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As the 1950s faded
into the 60s, more and more creative and exotic lighting sets were offered
to the American public. Shown on these pages are typical examples of what
was offered for sale, both common and unusual...
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Here is a most unusual light bulb that was a
Japanese product of the 1960s. Called Rainbow Wink-O-Lites, the
lamp's inside frosted dome covers several smaller light bulbs of
different colors. Each of these interior lamps flashes on and off
independently, effectively creating a rainbow effect of ever
changing colors and effects. These lamps are extremely delicate, and
burn out very quickly, and therefore were not an effective product.
They were sold for only a couple of years, and were distributed by Gibraltar. |
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| Chris Cuff shares this set with us
from his collection of Italian lights. This is an early example of
the "new" push-in type base, designed to overcome the disadvantage
of the miniature screw-in type lamps always working their way loose
in the sockets. The box boldly states not to twist the lamps, as
doing so would shatter the lamps. The set is from the early 1960s. |
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| Here is a General Electric Merry Midget 35 loop
style light set. This early midget light set used the two pin bulb
base and had green Berry-Beads on the sockets. Made in Taiwan, this
set dates to the mid 1960s, and was very well made. The photo has
been kindly shared with us from by J. S. Pilliteri of New Jersey.
The set is from his collection. |
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| The Westinghouse company came out with these
marbleized lamps in the very late 1960s, and continued to sell them
for a few years in the 70s. Quite hard to find today, they were not
popular sellers, as when lit, they lose their marbleized look and
appear as ordinary C-7 lamps. |
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| During the 1960s, Americans began to
light the outside of their homes with a vengeance. While large
outdoor sets like this one from Santalites had been available for
years, they did not really sell well until this decade. |
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| This set from Pennant is another
typical example of the popular large outdoor lighting sets that were
huge sellers during the 1960s. |
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| Sears, Roebuck and Company sold lighting sets
under their Happi Time brand for years. This typical C-7 light set
was actually made for Sears by the NOMA Company until that company
went bankrupt in the mid 1960s. |
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| This C-7 lighting outfit was distributed by the
World Wide Company, the successor to NOMA after that company's
bankruptcy in 1965. For a short time, light sets were sold under the
name "NOMA World Wide," but the NOMA name was soon dropped. |
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