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| Nearly identical to its American
counterpart, this is a circa 1936 NOMA brand outdoor outfit. More often
than not, Canadian boxes seem to differ greatly from the American
versions, but this set is an exception. From the collection of and
photographed by Fred Fox. |
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| Another example of a Canadian NOMA brand
light set nearly identical to its American cousin. This outfit was a
best seller in both the US and Canada. The wording on the lid "With
Mazda Lamps" makes this a pre World War II outfit. From the collection
of and photographed by Fred Fox. |
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Here is NOMA's good selling set number
3010, circa 1938. This was the early issue of the C-7 parallel wired
set for indoor decorating, The "Strings of  Color
Light" box is printed in different colors than is the American version
shown here:
You will notice that Uncle Sam on the American cover has been replaced
with Santa Claus on the Canadian box. From the collection of and
photographed by Fred Fox. |
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| The popular NOMA 110 set, almost identical
to American outfits. Up until the introduction of Bubble Lites in 1946,
this outfit was NOMA's ultimate seller in both the United States and
Canada. From the collection of and photographed by Fred Fox. |
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| A pre-World War II outfit from Universal,
the Canadian distributor for the American Royal Electric Company.
Notice the lacquered cloth cord, indicating that this set has been
weatherproofed for outdoor use. The set featured the durable inside
color C-9 lamps pioneered by General Electric. From the collection of
and photographed by Fred Fox. |
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| This Stay-Lite set is actually a NOMA of
Canada product. It was common practice for the Company to sell lighting
outfits with imported lamps under names other than NOMA. This set uses
Japanese lamps with two tone paint called Snow Tips. From the
collection of and photographed by Fred Fox. |
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| The Paramount/Raylite Company of the United
States operated their Canadian division under the name Parco, which
stood for "Paramount-Canadian Operations". Illustrated here is a
typical mid to late 1930s set of C-9 outdoor lamps. From the collection
of and photographed by Fred Fox. |
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| A mid-1930s outfit from NOMA, this outfit
is representative of the many "modern" plastic outfits the Company was
experimenting with. Many of these boxes stated that the contents were
"The New Vogue in Christmas Lighting". The earliest of these sets were
found to have rather delicate plastic parts, which were susceptible to
heat damage. Shortly thereafter, NOMA employed the new Textolite
formulation, which was a composite fiberglass and resin mixture, and
much more heat resistant. After World War II, new plastics were used,
and the use of Textolite in Christmas lighting virtually disappeared.
From the collection of and photographed by Fred Fox. |
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Here is a C-6 outfit from Universal. It
appears in the 1953 Universal catalog as set number U-20, and is an
eight light series set. It came equipped with either Westinghouse or
General Electric lamps, and retailed for $2.00 (Canadian dollars)
in 1953 and 1954. From the collection of and photographed by Fred
Fox. |
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| NOMA issued many outfits under names other
than NOMA of Canada, just as they did in the United States. These sets
are from the late-1940s, and are attributable to NOMA due to the
presence of Berry Beads, the plastic devices used to hold the lights in
position on the tree branches. NOMA never licensed their use to other
companies, and was in the habit of making them in colors other than red
when they were used in non-NOMA branded sets. The C-7 outfit here
includes the metallic finished lamps that were popular for a brief time
in the late 1960s, and are not original to the outfit. They are,
nonetheless, quite attractive lamps. From the collection of and
photographed by Fred Fox. |
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| Circa 1955, this set of NOMA C-7 lamps is
model 3010, and is a good example of the company's increased spending
during that time with their packaging. Sales were slipping in the mid
to late 1950s due to growing competition from Japanese imports, and an
effort was made by many of the major lighting companies to increase
sales through eye catching and colorful boxes. From the collection of
and photographed by Fred Fox. |
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| This set of
mid-1950s lights from NOMA of
Canada reflects the public's growing desire for Christmas trees lighted
in single colors. Pink was exceedingly popular on white flocked trees
as was blue. NOMA offered single color light sets in the pink shown
here, as well as blue and red. The all red sets were not sold for long,
as the red light on a white tree appeared overwhelmingly bright, and on
a green tree turned the whole thing a most unattractive brown. From the
collection of and photographed by Fred Fox. |
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| Here is a set of mid-1950s C-9 lights in a
box identical to the one immediately above. The set has weatherproof
plastic Berry Beads, and high quality inside colored lamps. From the
collection of and photographed by Fred Fox. NOMA of Canada used the
Berry Beads on the outdoor sets long after their American counterpart
discontinued them. From the collection of and photographed by Fred
Fox. |
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