sick way for some people.
If the total volts of the lamps on the string is significantly higher than the household current running through the string, the lamps will be underpowered and light very dimly or not at all, which is just sad and not very festive :’(
Matchmaker, matchmaker
Miniature Christmas lamps intended to run on 120 volt household current are typically made in 12, 6, 3.5, and 2.5 voltages. A typical US vintage miniature Christmas light string will have a total of 10, 20, 35, or 50 count lamps on it.
Each lamp voltage should be matched the correct lamp count on the string to get a safe and effective decoration. Let’s do the math!
10 lamps of 12 volts each = 120 total volts carried on the string
20 lamps x 6 volts each =120 total volts carried on the string
35 lamps x 3.5 volts each = 122.5 volts carried on the string
50 lamps x 2.5 volts each = 120 volts carried on the string
However, longer single strings can be made by joining together two or more series strings and adding a third wire to provide a parallel connection down the line to the next series. If one series string fails to operate, the remaining series strings will still operate effectively thanks to the third wire. Thank you, third wire!! You’re the best…
Don’t shun the shunt
Most miniature lamps have an internal shunt that is intended to activate when the lamp’s filament burns out. The shunt closes the circuit across the bad filament, restoring continuity, which allows the rest of the string to remain lit. However, if one shunt fails to close properly, the whole string will fail to light and you will be angry, sad, or both.
Plug it!
Vintage miniature lights can be constructed in one of three ways:
- No end plug to add more lights. Why bother? Why? WHY?? To make them inexpensive and inconvenient, that’s why!
2. A single plug placed at the beginning of the string that allows another string to plug in. This creates a spider-like configuration, making it a bit more difficult to put on larger trees and creates a super long trail of plugs all joined together. These trails are cumbersome and difficult to hide under your super cute tree skirt you found at a tag sale for a dollar but love more than nearly everything else you collect, regardless of what it cost you.
3. A plug placed at the end of the string to make it a “straight line” by allowing another string to added and so on. Easy to install on all things you want to decorate. But there is a catch, of course. Be careful not to add too many subsequent strings. The very first string bears an extra burden of electrical flow to allow the subsequent strings to light up properly. This can possibly cause the fuse to blow on the first string in the line (if it even has one, as earlier strings did not) or even trip your modern breaker on your electrical panel. Or blow the old-style screw-in fuse at the panel if you refuse to update your electrical service because you want EVERYTHING in your home to be vintage.
Color my world
Since the very beginning and into today, the most common lamp colors in a multi-color string are red, green, yellow/orange, pink, and blue. I wish I knew how pink made the first string in miniature. Get it? First STRING??! HAHA!!! Nearly ALL multi-color miniature lights I have encountered – and I have encountered my fair share – are in this color palette and sequence. Sure, there were pink C7 lamps, but they were uncommon. Perhaps the pink everything fad of the late 1950s had a say in this. I wouldn’t put it past them to slip it in while nobody was looking. Whoever “them” is.
Reflections of love
Earlier strings usually had a lamp base that also acted as a reflector. There are billions and billions of reflector styles out there. I only have one billion in my collection. Many reflectors are super cool and really add to the effect of the lighting. My theory on why these were so ubiquitous on earlier strings is because the lamps are so much smaller compared to the larger “old fashioned” lamps everyone was used to. It was simply too mind blowing for the public to have a tiny lamp where a much, much LARGER lamp used to be. A compromise had to be made if these “newfangled” lights were to be accepted. Again, this is just a theory.
Later strings had a lamp with a wedge base without a reflector. Naked. Unadorned. Streamlined. Modern. BORING. You will be hard pressed to find a modern set of miniature lights with a reflector built into the base. So much for tradition and taste, but oh well, that’s progress for you… And don’t even get me started on LED lights. Thank goodness the Glow doesn’t have to worry about them for another 30 years or so.
Now That’s Italian!
Italian lamps are the grandfather of miniature lamps. They pretty much came first in the late 1950’s and early 1960s. Why Italy? If you know, please let me know so I can add it here. And speaking of Italy, note how many boxes refer to the lights as GENUINE Italian. Were there that many knock-offs?? Why were they considered non-pareil? OOPS! Pardon my French! I forgot for a moment that I was talking about Italian lights.
All kidding aside, in my opinion, these are the very best miniature Christmas lights of all time. Why, may you ask? Well, I’ll tell you, if you can be patient and keep reading.
- The wires are very thin but somewhat obedient, stay twisted, don’t feel fragile, are usually knotted under the lamp base and therefore less apt to contort and cause a loose connection compared to most other miniature light strings of the same era. This makes decorating a tree easier, more reliable, and the wires are less noticeable on the tree.
2. The lamps are usually of higher quality, bun out less frequently, and the colors tend to not fade like most other lamps of the same era
3. The lamps are usually the smallest of all the lamps of the same era, which simply makes them darned cute, even if they don’t have a reflector base.
4. They’re from Italy!!!
More thoughts on Italian lights. I am aware of a Chicago company named Silvestri that was a big importer and seller of Italian lights up to the late 1990s. I have many examples in my collection. It stands to reason why so many people in Chicago refer to ALL miniature lights as “Italian lights”. That is, I know of at least one person who does, and he was born in Chicago. So there.
Honey don’t…
Do not ignore burned out lamps on your miniature strings! Even if the shunt works, every burned-out lamp forces the remaining working lamps to take up the now missing voltage. This will cause the remaining lamps on the string to burn brighter and cause even more lamps to burn out at a faster pace. After a while you will have a non-lighting string. Moral: Keep replacement lamps of the same voltage on hand and replace burned out lamps when you take your lights down for the season. Your lights will love you even more for it and provide more years of service!
Do not throw out your non-operating strings! Give them to me to fix. It’s really not too difficult to get the string working again, especially if you want to save the planet by not adding to the huge pile of “broken” light strings summarily tossed each year for no good reason other than laziness and wanton consumerism. Ahem. Sorry for that outburst. I just feel bad for unloved Christmas lights.
Just remember, when a string no longer works, there is a 99% chance that it’s due to either missing lamps, loose contacts, or too many burned out lamps. Invest in a Christmas light tester (around $10) to find burned out or loose contact lamps quickly and get your string working again. You will continue to enjoy your lights for more years to come, the planet will thank you, and your lights will love you even MORE!
Dim all the lights, sweet darling
Using a standard lamp dimmer – which can be found at your local hardware store or giant international warehouse of everything on the planet that can be ordered online and delivered to you in minutes and for FREE – will allow you to control the overall mood, save electricity and money, and most importantly. extend the life of your Christmas lights. It’s well worth the investment, especially if your Christmas lights mean more to you than life itself. Not that they do to me. No sir!
Who am I kidding?? By the looks of this long-haired seemingly never-ending tome on miniature Christmas lights, they must mean a lot to me.