Of all the sites online eBay by far has the widest selection of vintage Christmas bulbs at the lowest prices.

Christmas trees and holiday decorations are traditions that we have had for a long time.  In that length of time, the basic idea remains the same: take a small cone-bearing evergreen tree, preferably fir, spruce, pine, or a reasonable plastic facsimile thereof and hang all sorts of symbolic decorations on it.

Often at the top, there would be a star or angel, representing the Star of Bethlehem.  The hangings have changed from wood to ceramic to plastic, sometimes combinations of which are found on one tree.  Yet one of the things that some of us remembers so fondly and wistfully are the antique Christmas lights.

Today, more often than not you would find LED rope lights or strings of pointy mini light bulbs, unlike those now antique popular during the 1960’s and the ‘70’s.  Ceramic lights, bubble lights, electric candles, coated incandescent bulbs; are we ringing any bells here?  If these names remind you of those good old days, then you might be longing to somehow recreate those times.  Looking for antique xmas lights can be tough, though.

For those who are not quite sure about what these are, here we have are some descriptions. Ceramic lights are light bulbs with surrounding pieces of thin ceramic.  When lit up, they produce a rather dim glow, but the result is a diffuse, warm light.  The ceramic pieces can also be molded into various shapes, so there are décor pieces like light-up angels and the like.  Some were larger and not meant to be hung on the tree, and instead set on tables or on the floor as display pieces.  Characters like Santa Claus and Mickey Mouse were not uncommon sources of inspiration for these larger pieces. Bubble lights are pretty special.  These consist of a small incandescent bulb with a sleeve that goes over and covers it, and an attached vial of liquid.

The liquid has a low boiling point.  When lit up, the heat of the incandescent bulb is enough to set the liquid bubbling.  These were manufactured possibly as far back as 1935, but saw great popularity from the 1950’s to the 1970’s.  The liquid is sometimes light oil but often it is methylene chloride.  Due to health and safety concerns, these have fallen out of general favor.

Electric xmas candles are plastic or metal candle bodies at the top of which small, flame-shaped bulbs were attached.  These were often not used as tree décor but instead set on the floor or various hard surfaces.

Coated incandescent bulbs are what they sound like.  These were smaller than the ones used for general illumination.  The coating could be clear, and these gave off a brighter glow, but made the filament very conspicuous.  A different coating was the opaque type, which produced a more rounded, diffuse glow.

Snowball lights are lights with small textured plastic shells over them.  They were always white, hence the term “snowball”.  These looked great on Christmas trees because they kind of made the tree look like it had snow scattered on it.  A great problem with these lights was their heat.  More than once, lights packed too densely and left on too long would set nearby curtains smoldering and eventually on fire.  Incandescent bulbs also did not last very long, and often a set of these lights would not be usable even just the next year.  Also, as mentioned, some of these were considered hazardous and eventually fell out of favor.  Lastly, these bulbs were not efficient.  They guzzled electric current like nobody’s business.  These factors led to a revolution in safety and efficiency for Christmas lights, but also a decline in the warmth and cheer.

Fortunately for those who want to use these lights and those who want to recapture a bit of that old-time charm, antique Christmas lights are available online.  We hope you've found this website about vintage Christmas lights helpful and wish you a merry Christmas!