CANADIAN LIGHTING OUTFITS

 

Canadian Christmas lighting development largely paralleled that of the United States. NOMA Electric Incorporated, the largest Christmas lighting company in the world, had a Canadian division in Toronto as early as 1932. Universal Electric sold Royal Electric Company Christmas items in Canada, modifying only the electrical cords to conform to Canadian electrical safety standards. Presented on this page are some of the decorative lighting outfits sold through the years in Canada. Many thanks to Fred Fox, a friend and fellow collector, who kindly shares many of his Canadian lights with us on this page.

Fred will be glad to answer any questions you might have about his sets. You can e-mail him HERE.

The earliest Canadian outfit in my personal collection is from Messervey's, of Bridgeport, Ontario. Known mainly for their figural Christmas lamps, Messervey's also operated across the border in Buffalo, New York. The figural lamps are marked either "Messervey's" or "Buffalo". Both variations are believed to be Canadian products. The rather generic box art seen on this outfit was also used on American outfits from various manufacturers. This set is from the early 1920s.

 

Here's another Canadian Messervey's outfit, circa 1925. The carbon filament pine cone or "seed pod" lamps are marked "Messervey". This box art, also rather generic, was used on American outfits as well.

 

Sold by the M. Propp Company in identical boxes in the US and Canada, this outfit can be found with carbon filament lamps as shown here, with imported Japanese C-6 ribbed cone lamps, and GE MAZDA C-6 ribbed cone lamps. This is a generic outfit, made to be sold at a reduced cost due to the lower-quality lighting string. The only clue to the fact that it is actually a Propp outfit is the large "P" in a red triangle found on the end of the box. Circa 1928. From the collection of and photographed by Fred Fox.

 

Circa 1932, this is a very early example of NOMA's entry into the Canadian market. Notice the screw-in connector, equipped so as to make a convenient connection to a nearby lamp socket. From the collection of and photographed by Fred Fox.

 

I was recently able to obtain this Canadian Christmas lighting catalog from Universal, that was issued for the 1953 selling season. It was quite a shock to me when I noticed that almost all of the products offered for sale were products of the Royal Electric Company, (an American operation) although there was absolutely no mention at all of that company's name. You'll notice that the products offered in the catalog are identical in every way to their American counterparts, except for the electric plugs. The Canadian version of the NOMA company shared the NOMA name, but apparently Royal chose to offer their Canadian products under a totally different name. This catalog is indeed an interesting find, and I have more research to do on the Universal Company to determine its connection with Royal Electric.

 

In the late 1930s, The Matchless Electric Company and NOMA Electric Incorporated of Canada entered into an agreement whereby NOMA Electric would be the sole Canadian distributors of Matchless Wonder Stars. Collectors believe that color combinations not available in the US were sold in Canada under this agreement.

 

NOMA of Canada sold both General Electric and Westinghouse lamps in their outfits and as replacement lamps. This is a countertop box of C-9 outdoor replacement lamps and is from the mid-1930s. From the collection of and photographed by Fred Fox.

Here is a similar box of lamps, this time C-7 size. The box actually is pink, a very non-Christmassy color!

 

ca 1925
Westinghouse C-6 cones
ca 1950 Westinghouse/NOMA
C-6 cones
ca 1950
GE/NOMA
C-9 Swirl Lamps
ca 1968
Westinghouse
Spade Lamps
ca 1970
GE C-7 lamps
ca 1970 GE
transparent
C-6 cones
ca 1970 GE
transparent
C76 cones

These replacement lamps are from the collection of Fred Fox, and show a good sampling of replacement Canadian lamps. Photos by Fred Fox.

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